Free Trial version of Opera Web browser coming this Friday

BrendaN_f

From nintendo.co.uk

Dec. 19, 2006 – Nintendo’s wildly popular Wii home video game system not only revolutionizes how people play games, but it also entices new people into the world of gaming.

On Dec. 22, Nintendo and Opera Software bring the Internet to the living room couch with a free trial version of the Opera Web browser. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can download a free trial Opera browser to activate the Internet Channel of the Wii Menu and begin surfing the Web.

“In addition to providing innovative and exciting new ways to play, Wii also offers further services and entertainment for all the family. This newest Wii Menu Channel is just the latest example of how we are doing this” says Nintendo of Europe Marketing Director, Laurent Fischer. “Wii is the perfect console for everyone to enjoy and this is being reflected in the phenomenal sales across Europe. ”

“Our software brings the power and reach of the Internet to the hottest video game system available,” says Scott Hedrick, Executive Vice President, Devices at Opera Software. “Wii’s unique interface adds a new dimension to our browser, making it a useful tool that the whole family will enjoy operating with ease.”

The final version of the Opera browser will be available at the end of March 2007, and will be free for all Wii owners to download through the end of June. After June 2007, the browser will be available for download in the Wii Shop Channel for 500 Wii Points.

The Internet Channel provides an optimal Web browsing experience on people’s home television. The Adobe Flash-enabled trial version of the Opera browser puts the Internet right onto owners’ television screens and lets them browse with ease, enabling them to check sports scores, plot maps or visit their favorite Web sites. Multiple family members can gather around the television to plan a holiday or make online purchases.

The pointing abilities of the Wii Remote allow users to click on links they want to see or to zoom into any part of the screen through the motion of the controller. In addition, the Wii Remote can be used with an on-screen keyboard to make text entry as easy as point and click.

The Forecast Channel, provided by Weathernews which allows users to check out weather information for anywhere in the world using a 3-D globe, is available from today.

The Internet Channel joins the four channels which have been available since launch: Disc Channel, Photo Channel, Mii™ Channel and Wii Shop Channel as well as the newly available Forecast Channel. The Internet Channel, Forecast Channel and Wii Shop Channel are available at no charge, though they require Wii owners to have a high-speed Internet connection. For more information about Wii, visit Wii.com.


This is great news because my brothers and sisters are always on the computer!

scrapland

Now everyone can view porn from the comfort of their sofa

Kanney

Will you be able to view Youtube videos and stuff like that?

BrendaN_f

Kanney wrote:

Will you be able to view Youtube videos and stuff like that?

I'm not sure, It CAN do flash, but I dont know what way youtube is done.

But I'm gonna say yes

AceCard Jones

Trial?...Why?I was under the impression that the full version was coming out this Saturday.And this trial crap is just making me think of Micro$oft's current Beta frenzy, AKA an excuse for all the unstable crap they force us to put up with.

And the full version is out in March correct?
And is free until June.So does that mean everyone who was using the browser for free before then will then have to pay for it?
If so Nintendo can **** right off.

Kurtosis

No, it will only cost money to download it after June. Everyone who downloads it before June will have it for free and not to pay at all.

AceCard Jones

That's what I got from the article.
But in a lot of other threads people seem to think otherwise.
I hope you're right.If not then I won't be bothering with this.
It's not like I need it or like I'm not paying for enough other crap as it is.

Shred

Kanney wrote:

Will you be able to view Youtube videos and stuff like that?

Well considering the screenshots of the browser show the Wi.com videos page I'd say youtube will work.

Opera Browser.jpg

dimerocks

I can't wait to get hold of it. The forecast channel yesterday was fairly cool and now we have this too. Excellent!

qwertplaywert

q-wilol i be able to use even the browser with dial up interweb?

Kanney

Shred wrote:

Well considering the screenshots of the browser show the Wi.com videos page I'd say youtube will work.

Opera Browser.jpg

Is there a larger pic of that anywhere? Cant really see.

Jim

Kanney wrote:

Is there a larger pic of that anywhere? Cant really see.

Its basically showing a version of http://uk.wii.com/ with the video links down the right.

Jim

http://www.skepticalgaming.com/2006/12/20/wiis-opera-browser-trial-version-what-to-expect/

Youtube has, apparently, been a big focus for development. The developers have claimed they're trying to make the experience flawless for both 4:3 and 16:9

Theoretically, the browser resolution is set to something near 550 x 460.

But beyond that… you're not going to see a lot of great stuff here in the trial software, and it'll earn that "trial" moniker quite easily. In fact, this is less of a "trial" and more of an "Open Beta". It's your chance to test out the software for Nintendo and Opera. You're going to have problems with sites, because the rendering of some sites will play havoc with the Wii Opera Browser

Frankly, this concerns me. Because if there are this many problems now… how much worse will the software be in March, when it releases?

AceCard Jones

qwertplaywert wrote:

q-wilol i be able to use even the browser with dial up interweb?

I'm afraid not, you need a high speed internet connection (Broadband) to use the internet on the Wii full stop, at least that's what is being said everywhere.

The Free Man

awesome news.

i wonder how it will cope with pop-ups and such..

AceCard Jones

^^^Worrying me thinks.
If people start right malware for the Wii.....
I don't know, I doubt it will ever become as big an issue as it is with Windblows.
But we all know that there are idiots out there who derive pleasure from pissing everyone else off.

scrapland

AceCard Jones wrote:

^^^Worrying me thinks.
If people start right malware for the Wii.....
I don't know, I doubt it will ever become as big an issue as it is with Windblows.
But we all know that there are idiots out there who derive pleasure from pissing everyone else off.

Not an issue. Just look at the mac, it doesnt have ANY issues with malware or crap like that. Chance that wii, or ps3 with their browsers will suffer - next to none.

Star Lord

Jimeatsmenu wrote:

http://www.skepticalgaming.com/2006/12/20/wiis-opera-browser-trial-version-what-to-expect/

Frankly, this concerns me. Because if there are this many problems now… how much worse will the software be in March, when it releases?

Do they even know what the purpose of beta testing is? Its to find out any problems in the software and try and fix them. Not to release something worse again when it comes to final release!

CiDeRmAn

No point in slagging the service off until you have a chance to try them out for yourself, I figure.
Folk speculating on the actual capabilities of the Wii browser, well they have to realise that it simply can't ever be as capable as IE or Firefox on your PC, but if used with those parameters it could be a useful tool, I'm getting broadband in Jan so I'll make up my mind then, not before.

Star Lord

Sure there'll be plenty of us trying it out that'll be able to keep ya posted on what it's like.

Wiicade.com should be fun!

djkeogh

I'm doing to try out the Internet Channel. I love the Wii so much I want it to replace everything at this stage. The Forecast channel is great at what it does and having another use for the Wii is only gonna be a good thing. Roll on tomorrow!

RE*AC*TOR

The wii has relatively little RAM by today's computer standards, so I imagine browsing will be sluggish enough. It'll be fun to play with, but I can't see it being much more than a novelty.

Shred

That may be true but I'd suspect the Ram is used more efficiently on the Wii than it is through Windoze, so I'd say it could work fairly well (although I'm not expecting it to work as well as a PC/Laptop but that's fine with me).

AceCard Jones

The RAM would obviously be more efficient in the Wii, for the Wii than Windblows.
Your ram on your PC is running the OS anything else running in the background.Everything you have running on start up etc etc.

I have no doubts it will be slower than on your PC, but I would say that's more up to your connection speed than the Wii's RAM.
If it's anything like the weather channel and the shopping channel on terms of loading then there won't be much point.

qwertplaywert

how much ram does it have?
my computer gos fine online and im on 244........

RE*AC*TOR

qwertplaywert wrote:

how much ram does it have?
my computer gos fine online and im on 244........

88MB although 24MB of that is used by the GPU.

Smellyirishman

Had a go, nothing spectacular especially when a 1050x1600 browser is only a press away.