Opera made a version of its Mini mobile Web browser available today that will work on phones using Qualcomm's BREW platform. Too bad you can't actually download it at will to many BREW phones.

I tried on two separate Verizon Wireless BREW handsets to find and download the new Opera Mini for BREW browser today. No dice. I was able to get to the Opera Web site no problem on both an LG VX8300 and an LG VX10000. The VX8300 has Verizon's Web 2.0 WAP browser, and the VX10000 uses a full HTML browser. The HTML browser was definitely easier to navigate with, but it didn't let me download anything.

Next I tried to download it to my PC. Using Opera's Wizard, I was unable to find either handset listed as supported models. In fact, I perused the many models that the BREW browser will work with, and many of them weren't Verizon Wireless phones. Verizon is probably the biggest user of phones that run Qualcomm's BREW platform.

It's great that Opera is working to provide users of BREW phones a better browsing experience, but right now it won't work on Verizon handsets for one reason: Verizon.

The only way it will become available is if Verizon adds Opera Mini to its catalog of Get It Now BREW applications, where it will likely charge for its use.

This sort of defeats the purpose.