Final Version of Wii Browser Now Available

CVG points out that, as of today, the final version of the Wii Opera browser is available for download. Make sure and do the update sometime in the next month or so; as you might recall from the original announcement, it will only be free until the end of June. "You can finally ditch the trial version of the Opera browser and download the full and final package, which comes with added features, such as 'www.' and '.com' buttons as well as improved functionality like a faster boot-up and better zoom capability. You can download it right now for free, first by updating your system, then grabbing the update from the Wii Software page on the Shop Channel."

Comments

List of new stuff

[AKAImBatman]

• More advanced zoom. You can zoom in extremely close, or extremely far out.
  
• Crisper fonts due to updated font rendering technology.
  
• Optimized for faster browsing and video game playing. (Seriously!)
  
• Other WiiMote cursors are now visible. They cannot interact with pages, but they can be used as laser pointer replacements.
  
• Scrolling has been improved with the arrows only showing while scrolling and a line showing how fast you're dragging.
  
• The arrow keys now scroll rather than navigating.
  
• The so-called "A-button cooldown effect" has been fixed. This was the bug that prevented rapid clicking.
  
• There are now settings for Proxies and other browser features.
  
• The toolbar has been updated with easy access to the URL entry, search, and page information.
  
• The toolbar can now be hidden.
  
• Cursors have been updated with nicer loading and clicking effects.
  
• Sounds are now associated with events like clicking and loading.
  
• The browser now fills the entire screen. You can change the scaling if the browser is clipped.
  

It's not final, still labeled trial

[gmezero]

I pulled it down yesterday when Nintendo sent out the notice to Wii's using Connect24. They indicated it was a new version of the trial browser. Nowhere did I see it branded as the final release.

Re:It's not final, still labeled trial

[The Moof]

After you run the system update, go to the Wii Shop Channel. There is an upgrade available for the Internet Channel making it the full version.

Re:Two Things

[MBCook]

YouTube works. I've used it. In fact, I heard that was one of the original reasons the browser beta was delayed was so they could update flash and make YouTube work.

They are selling people Wiis. That is just a troll comment. The fact they are so popular they can't produce them fast enough is not Nintendo's fault.

Re:Two Things

[gasgesgos]

One of the major things I use the Wii browser for is Youtube, it works pretty well. Also wiiarcade.com has a handful of games that will work well with the Wii remote. I haven't tried other streaming sites, but I imagine that they would work as well (provided they use flash and not WMP). One warning, it seems that the browser only supports up to Flash 7.

Re:Free until June - unless you can't get a Wii.

[SighKoPath]

Get friendly with the people at wal-mart. Learn when they normally get their shipments, how often they come, how many they get, and what time the sale of new shipments starts.

For example, I learned that my local wal-mart ALWAYS gets them in on Sundays, and they start selling at 8 am. Also, they do not put 'em out in electronics, but hide them over in Customer Service. As soon as I learned this, I was there the next Sunday morning at 9:30. They had 4 Wiis sitting there in the counter in CS (out of 5 received that day). I walked out with one, then went over to electronics to pick up some games, and directed a few people over to CS. They came back and thanked me after.

It's all about asking the right questions of the people who know the answers.

Re:Two Things. 1.) YouTube works and...

[trdrstv]

1. Does Youtube work?

YouTube (and google video) has worked since the beta in December. There was even a site created to help autoformat it so all videos display nicer on the Wii. This is just a front end to YouTube's site so you can bypass it if you don't care for how they are formatting it. Of note Strongbad, and Foamy work great too.

Does it handle streaming audio/video?

The beta didn't do shoutcast, but I have been using Finetune for quite some time.

Doesn't seem to use Nintendo's proxies, either

[Just Some Guy]

I was kind of nervous at first that outgoing requests would be sent to Nintendo, who would fetch the page and return a pre-digested version, ala WebTV. I was pleasantly surprised to see from my own server logs, though, that my Wii was directly connecting to remote hosts without going through any proxy. That makes me feel infinitely more comfortable about using it to access my webmail, online banking, etc.

Just throwing that out there for anyone else who had the same concerns.