A Blog From Behind the Trenches

As you probably know by now, Opera 10.0 for desktop is finally out.

But that's not all. Your Wii might be glowing blue today with a nice surprise for you: There's a new version available, and it has updated to a more recent Flash version. Not only that, but the Internet Channel (powered by Opera) is now a free download! And if already you paid, you will get a free NES game for the trouble.

Not bad.

The new Flash version reports itself as "9,1,122,0", but it is most likely Flash Lite 3, which according to Adobe's FAQ calls itself Flash 9.

The FAQ also states that Flash Lite 3 supports all Flash 9 content except ActionScript 3. If it comes across such content, it will display a Flash icon to let you know that the content is not supported.

It's good to see that Nintendo finally decided to replace the old and outdated Flash 7 version used on the Internet Channel.

Nplus has posted an "exclusive" look at the new Nintendo DSi browser. Even with the DSi's limited hardware, Opera seems to run quite decently.

Read more...

Opera will be available for free for DSi, Nintendo's new portable gaming console. Opera's company logo is prominently displayed on the loading screen, which is very nice for Opera as a brand. Saito just blogged about this and other screenshots over at CNET Japan, including explanations for each.

This is what Opera on the DSi looks like when loading:

Update 2009-09-01: A new version of the Internet Channel was released today, and it has Flash Lite 3.1 (basically Flash 9) support. It looks like Nintendo and Adobe finally heard your calls for an update!

The old text of this blog post was as follows:

So Opera for Wii/the Wii Browser/the Internet Channel is finally out (that's our community manager Espen in the pic, by the way).

Reviews look very good, and people are commenting on how fast it is and how smoothly it operates. (Remember that you can continue to give the development team feedback.)

However, there is one thing a lot of people seem to be asking about:

Why didn't we update the Flash plugin to a more recent version?

The answer is simple: there is no way to do so. It is out of both Opera and Nintendo's hands.

(Update: Even if Adobe was to license a newer version, Nintendo still makes all the decisions. It is up to Nintendo to decide what the Internet Channel supports (or doesn't).)

The latest version of the Flash SDK (Software Development Kit) offered by Adobe is version 7, so that's what anyone who is not a Windows, Linux or Mac PC have to settle with. To support Flash on a phone or device, you have to license the Flash SDK from Adobe, and as long as they do not provide a more recent version, there is nothing you can do.

If Adobe had offered a more recent version, no one would have been more thrilled than us. It would have made more sites work, and that would lead to less frustration to our users.

There's no denying it: PlayStation 3 hasn't quite been the success that Sony might have hoped for, at least so far. Xbox 360 has a solid lead, and Wii is outselling both of its competitors despite not being as powerful in terms of graphics quality and processing power. While PlayStation 3 is apparently available on shelves all over the world, people are still having a hard time getting their eager hands on Nintendo's new Wonder Console.

One of GameSpot's "10 Things to Make the PlayStation 3 Worth Buying" is to "Fix Web Browsing":

Sony billed the PlayStation 3 as a gaming console that can do everything: "Music, Photos, Internet, Videos, and Movies." It's supposed to be the living-room media center. That might become a reality if Sony iterates more on its Internet and media applications. How is it that a machine as powerful as the PlayStation 3 can't manage to browse more than a few Web sites without crashing?

What's interesting is that people are already enjoying movies and music in their living rooms by using the Wii browser as a Media Center.

It's quite surprising that Sony apparently chose the same company that delivered the PSP browser to provide a browser for PlayStation 3. As I recall, Sony were not exactly enthusiastic about the PSP browser.

Sony... Are you listening? You know that you need a better browser. A smaller, faster browser with support for all sorts of Web technologies, including Ajax. Why settle for second best if you really want your system to be THE living-room media center? You've already decided to use Opera for mylo and other consumer electronics products. You are just one step away from getting the best browser for your new console too

Nintendo seems to be going from win to win lately, and that is of course nice, because they happen to use Opera as a browser

There's a poll at time.com where you can vote for "gadget of the year", and Nintendo DS Lite is in the lead! However, MacBook Pro from Apple seems to be closing the gap, as the DS was ahead by more a while ago.

It will be interesting to see if the DS can manage to stay ahead. I have already cast my vote to make my voice heard

Update: So Apple featured this thing on their Hot News page (and MacDailyNews does their part too), and currently Macbook is in the lead:



One has to wonder if Macbook is really a gadget, though