Nov/090
Wii TV coming soon
Not only are we still waiting for the TV Guide Channel that Japanese Wii users have been indulging in for the better part of two years, but now Variety is reporting that Nintendo has teamed up with a dozen corporate partners to tease us with a Japanese pay-per-view service for the console. Premiering last Saturday, Wii no Ma (Wii’s Room) currently has 120 titles, including episodes of Sesame Street and Pocket Monsters, available for prices ranging from ¥30 – ¥500 ($.35 – $5.63). According to Variety, titles can also be viewed on your Nintendo DSi handheld, a device known for its sonority and large, appealing display. No word yet on when we can enjoy a Stateside version, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear something. In the meantime, there’s always PlayOn.
Sep/090
Nintendo to Release Wireless Bridge for the Wii
Nintendo has struck gold with its little Wii console. Although the device is years behind when it comes to performance and graphics, it still beats the heck out of the Xbox 360 and PS3. And while Microsoft is still successful with the 360, Sony is quite sad with its own poor strategic decisions regarding the PS3’s price to features ratio.
In the mean time, Nintendo is celebrating by never dropping the price on the Wii and releasing simple, yet playful accessories for their motion-based gaming system. Recently, the company has announced a future device called the Nintendo WiFi Network Adapter. Most of you might think “hey, wait a minute, doesn’t my Wii already have integrated WiFi?”. Sure it does, I’ve been using WiFi on Wii for a long time. So, what exactly is Nintendo cooking in its backyard?
Well, as opposed to the Xbox 360 WiFi Adapter, this isn’t actually a WiFi card for the Wii, but more like a Wireless router. It is meant to provide a WiFi Internet connection for your gaming console. The manufacturer states that the device can either be used as a router, or it can be set to become a bridge for an already installed router. Obviously the device also works with the Nintendo DS. Actually, if things are as the company states, the adapter could pretty well provide wireless connectivity for any WiFi capable device.
Unfortunately, this product will only be released in Japan at first (Nintendo says September 18), but European and US users have high hopes that this adapter will make it to their home markets not to long after the initial launch. Pricing will be of around $53, which makes me think the router in it won’t really provide users with any advanced configuration options (if any at all).
Aug/090
Netflix to Wii, iPhone, and perhaps Apple TV?
Netflix might be planning to bring its “Watch Instantly” feature to new devices soon. Currently built in to several products, like Sony HDTVs, and very popular on the Xbox 360, the feature lets subscribers watch any of thousands of movies in the Netflix library on their TVs. There are no physical discs; the videos stream via Web connection.
And according to Afterdawn.com, which quotes unnamed executives familiar with the situation, the Nintendo Wii and Apple’s iPhone platform are next on the list. The Wii is a fairly obvious choice as Nintendo has been pushing streaming or downloadable content since the console launched a year and a half ago.
But the iPhone is something else. Apple–likely at the behest of AT&T–has kept much streaming video from the iPhone. Afterdawn points out that the streaming would likely be via Wi-Fi, only to keep bandwidth on the already overloaded network down.
What’s interesting is the lack of mention of the Apple TV. Sure, the iPhone and iPod Touch are much more popular devices, but the Apple TV–which already features streaming media via YouTube and the iTunes Movie Store–seems like a much more natural choice. People want to watch the movies on their TVs.
Apple wants you to rent or buy from iTunes and has never been happy with an “all you can eat” subscription service. But if Netflix can convince Jobs and company that “Watch Instantly” will be OK on the iPhone, then it can argue the same for the Apple TV.