Opera lifts curtain on browser for Wii

By Robert Jaques on Dec 22, 2006 9:49 AM
Filed under Software

Software offered as free download for owners of console.

Browser developer Opera Software has announced that a trial version of its web browser for Nintendo's Wii game console will be available for download on 22 December.

Wii owners who are already connected and have activated the Wii Shop Channel can download a free beta version of the Opera browser to activate the Internet Channel of the Wii Menu and begin surfing the Web.

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 2007.

After June, users who have not already downloaded the Opera browser can go to the Wii Shop Channel to download it for 500 Wii Points.

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 for text entry.

The Internet Channel joins the four already-live channels: Disc Channel, Photo Channel, Mii Channel and Wii Shop Channel.

The Forecast Channel went live on 20 December and provides current and future weather information that can be accessed using a text list of cities or by using the Wii Remote to zoom in on a 3-D interactive globe.