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Your Wii should be flashing blue any moment now, as there is now a firmware update ready for download. This new firmware, version 3.1U/3.1E, offers a number of updates to the system's Internet Channel.
 
Since turning on my Wii would break an epic streak, I sure am glad the folks over at Vooks have not only dug into the new firmware, but also posted some videos (as seen above). Some new features include: USB keyboard compatibility; links receiving on the Wii message board will now open in the Internet Channel; you can send links to friends from the Internet Channel; and you can now copy/paste text from pages.
 
Unfortunately, there's no full documentation on what the update truly provides, but I'm sure after updating the system will tell you that parental controls are now available. And thank God for that. If you guys unearth any other significant changes, be sure to let us know!

Continue: More firmware stories





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30 comments | showing # 1 to 30

A New Challenger's Avatar
A New Challenger at 10/10/2007 01:08
Hyperlinks on the messageboard is good indeed. Now I need a USB keyboard.
Yashoki's Avatar
Yashoki at 10/10/2007 01:15
AMAZING!
AngelsDontBurn's Avatar
AngelsDontBurn at 10/10/2007 01:15
...Oh boy.
mdvalenz's Avatar
mdvalenz at 10/10/2007 01:31
I don't suppose anything else USB can be plugged in?
topgeargorilla's Avatar
topgeargorilla at 10/10/2007 01:35
cool?
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 10/10/2007 01:55
Oh that's pretty sweet. I like my Wii.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 10/10/2007 01:59
My Wii slot isn't pulsating yet. Should I just go to sleep and wait for the eerie blue glow to wake me in the middle of the night?
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 10/10/2007 02:53
Nice. This will bring a wii bit more awesomeness to the wii.
Tristero's Avatar
Tristero at 10/10/2007 04:10
Great. Now we can expect even more of those OMG, I'M TYPING THIS ON MY WII comments.
DrXym's Avatar
DrXym at 10/10/2007 04:45
Someone should work out how much power Wiis have wasted since launch waiting for "surprises" that never came. The wastage must be obscene. But hey, your machine flashes a blue light every now and again because there is new firmware! That justifies the continuous 10W it saps while plugged in. 240W a day, or equivalent to running a 100W lightbulb for 2.4 hours for no reason at all.

Not that other console's on-state consumption is anything to write home about, but at least they don't implement consume anything like as much power when in standby.
YARLY's Avatar
YARLY at 10/10/2007 04:47
Does this mean that friend codes can be copy-pasted now?
nademagnet's Avatar
nademagnet at 10/10/2007 05:48
I wonder if wireless USB Keyboards will work...
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 10/10/2007 05:53
WIN! USB Keyboard!
owenkun's Avatar
owenkun at 10/10/2007 05:58
"Since turning on my Wii would break an epic streak[...]"
Have you not been playing Metroid Prime 3?

Also, between the comments in the Sonic-in-Brawl thread and here I can't believe the massive amounts of butt-hurt I'm seeing. Sonic and Mario in a game together (a good game, that is, not that Olympic crap), cool new firmware AND Orange Box, all in the same day and you still complain?

You people are hard to please.
tapanga's Avatar
tapanga at 10/10/2007 06:00
DrXym wrote:

"But hey, your machine flashes a blue light every now and again because there is new firmware! That justifies the continuous 10W it saps while plugged in. 240W a day, or equivalent to running a 100W lightbulb for 2.4 hours for no reason at all."

Huh? The reason WiiConnect24 is on in my home is because we get photos and wii-mail from friends. We also get miis in the plaza, news and weather updates a few times a day, and we can see the newest Everybody Votes question from the Wii menu. If you don't have any friends sending you things, and you don't use the other channels often, you should just turn it off. But most of us are getting a lot of use out of it.
owenkun's Avatar
owenkun at 10/10/2007 06:19
>I wonder if wireless USB Keyboards will work..
There's no reason why they wouldn't, unless they used some esoteric driver. The wireless portion of their functions are generally handled in the wireless dongle you hook up to your computer, there's really nothing special about it insofar as its being a keyboard is concerned.

I should also mention that this is a MAJOR boon to people like myself that have 128+ WAP keys. Believe me, typing in line after line of characters just to make a WiFi connection made me consider buying the Ethernet adapter.
van's Avatar
van at 10/10/2007 06:58
i just updated and nothing is different. wtf? my internet channel does not have the 'mail' button in favorites as seen in the above video.
DryvBy's Avatar
DryvBy at 10/10/2007 07:08
Too bad it didn't update to a better friends list service.
van's Avatar
van at 10/10/2007 07:21
ok. i figured it out. after you do a system update, --> wii shop channel --> wii ware... then do an internet channel update.
Johnny Blaze's Avatar
Johnny Blaze at 10/10/2007 08:07
Man I hope you can copy and paste the devil which is friend codes..
JonDarkwood's Avatar
JonDarkwood at 10/10/2007 09:02
Don't upgrade, latest firmware disables playback of Talladega Nights
Justice's Avatar
Justice at 10/10/2007 09:10
Pretty cool!
deanhatescoffee's Avatar
deanhatescoffee at 10/10/2007 09:59
Sweet - I was wondering what the blue glow was all aboot. Why can't the update message from Nintendo just explain what the update does?
Variable Gear's Avatar
Variable Gear at 10/10/2007 10:10
Why weren't USB keyboards supported at launch?

It is nice to get it in an update, but is this even an issue for anyone?
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 10/10/2007 10:17
Theyre now just adding USB keyboards? LAAAAAME
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 10/10/2007 10:54
Hey, at least they finally got around to it.
flynsk's Avatar
flynsk at 10/10/2007 10:54
Sweet. update and a slew of wiiware announced today.
They do love us!
HiGHFLYiN9's Avatar
HiGHFLYiN9 at 10/10/2007 11:40
Blue Glowing Light FTL, I turned mine off as I value my sleep more than the knowledge than an update is available.
JDevL's Avatar
JDevL at 10/10/2007 12:55
I think Nintendo has caught us all in their time warp with these firmware updates. Adding little features here and there that seem cool just because we like updates and bright blue lights. But when you think about it - sending links to friends and copying and pasting text isn't exactly groundbreaking. Unfortunately, we just have to accept it and plod along with our new masters for now anyway.
DrXym's Avatar
DrXym at 10/21/2007 04:48
@tapanga "Huh? The reason WiiConnect24 is on in my home is because we get photos and wii-mail from friends. We also get miis in the plaza, news and weather updates a few times a day, and we can see the newest Everybody Votes question from the Wii menu. If you don't have any friends sending you things, and you don't use the other channels often, you should just turn it off. But most of us are getting a lot of use out of it. "

Well that's just dumb. I can do all of those things on my PC without leaving it on constantly. You're probably talking a couple of hundred K of content at most. It should take a few seconds to pull that and certainly does not justify leaving a device always on sapping power.
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