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Nintendo chooses Opera to make Wii sing

Free trial version of browser will be available starting Friday, with a final version slated for March.

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi

Nintendo has partnered with Opera Software to make Opera the official Web browser for the Wii game console. A trial version will be available for free download beginning on Friday via Nintendo's Wii Shop Channel, both companies announced Tuesday. Eventually, it will also be available for the Nintendo DS game console.

When Wii users download Opera, it will activate the "Internet Channel" on the Wii and allow them to use the game console to browse the Internet on their television. Opera via a comic strip, and Nintendo via a statement, announced that the final version of Opera for Wii will be available in March 2007. That final version, according to Nintendo, will also be free March through June, after which it will cost 500 Wii points (roughly $5) through the Wii Shop Channel. In addition to its PC and OS version, Opera is already available for portable devices via Opera Mobile for smart phones and Opera Mini for cell phones.