Here's a scenario: As a network provider I wish to subsidise the hardware on my tariffs further still. I can shape traffic, sell advertising and analytic's to achieve this. Now if only I could get a capable proxy service compatible with the common browsers on iOS and Android.

Is Opera's core proposition a browser or a service? What differentiates them from their competitors? I read this announcement as a candid admission that they can compete better with their proxy service than with their browser.

I suspect the future of Opera is as a SaaS proxy that happens to have a client ready too. A proxy for shaping or sniffing (mobile) traffic has many advantages to those in emerging markets and those who wish to push advertising down our throats cough cough Facebook and Google.