If one thing to be voted as the best innovation of 2009, I wouldn’t miss my vote on Opera Unite. Why wouldn’t anyone thought of this idea earlier? It was simply brilliant and amazing. File sharing, web server, media streaming all in one package, and the best is, you don’t have to be a network spe”"t to setup all these in under 5minutes. On top of that, it supports every platform (mobile version is in development) as it brilliantly uses the vast availability of HTTP.

Opera Unite comes together with the Opera 10 web browser. Keep in mind that both the browser and Unite are still in development stage. The browser in beta stage while the later in alpha stage.

Setting up Opera Unite is as easy as setting up an instant messenger on your computer. Download, install, sign up account, and login. Is just that easy, and you got yourself a multipurpose server all under just 5minutes.

Once you are done setting up your account, you will be greeted with a nice and simple interface. The left pane list all the service available. To start the service, just double click it.

• File sharing – Share any files by browsing to the specific folder. An FTP server minus the hard part of configuration.
• Fridge – A place where anyone who accesses your Opera Unite  to place a sticky note for you. Like the yellow sticky note on your fridge in your kitchen.
• Photo Sharing – Much like file sharing but with added features for photo browsing.
• The Lounge – Like the name stated. Basically is like an IRC channel hosted under your Opera Unite.
• Web Server – This is one of the best feature of Opera Unite. With endless possibilities, everyone can start hosting their own sites on their local PC.

To share your stuff to your friends and family, you’ll need to give them your Opera Unite address. Like the one I have here http://home.techmostwanted.operaunite.com

Opera Unite is simply brilliant, coupled with a wifi network and a wifi-enabled mobile phone,  you can access your musics, videos, and documents stored at your home PC on the go. Share your videos and pictures to your friends and families without having to upload to Facebook or any other online storage service (which consumes a lot of time and troublesome if you got big chunks of files).

This early version is not without bug though, I did encountered some crashing and need to restart the Opera Unite. I give it a go as this is an alpha version. The final version should be more stable, but how long it take to reach final release? The Opera version 10 browser has been in beta version for quite a while.

The hardware requirements is not listed by Opera. A PC and internet is all needed for Opera Unite to work. Guess I won’t have to donate my old PC away as I can host an FTP server using Opera Unite!

Thoughts? Give it a try at http://unite.opera.com/

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