Opera has taken the wraps off a new service called Opera Unite, which allows users to transform their personal computer into a Web-connected media and information sharing service. Opera Unite is part of the latest beta version of the Opera 10 browser, and allows inventive Web developers to create just about any Web app they can imagine, and then enables users to host the app themselves.
Opera Unite basically turns your personal computer into an ad-hoc Web server. Various "services" can be loaded and activated via the browser, allowing your machine to share files with friends, stream MP3s, or even serve a full website. One service, Photo Sharing, lets you simply point to a folder full of photos on your own hard drive and serve them as an online photo gallery.
This sounds quite brilliant. I wonder how long until every web browser has a feature like this. I guess it's somewhat too bad that coming up with the cool new features before everyone else doesn't actually convert to market share.