Average Rating: Rate this article:

Nintendo Upgrades Wii Internet Channel By Frederick Lane April 12, 2007 10:59AM Nintendo's Internet Channel for the Wii, now powered by the full release of the Opera Web browser, has two search engines preinstalled to make it easier to find Internet information on the Wii. Thanks to the Opera update, the Wii Internet Channel now sports better response times along with several new options for Wii gamers.   Related Topics Nintendo Wii Opera Internet Latest News Endeavour Inspected for Damage Autism Risk for Kids of Older Mothers Go Online and You Can Save the Planet In Haiti, Relief Gaps Are Spreading U.S. To Form Climate-Change Agency After months of beta testing, Nintendo has upgraded its Internet Channel for the Wii console by rolling out a full version of the Opera Web browser. The popular browser has been specifically configured for the Wii and offers users several innovative tools for surfing the Web through the game console. Wii owners can download the browser for free through June 30, 2007, and it will remain free for the life of the system on which it is installed. Users who download the browser after June 30 will be charged 500 Wii points, or $5. In a press release, Scott Hedrick, the executive vice president of Devices for Opera Software, said that the company had focused on usability issues in designing for the Wii. "The Opera-powered Internet Channel for Wii is about making the Web easy to use for anyone, at any age," he said. "We received a lot of user feedback after the Christmas release of the original version, and based on that feedback we have created a browser that is clean, intuitive and made for viewing on the TV." Surfing on the Wii To bring the Web to the Wii, Opera tweaked its popular Web browser in several different ways. The company said that the Internet Channel will now have better response time and improved performance, and that several options have been added, including "new sounds, animations, and loading cursor graphics." The Internet Channel also now has two search engines preinstalled: Yahoo Search and Google. Users can "type" in their queries using an on-screen keyboard, which can also be used to enter Web site URLs in the browser. Some of the irritation of entering Web addresses one letter at a time can be avoided by saving favorite locations as bookmarks, which can be selected much more easily using the Wii Remote. Bringing the Web to the TV One of the features most touted by Nintendo and Opera is the ability to use a TV to view Web content. To facilitate the viewing of Web pages, the Opera software is equipped with a zoom feature, which will enlarge images and text on the screen either automatically or manually. Roger Fils-Aime, the President of Nintendo America, said that "Opera on Wii adds a new dimension and functionality to a video game console system. It is a unique Web experience that everyone can use, and the Intelligent Zoom feature allows consumers to read Web content on the TV from the comfort of their couch." In addition to the zoom feature, the Opera Wii browser takes advantage of the gaming console model by supporting multiple cursors on a Web page. The primary Wii Remote is used to control Web action, while other Wii remotes can use their cursors to point out other content on the page.   Tell Us What You Think Your Comment: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Advertisement  Digital Life 1.   Macworld Focuses on Mobile Apps 2.   Nexus One 'Support' Passes the Buck 3.   New Zealand Virgin Auctions Herself 4.   Google May Make Gmail More Social 5.   Analysts Expect iPad Price To Drop Sony Ericsson Unveils Aspen Handset Windows Mobile unit comes with Skype. Average Rating: Books on Social-Media Marketing Cost-effective ways to engage clients. Average Rating: Torrent Traps Used To Harvest Logins Web sites sold with backdoor access. Average Rating:

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Nvidia Auto-Switches Notebook GPU To Save Battery Life Nvidia has taken the wraps off a notebook technology that chooses the best graphics processor for any given application and automatically routes the workload to Nvidia or Intel processors.   Microsoft Says Battery Woes Not Caused By Windows 7 Battery problems on Windows 7 machines are not caused by the operating system. That's the position of Stephen Sinofsky, head of the Windows division, in a long posting on the Windows engineering blog.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

To Love or Not To Love: Apple iPad Pros and Cons Now that the iPad has officially been announced, opinions are rolling in on this device that combines the features of an iPod, e-reader, and tablet PC. Will the iPad turn fewer heads than the iPhone?   Analysts See iPad Price Drop, with Some Cannibalization Just weeks before Apple officially rolls out the iPad, financial analysts are making pricing predictions. But could the analysis itself hinder the initial demand for the pricey tablet computer?   Bar Codes Go Mobile, Get Hip Again For decades, retailers have used patterns of black dots and lines to encode data onto products. Now, bar codes are gaining favor as an easy way for cell-phone users to view ads and other data instantly.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

Google May Add Facebook, Twitter Links to Gmail Google will reportedly roll more social-networking features into Gmail, the fastest-growing e-mail service. The new features could save users the trouble of switching to Facebook or Twitter.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."   IBM Opens Eco-Friendly, Cloud-Focused Data Center IBM has opened its latest data center in North Carolina. Big Blue said the $362 million facility in Research Triangle Park is designed to support cloud computing and other new computing models.

Navigation Sci-Tech Today Home/Top News | Computing | Digital Life | Discovery | Space | Innovation | Health | Science News Environment NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report NewsFactor Services FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | Free Whitepapers | About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise Privacy Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2000-2010 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo.