Opera Unite turns a PC into a web server

Opera has demonstrated a new system which it claims can turn a home PC into a web server using its Opera browser.

Opera Unite can be bundled within the browser, and contains a number of file media and information services. The company said that Unite would let users download and share web services with people around the world, and that there would be no limit on the size of files or the possible applications.

"I believe what we have here is Web 5.0, the natural step so that every computer can share content and services," said Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner.

"Right now if you want to share something you put it in the cloud. But what if you only want to share it with a few people? You still have to put it in the cloud. We are enabling every computer in the world to be a two-way street on the internet."

Unite is currently a technical preview, but Christen Krogh, Opera's vice president of engineering, demonstrated a handful of features, including a virtual 'fridge' that can have notes attached to it for remote viewing and correspondence.

Other features include photo sharing, which can be controlled via an administration panel that allows users to limit the number of people the album is shared with or to apply a password to the files.

Media such as music and documents can also be shared, and Krogh encouraged developers to access Opera's own developer pages and create their own applications for sharing.

Unite is only offered within Opera, but users of any other browser can access and download files, according to Krogh.

Opera Unite works on Linux, Mac and Windows, and will become a feature of Opera 10.