Internet Channel: Free upgrade supports keyboards!

The Internet Channel on your Wii is changing, for the second time!  Don't panic - you won't have to pay for it (unless you've never had the channel, in which case the bill is 500 Wii points).  Should you be getting exited, though?  The upgrade features are support for USB keyboards & new ability to send a link directly to a Wii friend, complete with note.

Opera today announced Nintendo has started distributing a new version of the Internet Channel.  Hardware support for any USB keyboard should make typing both easier and faster, though what we really want to see is a wireless keyboard like the one Virgin use with their TV customers.
Simply plug any USB keyboard into one of the two USB ports on your Wii and you're ready to write email, compose blog posts or update your Facebook. In addition to this, a softkey improvement has been made; several new keyboard-specific shortcuts have been introduced, such as using the B button on the Wiimote as a Shift button.

Send to a friend enables you to send links to your favourite Web sites - or the one you are currently browsing - to your Wii friends. You can also add a message to send along with the link. When your friend opens the message, they can immediately visit the page in the Internet Channel.

Also, users can now copy information from a Web page and paste it directly into the search field. Users may also store nine more favourites, bringing the total to 56. A simple visit to the Wii Shop Channel is all you need to do if you already have the channel on your Wii, and the download of this upgrade will be free.  If not, then it's 500 smakeroos.

We think this is definitely worth getting hold of, unless you're absolutely adamant that you'll never ever use a games console to browse the internet ... in your lounge ... watching Youtube ... come on. We know you do it.