Some time back Apple rejected the Opera browser citing that they don’t want any competition for their dear Safari browser. Google apparently does not seem to care much about competition. They have allowed the Opera Mini 4.2 beta  to become the first third party browser for their Android phones.

Features: The test version will have many of the features of the Opera Mini 4.2 – – zooming, saving, bookmarking, searching for in-line text, syncing via Opera link and swapping skins.

The browser is fast and addictive. As Jessica Dolcourt points out, the Android optimized Opera Mini is:

fast speeds over T-Mobile’s 3G network, a very crisp display, and quality that approaches the iPhone when it comes to viewing a zoomed-out Web page, thanks to both screen size and image clarity.

She also points out that the two menu keys of G1 offer a different browsing experience compared to the iPhone’s one button and rest-of-its touch experience.

While Opera is the first third party browser app for Android, it still raises some questions:

1.    Which is the next third party browser coming?
2.    Will the G1 series have more browser options and hence give the user a better browser experience than they get in the iPhone?
3.    Was Apple right in monopolizing (not official!) their browser? Especially now that it has been hit hard with patenting issues over its browser?

Tell us what you think.