A Blog From Behind the Trenches

A new version of the Internet Channel (the Opera browser for Wii) was released today. Long story short, it supports hardware keyboards, opening links from the message board, sending links to friends, selecting text for searching... and Wiidgets

If you have the previous version, you should be able to upgrade for free from the Wii Shop Channel.

Update: A more complete changelog can be found on our Wii product pages. There's more to it than meets the eye.

(digg it here)

(link to original)

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 on 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

I'm sure some of you have heard this rumour already, and people seem to be wondering:

Is Firefox really being ported to Wii?

In one word: No.

The rumour is obviously false, since Nintendo and Opera have already done a lot of work on the Wii browser (known as the official "Internet Channel"), and it's launching in just a couple of months.

It looks like the source of this rumour is a blog which, in a desperate attempt to get more visitors, put out a false rumour that is now spreading like wildfire (including several digg stories).

This is not the first time a site has done something like this. In late 2005, tech site CoolTechZone announced that Microsoft had bought Opera, and that announcement would come shortly. It never happened. After this incident, I have noticed that CTZ has continued to produce sensationalist and misleading stories (many of which have been posted on Slashdot), so the lesson here is to avoid these sites. I'm not even going to mention the name of the site that made up the Wiifox rumour, since I don't want to send them any traffic


Update: A Danish site got the word, if not from the horse's mouth, then at least from the horse's partner (so to speak):

"The rumours are not true.

Simple as that."

Those are the words of our Communications Director.

In a press release today, Nintendo released more details on the Wii browser. Some highlights:

• A (free) beta will be available on December 22
  
• The final version should be available at the end of March 2007
  
• The browser can be downloaded for free through the end of June 2007
  
• After June 2007, the price will be 500 Wii Points (about $5)
  
• It supports Flash, zooming, etc.
  

I managed to get a Wii on launch day in Europe by going to a local store around 5-6am in the morning and queuing until the staff came along at 7am and handed out a note saying that I could come and pick it up when the store opened at 10. Today, the Weather Channel was ready when I got up in the morning, and on Friday I will be able to install Opera on Wii and surf from my couch

Remember to spread the word about the browser, so that people get to download it before it starts costing money! Then again, $5 is something most people can afford, and I'm glad that Nintendo decided on a very reasonable price.

I'm looking forward to reading people's feedback on the browser. Remember to drop by our Opera for Wii forum! I'll be monitoring it closely when the beta is released

Edit: Here's our take on the release. Heh

Interesting story I read over at digg (also covered on Slashdot):

Apparently, Microsoft's message to gamers is "get an Xbox360 and a Wii for the price of a PS3". And Microsoft's Peter Moore continues:

"People will always gravitate toward a competitively priced product -- like what I believe Wii will be -- with innovative new designs and great intellectual property like Mario, Zelda and Metroid," Moore told Reuters.

It certainly looks like the Wii is going to do rather well, and will end up in a lot of homes - which includes Opera of course. Was Iwata just being modest when he said that they could sell 40-60 million units?

I know I'm excited about a console for the first time in many years.