Norwegian based browser company, Opera has today announced the launch of Hype, a chat service built into its Opera Mini browser as it looks to engage more with its African users.
With Hype, Opera aims to drive more online engagement for its African users with its pilot market being Kenya as it seeks to reimagine the chat experience with a focus on content sharing. With this, Opera mini becomes the world’s first mobile browser with an integrated chat service.
According to Charles Hamel, Product Lead for Hype “Chat services and browsers are apps people use every day and feel very personal about, ” he says. “With the integration of Hype in Opera Mini, we are not only rethinking what a chat service should be like in 2021, but also changing the very definition of what a mobile browser should be.”
Hype is launching first in Kenya as a pilot market, where starting today, users will be able to easily set up their Hype account and start chatting with secure end-to-end encryption. This launch is a facet of Opera’s emphasis on investing and growing its digital ecosystem in Africa, with the goal of bringing more people online; since 2018, Opera has grown its user base in Africa by 40%.
