Mobile ad network InMobi has inked a deal with Opera to launch its mobile payment platform SmartPay, on the Opera browser. SmartPay will allow users using the Opera browser to purchase digital goods from the publishers that have partnered InMobi. Why Opera? One of the reasons why InMobi chose Opera as a partner because it is present on all the major platform including iOS Blackberry, Java, Symbian and Android. This means that Opera will have a wider reachability than browsers which are platform dependent such as Safari or Android's default browser. Also, Opera has telecom operator partnerships - it recently tied-up with Vodafone and , more recently, with Idea to push its browser adoption while it had also collaborated with MediaTek to embed Opera Mini on low cost feature phones. Vodafone had 4.4 million monthly active Opera Mini users on its network out of 27.5 million data customers as on quarter ending 30th September. The press release claims that Opera has 160 million mobile users worldwide. But primarily, Opera can provide InMobi with personalization options that can improve product offerings to users, since SmartPay is integrated with InMobi's mobile ad-network that aims at tracking user's online behavior for better ad targeting, higher conversion rates and improved revenues. SmartPay aims to provide mobile content such as apps, games and videos and virtual goods across geographies with limited involvement of the developers in the app monetization process . According to the official website, the service is available in 10 countries including US, UK, Germany, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and…
