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Opera on the Nintendo DS
dxprog writes "Opera has announced that they and Nintendo are going in together to create a web browser for the DS. The browser, based on Opera's core engine, will take advantage of the system's two screens and the touchscreen to provide on-the-go portable internet access. From the article: 'Within just five seconds of turning on the system, the Nintendo DS is already fully operational. This makes it the ideal device to enable people to swiftly obtain the latest information from the internet, wherever they are.'" Update: 02/15 15:50 GMT by Z : More information about the browser and game announcements available from Gamasutra, and Iwata's aim that they'll hit 10 Million DS units sold is reported on the Next Generation site.
Doing something like this truly shows the versatility of Opera. They sure have come up with a fantastic products. Not only does it work perfectly on desktop systems, rivalling Firefox, Internet Explorer, Konqueror and Safari, but it is also a gem on far less powerful systems.
With all the talk about the flexibility of Firefox, I just can't imagine seeing it run on similar hardware. Enough people complain about Firefox leaking memory that it seems almost impossible for it to remotely support such devices.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
there is no such thing as a gameboy ds. its nintendo ds. the gameboy advance sp and gameboy micro are the current gameboy.
It looks like a nice step up from cell phone browsers in both the fact that you gain more screen area, an actually decent input device, and the fact that you're not getting charged for every byte sent over the line (Depending, usually airport wifi access is free).
I'm looking forward to it. Especially now that Google Chat is integrated into their gmail, I can have full IM access with my DS on the go as well. Slick.
Opera WAP? Opera doesn't have a WAP browser. All Opera browsers are full web browsers.
for more pictures, check this article with pictures of the Opera browser and also the newly announced Nintendo DS TV Tuner. Other announcements are a new Super Mario Brothers being released in May in Japan, and a budget priced Tetris DS.
Considering that the minimum resolution you can get on a PDA is 160x160, the DS screen size of 256x192 seems like a nice upgrade. Mid-range PDAs have a resolution of 320x320, while higher-end ones are 480x320.
I have a Zire 31 which I use to view web pages offline, among other things. My eyesight is far from perfect, but I don't find reading the 160x160 screen a big strain. The only thing that sucks is that the screen doesn't hold much information (13 lines of text in my current setup).
I don't think this thing will be a replacement for PDAs, since it lacks the extra features these devices offer out of the box. But it will be good for quick browsing of e-mail, checking the weather or sports headlines.
The DS is not locked for regions (i.e. You can play Japanese games on American-released systems with no modification). And it will definitely require some sort of English (or at least Latin) text input and display in order for it to be useful on this English-dominated web of ours. So as long as you're willing to learn the menus through trial and error, buying the Japanese version should be just as good as waiting for a NA or EU release.
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I'd rather be flamed than ignored.
You're totally missing the point. The issue is not protecting your http traffic - rather, it's to protect your LAN. Without a good wireless security protocol, your internal network is _wide open_ for anyone to attack. WEP is NOT a good security protocol, and if DS doesn't support WPA, you can't use the thing at home for wireless browsing.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
According to brianj (Opera employee) on the Opera forums:
"Opera will have two modes: fit-to-width mode (similar to what mobile users are already familiar with their mobile phones using the Opera Mobile browser). This mode will use Small Screen Rendering to fit the page across both screens. Alternatively, there is a DS mode which displays an overall page view on the lower screen (where you may use the touch screen to navigate around a sort of "mini map") and read the text on the top screen in full-sized view."
Don't know about small screen rendering? See here: http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/smallscreen/
Still not convinced? See what your website looks like on a small screen using the Opera Mini Simulator (which probably isn't exactly how it will look on the DS, but it's an approximation. The DS certainly has more screen real estate than my pathetic cell phone, anyway.)
Also, according to DS Advanced:
"The Opera software is currently slated to release in Japan during the month of June at the price of 3800 yen, roughly $30, and will include ATOK Kanji conversion software."
I have done a bit of web browsing on the psp, and while my eyes aren't perfect, I considered the psp's screen to be the "bare minimum" one really needs to be able to read web pages.
To be able to read web pages using the layout that the designers originally created from, that being a 1024x768 computer screen, perhaps. If you just want access to the contents of a page and don't care if the layout is compromised, screens the size and resolution of the DS's ought to be fine for anybody.
Also, will the Opera cartridge contain a firmware update that will finally allow DS units to use WPA instead of the pitiful WEP?
AFAIK, DS tiles implement all WiFi encryption methods in software, not in firmware. A game like Mario Kart DS, where multiplayer gameplay requires very precise timing, might not have CPU cycles to spare to do WPA encryption/decryption. On a browser title like Opera, where synchronization with other DS users is not an issue, WPA could be a more likely feature.
yes you are missing it. I use my DS all the time with regular access points. it has ALWAYS worked well with regular accesspoints.
That was a bit of FUD running around from PSP fanboys trying to diss the system that outsells it 2 to 1 and you can buy games for it for far less than the cheap PSP games. (plus it has games for it that people want to play unlike the PSP.
the DS does not have a built-in TCP/IP stack, it must be provided by the game.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Yep, you're missing something. Here is a list of currently supported routers: http://www.nintendowifi.com/customersupport/suppor tedRouters.do
So far in my travels I've only encountered one wireless router that wouldn't connect.
I love NintendoWiFi. It's so bad.