Nintendo's Wii "Internet Channel" spells the death of WebTV / MSN TV2
AirRaid
surf the web with Nintendo Wii using the "Internet Channel" with the
specialized Wii
web browser made by Opera
list of news articles that have details on the Wii's Internet Channel
http://tinyurl.com/lohqf
Nintendo Wii Opera web browser in action
http://movie.nintendo.co.jp/data/wii_preview/presentation/wiigooglenintendo.swf
http://movie.nintendo.co.jp/data/wii_preview/presentation/wiioperaflash1.swf
http://movie.nintendo.co.jp/data/wii_preview/presentation/wiigooglemaps.swf
it sounds & looks like so much fun compared to other TV-based internet
systems, including WebTV / MSNTV, MSNTV2, AOLTV, Dreamcast, etc.
watch Nintendo of America's Wii conference that was held in New York
recently
http://www.gamespot.com/events/wiilaunch/live.html
towards the end of the video they talk about the various Wii Channels
including
Photos, Whether, News, and, Internet.
looks like Nintendo is expanding beyond merely videogames. the Wii
Opera Browser will be a FREE DOWNLOAD until June 2007, after that, the
browser will cost a certain amount of money but for all of us getting
Wii before next June, we'll have the best TV-based web browser ever
made.
oh yeah and I hope Nintendo Wii does some damage to "AOL Anywhere"
also!
additional info
http://www.nintendolife.com/articles/2006/08/17/exclusive_interview_opera_talk_wii
Exclusive Interview: Opera Talk Wii
The Opera Management Team
The Opera Management Team
by Aleksander Aasnes.
The norwegian software company Opera are developing the Internet
browser for both the Nintendo DS and the Wii.
Opera's Berit Hanson was nice enough to answers our questions regarding
their web browser currently in development for Wii.
Why do you think Nintendo chose Opera for their Wii browser? There are
a lot of browsers out there, and some are more popular than Opera?
Opera is experienced in porting to many different devices and mobile
phone platforms. We have long been a provider of full Web browser to a
variety of devices, allowing users to access the entire Internet
despite potential limitations of smaller device. Opera also features
unique rendering technology. This means that if you are surfing the Web
on your TV, Opera will not appear as it does on a PC. It will adapt the
content of the page to suit the size of the screen. These capabilities,
in addition to the speed and reliability of the browser, made Opera a
natural choice for the Wii.
How long have you had to develop the Opera software for the Wii?
We have followed Nintendo's development schedule for this project, but
are unable to say more.
What web standards will the browser support? The DS browser don't
support Flash or PDF, what about the Wii browser?
Opera for Wii will support all the same Web standards that are included
in Opera 9 for PCs and Macs. This desktop beta version is available now
at this link: http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?ver=9.0b This
version does include Javascript. Whether plug-ins such as Flash will be
supported in Opera on Wii has not yet been announced. Stay tuned!
Will the browser be customisable? Will we see skins and "widgets" like
in the PC version?
Nintendo isn't ready to discuss if there will be any user
customization allowed for Opera on Wii. Opera's desktop browser is
highly customizable and "skinnable". We have announced that Opera
Widgets will be available on devices and it would be cool to see them
on Wii.
What functions will the Wii controller have? Will it act as the mouse
pointer? Are we able to scroll or type using the functionality of the
Wiimote?
We aim to make a browsing experience that leverages the intuitive
capabilities of the Wii remote. Opera for desktop PCs has the built in
mouse gesture-based navigation, but how this might be available and
mapped to the Wii remote hasn't yet been revealed by Nintendo.
Will Opera for Wii support tabbed browsing and bookmarks? And will we
be able to have personalised bookmarks, so that each family member can
have their own profile?
Yes, Opera for Wii will include bookmarks. But Nintendo and Opera have
not yet revealed specifics on the unique browser features on the Wii.
More will be announced as the Wii launch approaches.
Will the browser be sold as a separate item, like it is for the DS? If
so, is it possible to "install" the browser rather than having to swap
in the optical disc?
The Opera browser is saved to the Flash ROM on the Wii console, and
does not require a separate memory card as Opera for DS does. The
browser can be launched in only a few seconds, immediately delivering a
great user experience.
What version of Opera is the browser based on? 8.5 or 9.0 ?
Opera 9
Will it support music and video? Will it be possible to stream videos
and music?
We are unable to comment on this at this time.
Comparing to a PC display, roughly what resolution will Wii use for
browsing?
All we can say at this time is that the user interface for Opera on Wii
will be customized to better suit a living room environment. For
example, fonts will be larger and the user interface will be simplified
so that the Web is easier to view and use from a distance while
navigating with the Wii remote.
Will it launch with the Wii?
As mentioned before, Opera will not be sold separately on a game
cartridge for Wii. We would like all Wii users to be able to use Opera
to surf the Internet. The details of how exactly Opera will be
available for browsing within Wii have not yet been announced by
Nintendo.
How hard was it to develop the Wii version compared to the PC and the
DS version?
There were no major challenges during our development of the Wii
browser, since Opera has experience with porting to many different
devices and mobile phone platforms. The biggest challenge has been to
create the best "living room" Web experience, leveraging the unique
capabilities of Wii. Opera has worked closely with Nintendo to achieve
a breakthrough experience, especially in terms of incorporating the
revolutionary Wii remote into the browsing experience.
Do you think Wii will see more applications? Are you planning on
developing anything else for Wii?
Opera is very excited to be working on the Wii project, and we hope to
continue to improve the Wii browsing experience by utilizing Opera's
unique capabilities. We would also love to see some interaction between
the Wii and the DS browsers, but Nintendo has not announced any plans
to do so yet. More info will come as the launch approaches.
WJM
Air Raid
WJM wrote:
> You think a video game system's browser will end WebTV?
yes, Wii will :)
WebTV / MSNTV probably has ~1 million subscribers. give or take. and
the service has been around for roughly 10 years
Nintendo will surpass that number in a month. they'll have 4 million
Wii systems deployed worldwide by the end of the year. even if 1/4 of
them make use of the Internet Channel, that's surpassed WebTV / MSNTV /
MSNTV2.
Mattuzzi
fatboy
the Wii will also be running the open source linux OS
--
"The philosophy behind Free, Open Source Software has parallels in several
cultures which practice ethical cooperaton. Perhaps that's why it threatens
unethical business practices which feed on the unknowing."
-- Bassam A. Hassan. CoFounder of the ILUG,
Vice president of the former IOSO,
Jordan
AirRaid wrote:
> surf the web with Nintendo Wii using the "Internet Channel" with the
> specialized Wii web browser made by Opera
It's a neat idea, but the browser is too limited and because it
requires an existing ISP it won't do anything to get rid of WebTV or
MSN or AOL or any of those other services.
- Jordan
Doug Jacobs
> You think a video game system's browser will end WebTV?
Is WebTV/MSN-TV even still around? I don't see it in stores anymore.
Miles Bader
> Is WebTV/MSN-TV even still around? I don't see it in stores anymore.
You still see people posting from it, so their servers must still be
running at least...
-Miles
--
A zen-buddhist walked into a pizza shop and
said, "Make me one with everything."
Guest
thank them. The name I went by back then was Jason Murray.
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"Jordan" <lu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1158546899....@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Aaron J. Bossig
Doug Jacobs <dja...@shell.rawbw.com> wrote in
news:12gtvmd...@corp.supernews.com:
>
> In alt.games.video.xbox WJM <wjmul...@noearthlinkspam.net> wrote:
>> You think a video game system's browser will end WebTV?
>
> Is WebTV/MSN-TV even still around? I don't see it in stores anymore.
Yeah, they're still around. It's a very niche market, but their
customers are pretty loyal.
--
Aaron J. Bossig
...winston
"Guest" <llc...@comcast.com> wrote in message news:4eGPg.2635$vJ2...@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
: Hey dude, in 1997, the WebTV is what got me into newsgroups. You should
: >
:
:
El Guapo
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...winston
"El Guapo" <plet...@pinatas.com> wrote in message news:85KPg.6257$Ij....@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
: You guest right. Har har har!!
::
::
:
:
Stabby Rip Stab Stab
> the browser will cost a certain amount of money
Which is stupid for something which is supposedly reaching beyond
games to attract people to games. Oh well.
Stabby Rip Stab Stab
> the browser is too limited
Says who? In what way?