Oslo, Norway and Tokyo, Japan – October 11, 2007
Opera today announced Nintendo has made available the much-anticipated new version of the Internet Channel for Wiiâ„¢. The Internet Channel now features new ways to share, communicate and enjoy the Internet by adding support for a USB keyboard and enhanced ways to communicate with your Wii friends.
Support for most USB keyboards makes typing both easier and faster while surfing the Internet Channel. Simply plug a standard USB keyboard into one of the two USB ports on the Wii console and you are ready to write email, compose blog posts, comment in forums and much more. Also making text input more comfortable are several new keyboard-specific shortcuts, such as using the “B” Button on the Wii Remoteâ„¢ as you would a “Shift” button on a keyboard.
“We believe this new version of the Internet Channel is even more engaging and delightful for the users around the world than its predecessor,” says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “Nintendo has always brought a new perspective, fresh ideas and unwavering enthusiasm to our partnership. And today, our combined efforts have given users more satisfaction.”
Send-to-a-friend enables you to send the web address of websites from those you have saved as Favorites, or the address of the one you are currently browsing, to friends with whom you have exchanged Wii Numbers. You can also add a message to send along with the address. When your Wii friend opens the message, they can immediately visit the page in the Internet Channel.
The updated Internet Channel for Wii carries additional usability improvements. Users can highlight information on a Web page, and select the Search button to automatically perform a web search for the highlighted text using Google or Yahoo! Users may also store eight more favorite websites, bringing the total to 56. Visit the Wiiâ„¢ Shop Channel to download the new Internet Channel today.
For Web Developers
Wii also embraces Web content and applications in a revolutionary new way with the debut of Widget View Mode in the Internet Channel. By surfing to widgets.opera.com users can browse Opera’s collection of community-built, Opera-tested Web applications immediately ready to run on the Internet Channel.
Widgets available now include calendars, news readers, Internet radios and other fun applications. Users of Opera’s desktop browser will immediately recognize their favorite widgets on this new platform. Web developers can publish widgets on Opera’s website to make them available to Wii users. For more information on creating widgets, please visit widgets.opera.com
Availability
The Opera powered Internet Channel is available as a free upgrade for existing Internet Channel subscribers. For people wishing to subscribe, the Internet Channel can be downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel for 500 Wii Points. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets.