Wii Transfer for Mac
May 16th, 2007 by Mike
Well I got my Wii less then a week ago and so like with all new gadgets, it’s been consuming a bit more of my time figuring it all out and seeing what I can actually do with it.
After all Switching to Mac is a Mac site so I don’t want to get too off topic. One item I mentioned in my earlier Wii for Mii Article was a nice PC Application called Orb that allows you to access your computers Music, Photos and Videos on your Wii. There is no Mac version of Orb but it will work on a Mac running Windows via Parallels or Boot Camp. On the plus side Orb is free!
I did find another option for viewing your Macs Multimedia content on a Wii and this time it’s in the form of a Mac only program called Wii Transfer, That’s right no Windows required! The catch is it costs $14, still a bunch cheaper then a Windows license if that’s all you are going to use Windows for. Wii Transfer works in a similar way to Orb in that they both work with the Wii’s Opera based Web Browser. Orb uses the Orb Website front end as its interface and then converts and streams your computer Multimedia files via the Orb PC Application.
Wii Transfer also uses a host Application but it runs natively on the Mac, what’s different about Wii Transfer is that it actually acts as a Web Server complete with all the graphics that you see in Opera when you enter the IP address of the computer you are sharing your Multimedia with. For example, on my Network my MacBook Pro’s IP is “10.0.1.5” so this is the IP that I enter in my Opera Web Browser along with “:9000” which indicates the port being used. Full example: “10.0.1.5:9000”
Another key differentiator is that Wii Transfer does not attempt to stream video using the Opera Browser. I thinks this is due to the poor video quality of the Opera Flash based video player. Instead Wii Transfer has a nice built-in utility that converts your non Wii compatible Video and Movies into Wii compatible video.
The Wii is designed to be digital camera movie-friendly by supporting the most common camera video format which is motion-jpeg found in MOV and AVI digital camera files. If your point and shoot digital camera has video capability and records in motion-jpeg with the AVI or MOV extension then chances are you can simply take your Camera’s SD card out and stick it in your Wii for viewing of your camera’s Photos and Movies. If the video you want to play on a Wii is not in motion-jpeg then you will definitely need a program like the video converter built into Wii Transfer so you can convert your video to be Wii friendly.
Both multimedia solutions have their pros and cons but I think I give the edge to Wii Transfer because it’s a Mac based program and for me that simplifies the whole process.
Author - Michael Kaye
Posted in Rumors, Games | Send this to a friend
May 16th, 2007 at 11:34 am
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May 16th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Pretty cool, though it’s still a bit too involved and clumsy. The Wii is pretty neat, but trying to shoehorn it into the role of media center will only work so well. I really hope they extend its capabilities - imagine a UPnP compatible channel… In the meantime, I’m using a separate set-top box with TwonkyVision.
The Wii and the Macs seem to have some affinity to me - they’re white, fun and easy to use. I just set my parents up with an iMac and they have borrowed my Wii, too!