Software maker Opera has announced that it would introduce Opera Mini browser purposely designed for the Apple iPad at approaching Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

A version of Opera Mini browser for iOS-based devices, such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, has been available since April last year, but now the iPad will receive special version of the browser.

The company said it would also introduce new versions of Opera Mini browser for the iPhone, the Android, J2ME, BlackBerry and Symbian platforms.

Speaking on the new mobile versions, Opera chief executive Lars Boilesen said, "Our developers have been hard at work building the mobile browser of the future for both consumers and mobile operators."

Boilesen claimed that the new mobile versions of their browser are light and do not require users to recharge battery frequently. The new versions are claimed to be efficient to help mobile operators hack the bandwidth that clogs their busy networks.

The iPhone version of Opera Mini was downloaded as many as 1 million times within just 24 hours of its launch.

Earlier this week, Opera claimed that more than 100 million unique individuals make use of its mobile browsers per month.