Wii-Phone?

[Megadrive1988]

I think VoiP on Wii sounds great.

I put up with Inomedia's Dreamcall on Dreamcast over 56K dialup.

then things improved when I got the DC BBA and Ch@b call which has now been shutdown.

for those that don't have a computer + Vonage or Skype, a Wii VioP function would be terrific depending on how well it's implemeneted.

 

[StefanS]

I think VoiP on Wii sounds great.

I put up with Inomedia's Dreamcall on Dreamcast over 56K dialup.

then things improved when I got the DC BBA and Ch@b call which has now been shutdown.

for those that don't have a computer + Vonage or Skype, a Wii VioP function would be terrific depending on how well it's implemeneted.

It would be really nice if Nintendo found a established partner as they did with Opera for their web browser. Using Wii to call e.g. "normal" Skype accounts would be great and Skype could still sell their SkypeOut, etc. services.

 

[Refreshment]

The idea of the rumor (some sort of voice chat -- a mic in the remote possibly) is decent enough, but the implementation that this rumor talks about is absurd at best.

I agree with this to some extent. Whats the source for "the memory in the controller" rumor?

I dont believe the controller stores your data. The more plausible way to do this is if the remote has a code number, then you make your profile asociated to that number and store it in the flash memory. Since the goal of the console is to reach the whole family, in this profile you have your friend codes and game saves independent of the other users.

I think it sounds very plausible. My biggest concern is the range of the wiimote. Nintendo said that the range is about 10 meters (class 2 bluetooth). That's fine for gaming, but not so for telephones where people are accustomed to walking all over their house when talking. But maybe the radio in the wiimote can switch from class 2 to 1, when in phone mode?

Its not a substitute to your phone. Just something like DreamCall or Xbox live, great to arrange matches.

What would be nice and easy is something like DreamCall but aplied to the DashBoard. Take your friend list, watch who's online talk to them or send him a voice message if hes playing.

 

[Ty]

Same reason why a cellphone has its own phone #.

So we should expect to carry around the wii remote wherever we go?

If you want to call your VoIP buddies then you would pick up the Wiimote that has your buddies' ID#s stored on them.

And how will I know it's the proper Wii controller?

So how do you enter a password without turning on the TV? AABBAXYBBAAR?

I thought the whole point of this was to have it as a videophone? And how would you use it without the TV anyhow? Hit AABBAXYBBAAR to dial Bob? Or was that AABBAXYBBAAR to dial Joanne? Seems like you would want the TV on period.

The problem with storing the phone book on the Wii console is portability. You can't access that phonebook from another Wii console only your own.

Or it could simply be stored on the net since the Wii is connected all the time. It's not difficult to have portability and flexibility with one schema.

I could see many uses for a personalized controller. Say you have 4 controllers one for each person in the home and when you have a voicemail, the LED on the Wiimote blinks. Of course you would want controllers of different colors to distinguish who the message is for since the LED on the Wiimote are all blue.

Exactly my point above.

Let's say my home has 4 controllers and I want to call someone. I have to guess which remote is the right one and there is no way to tell until I pick one up and try to use it. Heck, if the TV is off like you mentioned above, I don't even know how I would select someone to call or determine how the remote I picked up was the proper one.

I guess you could use voice recognition to dial out and a voice sample ("PC-Engine's Wii") played back through each remote to let you know which remote belongs to who, but that still seems quite clunky and overly complicated.

The controller would contain the ID# of the user so the Wii console would know which controller to page or blink the LED. Bring your controller to a friend/relative's house and you have your VoIP phone book with you and can even receive messages or even calls from another Wii console that's not even your own.

And you could do that if the addressbook was on the net too. Heck, you wouldn't even need to bring your own controller.

And what happens if your remote dies or you lose it taking it over to a friend's place? I guess you just lost all of your contacts.

No, keeping it on the net is more flexible, easier on consumers, and is less complicated in design.

 

[Bobbler]

The idea is actually pretty radical if you think about it. Personalized wiimotes makes the customers more attached to the system, on an emotional level. The wiimote isn't just a stupid joystick anymore like with every other game system before it, a stupid joystick that can be used interchangeably with any other joystick. Instead the wiimote becomes a personal item, like a cellphone or a music player that the owner can customize and put their own touch on - to some extent at least.

There are other ways to personalize your controller that make a bit more sense and don't have any annoying drawbacks (like faceplates or color). There is no need to tie the controller to a person in a non physical and non apparent way (like having a invisible phonebook inside the controller -- if all controllers are the same color, what then? -- that isn't a very good way to personalize you're controller... you generally personalize something by visible means, not by intangible differences).

The wiimote already have this stuff. Nintendo's already confirmed flash storage in the wiimote, due to the speaker feature.

You're likely going to need more than what's on there for just a speaker -- as that flash for the speaker is going to be consumed while talking (I imagine it's there for buffering?). It's still a needless increase over what there is if you didn't have a phonebook and such stored there.

'No beneficial reason' is a very narrow-minded way of looking at it. You might as well say wireless joypads are of no beneficial reason because then you need batteries for them. There obviously ARE beneficial reasons for a personalized pad, except you choose to completely ignore them.

I'd like to add however that my post is completely speculative in nature. I don't know for sure Nintendo's doing personalized wiimotes or not, and I don't know if they're storing phone books on them, or if there's a mic either. I'm just expressing ideas here fellas.

When I said no beneficial reason, I meant compared to other implementations (like storing the phone book and such on the console itself -- it would still allow a given remote to be tied to a person in similar ways, but it wouldn't necessarily be completely tied in this potentially frustrating way). It would be smarter to use the login accounts/play slots vs a physical controller, if you ask me (have a controller slot have a seperate mini login -- similar how in Super Smash Bro's you can give everyone a different name according to their controller slot). I probably should have worded that more accurately.

 

[Bad_Boy]

That's the plan. I believe it was listed on the E3 slides as one of the online features.

Yeah, with eyetoy coming out at launch it should be a cool feature out of the box.

 

[Fox5]

You're likely going to need more than what's on there for just a speaker -- as that flash for the speaker is going to be consumed while talking (I imagine it's there for buffering?). It's still a needless increase over what there is if you didn't have a phonebook and such stored there.

Flash ram for buffering? Wouldn't normal ram be cheaper and faster, not to mention it wouldn't die after many rewrites?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

An individual controller per player strikes me as the ultimate money grabbing ploy. For five people in a house, instead of sharing a couple of controllers sell them all their own one.

 

[Bobbler]

Flash ram for buffering? Wouldn't normal ram be cheaper and faster, not to mention it wouldn't die after many rewrites?

Don't ask me -- I'm not the one who said flash was included in it already! But I can't see any other uses for ram relating to sound other than buffering or maybe storing a few different samples and having the Rev just tell it what to play vs sending it the sound every time (neither would be needing Flash though). Maybe it was a misunderstanding and there was just some type of ram (be it dram/sram or whatever) and Guden mistyped it as Flash since that's what was being talked about.

 

[NANOTEC]

So we should expect to carry around the wii remote wherever we go?

Do you expect the Wiimote to replace your cellphone? Maybe when every household owns a Wii and wireless internet we can expect something like that in the future. Maybe Wii2 and DSLite2 will support WiMAX and boundless roaming.

And how will I know it's the proper Wii controller?

The color of the controller or if they're all the same color, simply push a button and a unique chime or owner's name outputs from the builtin speaker.

I thought the whole point of this was to have it as a videophone?

No that's not the whole point. If that was the whole point Wii would come standard with a USB webcam which it doesn't. The videophone is just an idea to go along with the VoIP.

And how would you use it without the TV anyhow? Hit AABBAXYBBAAR to dial Bob? Or was that AABBAXYBBAAR to dial Joanne? Seems like you would want the TV on period.

You pick up the Wiimote and say the name of the person you want to call. It's called voice activated dialing. Ever heard of it or used it?

Or it could simply be stored on the net since the Wii is connected all the time. It's not difficult to have portability and flexibility with one schema.

Or it could be stored on a thumb drive, floppy disk, 8 Track tape, or Betamax videocassette. Why would Nintendo create an online server to store your phone book? Are you paying them to use the FREE WiFi service?

Exactly my point above.Let's say my home has 4 controllers and I want to call someone. I have to guess which remote is the right one and there is no way to tell until I pick one up and try to use it. Heck, if the TV is off like you mentioned above, I don't even know how I would select someone to call or determine how the remote I picked up was the proper one.

Since Wii only comes with one white Wiimote, it would make sense to buy additional Wiimotes in different colors so that you can quickly recognize your Wiimote for voice dial without having to turn on the damn TV to view a stupid phone book. Sometimes you want to keep your phone book private from other users. The only way to do this without having to turn on the TV to enter a stupid password is to keep the phonebook exclusive to each Wiimote. In fact this is how my home phone works eg EACH handset has it's own separate phone book. You can even copy numbers from each handset's phonebook to other handsets. It doesn't require you to LOG IN to the handset. This ain't Wiindows.

As for messages-->blinking LED just like on a cellphone or even cordless home phones. If you have 4 Wiimotes of the same color, it wouldn't take a genious to figure out which one has a blinking LED. I have wireless home phones that blink a big red LED on the handsets when I have a voicemail. Heck the Wiimote idea can even go a step further and may even allow you to know who the message is for instead of just a message by sounding your own personalized VM reminder like "Joe you have a voicemail" coming from the Wiimote's speaker.

I guess you could use voice recognition to dial out and a voice sample ("PC-Engine's Wii") played back through each remote to let you know which remote belongs to who, but that still seems quite clunky and overly complicated.

The choice is up to you whether you want to make it difficult for yoursef by using 4 Wiimotes of the same color laid side by side on the coffee table.

And you could do that if the addressbook was on the net too. Heck, you wouldn't even need to bring your own controller.

Sure..question is does Nintendo want to spend money to setup an online server to keep track of people's files etc. for a FREE service?. Heck maybe Nintendo should give out free 1GB of online storage for purchased virtual console games with their FREE WiFi service too eh?

And what happens if your remote dies or you lose it taking it over to a friend's place? I guess you just lost all of your contacts.

People who lose cellphones are subject to the same "issue" doesn't stop the billions of people out there from creating phonebooks on their cellphones eor even copy to their SIM. Some phone companies do offer their own voice activated phonebook service but it isn't FREE...I wonder why. Also there's nothing stopping you from backing up your phonebook onto SD cards as a precaution.

No, keeping it on the net is more flexible, easier on consumers, and is less complicated in design.

Nintendo is hardly oblivious to server side storage, however, in the end it comes down to cost since Nintendo will be footing the bill not you.

 

[NANOTEC]

It would be smarter to use the login accounts/play slots vs a physical controller, if you ask me (have a controller slot have a seperate mini login -- similar how in Super Smash Bro's you can give everyone a different name according to their controller slot).

Err..no. How would you login to a Wii at your friend or relative's house without the information being stored on your own Wiimote? Go online to retrieve it?

An individual controller per player strikes me as the ultimate money grabbing ploy. For five people in a house, instead of sharing a couple of controllers sell them all their own one.

Um..you would need to buy multiple controllers for offline multiplaye anyway. How would personalizing be any different from buying extra controllers of different colors for N64, DC, PS1?

 

[Guden Oden]

An individual controller per player strikes me as the ultimate money grabbing ploy.

Well, considering Nintendo hasn't announced an integrated retina scanner and hardware lock for the wiimote, I think it's safe to say it'll be alright for several people to share the same controller.

For five people in a house, instead of sharing a couple of controllers sell them all their own one.

Did you have four pads for your N64, all in different colors? I did.

In what way exactly is this any different? You'll need multiple pads anyway for multiplayer games.

 

[Ty]

Do you expect the Wiimote to replace your cellphone?

Nope. And therefore they hardly need to have their own individual phonebooks.

Maybe when every household owns a Wii and wireless internet we can expect something like that in the future. Maybe Wii2 and DSLite2 will support WiMAX and boundless roaming.

No doubt as soon as Nintendo ponies up the millions of dollars for cell tower placement/leasing.

The color of the controller or if they're all the same color, simply push a button and a unique chime or owner's name outputs from the builtin speaker.

You pick up the Wiimote and say the name of the person you want to call. It's called voice activated dialing. Ever heard of it or used it?

This I mentioned below and there is no reason to be sarcastic.

No that's not the whole point. If that was the whole point Wii would come standard with a USB webcam which it doesn't. The videophone is just an idea to go along with the VoIP.

Oh. You confused me when you said:

What people don't get is this will be THE mainstream VIDEOPHONE and it's FREE!

So even though it requires a USB camera, I thought the focus would be on that aspect.

Besides, you mentioned that the big secret of the Wii would be a camera on it.

Or it could be stored on a thumb drive, floppy disk, 8 Track tape, or Betamax videocassette. Why would Nintendo create an online server to store your phone book? Are you paying them to use the FREE WiFi service?

Well considering it's supposedly being stored on flash ram INSIDE of the controller, it's already your 8-track right there. They could have easily used the cost for that and simply set up a service that stored it on the internet. It's not that expensive to store buddy keys. What else do you need to store? Messages? Will it be functioning as an answering machine?

Since Wii only comes with one white Wiimote,

Do we know it's only one? Seems likely to me but didn't know if it was official.

it would make sense to buy additional Wiimotes in different colors so that you can quickly recognize your Wiimote for voice dial without having to turn on the damn TV to view a stupid phone book.

I would hope they offer them in different colors. Have they been confirmed? Certainly at some point they will come in different colors but not sure when. Maybe they'll give you a set of 4 colored stickers?

And yes, visualizing a "stupid phone book" on screen. Why did cell phone companies ever bother with LCD screens?

Sometimes you want to keep your phone book private from other users. The only way to do this without having to turn on the TV to enter a stupid password is to keep the phonebook exclusive to each Wiimote. In fact this is how my home phone works eg EACH handset has it's own separate phone book. You can even copy numbers from each handset's phonebook to other handsets. It doesn't require you to LOG IN to the handset. This ain't Wiindows.

The privacy aspect is an interesting one. How will the lack of a screen help in this regard?

If each controller does NOT have its own password (voice activated) then it's not very secure to begin with.

Heck the Wiimote idea can even go a step further and may even allow you to know who the message is for instead of just a message by sounding your own personalized VM reminder like "Joe you have a voicemail" coming from the Wiimote's speaker.

And would it be password protected so that you have privacy?

The choice is up to you whether you want to make it difficult for yoursef by using 4 Wiimotes of the same color laid side by side on the coffee table.

Considering that we've only seen one color, what choice is there so far? I don't know about you, but I tend to keep all of my controllers grouped together nicely. Frankly, I don't think people are going to want to keep on in the kitchen and another in the loo.

Sure..question is does Nintendo want to spend money to setup an online server to keep track of people's files etc. for a FREE service?. Heck maybe Nintendo should give out free 1GB of online storage for purchased virtual console games with their FREE WiFi service too eh?

As I mentioned above, they already paid for the flash ram in each remote. Secondly you're not really using their WiFi service are you? You're using your inet provider.

People who lose cellphones are subject to the same "issue" doesn't stop the billions of people out there from creating phonebooks on their cellphones eor even copy to their SIM. Some phone companies do offer their own voice activated phonebook service but it isn't FREE...I wonder why. Also there's nothing stopping you from backing up your phonebook onto SD cards as a precaution.

And the reason why cellphones have their own phonebooks is because each of us carries one of them wherever we go (we don't share). This is not true of video game controllers. Unless you see folks near you walking around with a N64 controller all the time?

Nintendo is hardly oblivious to server side storage, however, in the end it comes down to cost since Nintendo will be footing the bill not you.

Sure but as I mentioned, they already did by going with this schema (if the rumors are true). Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it's far more expensive. And don't forget, it's not as if Nintendo is storing a matrix of Buddy Key to IPs. So in a sense, they already are storing data as they need to store whose S/N goes to what buddy key they've been assigned by Nintendo.

FYI, I had to remove one of your 5 emoticons since quoting your message used up the limit. Funny, never knew there was one.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Did you have four pads for your N64, all in different colors? I did.

In what way exactly is this any different? You'll need multiple pads anyway for multiplayer games.

If they were locked to individual people, as suggested, is what I was talking about. Not that I'm expecting as much, but the arguments in favour of personalised Wiimotes,well the idea if true strikes me as more a way to sell more controllers, with people not being able to borrow controllers, then being of any benefit to users.

The color of the controller or if they're all the same color, simply push a button and a unique chime or owner's name outputs from the builtin speaker.

C'mon, that's far from ideal. What if you have 4 white controllers, you have to bleep through them to find the one you want. That's get aggravating pretty quick. Worse still if you had a friend round with their own Wiimote so they could call one of their friends
and they take the wrong Wiimote back. A web based service would be so much more convenient then personal features locked to individual Wiimotes.

 

[pc999]

Personaly I think that we may very well see a camera with Wii, specialy given that each day I start to see it less as a console, ie, opera+urls+"phone"+DVDs+extra small+good looking+extra easy...

 

[NANOTEC]

Nope. And therefore they hardly need to have their own individual phonebooks.

My cordless homephone has its own phone book for each handset. Does it replace my cellphone when on the go away from home? Nope.

No doubt as soon as Nintendo ponies up the millions of dollars for cell tower placement/leasing.

With all Wii2 consoles supporting WiMAX and serving as access points, they might not have to pony up anything.

Oh. You confused me when you said:

So even though it requires a USB camera, I thought the focus would be on that aspect.

The point I tried to make was that if the built-in mic rumor is true, the Wii console could easily be THE mainstream videophone to arrive on the market surpassing all other failed attempts. Videophones have not caught on because they're too expensive, but if all you needed was a webcam hooked up to a Wii and internet access, it would easily beat all the other alternatives in terms of mass scale usage due to its ease of use and cost.

Besides, you mentioned that the big secret of the Wii would be a camera on it.

That was just speculatiion like what I've been doing here with the supposed built-in mic. To be honest I think the Wiimote will indeed have a built-in mic since it would be trivial to add. Having it standard is so much better than having it optional in so many ways. Think DS and you'd see where Nintendo wants to go with Wii. I also think linkup between Wii and DS will be a major aspect of Nintendo's master plan. Iwata has already talked about using WiiConnect24 for PUSH like stuff to Wii and DS.

Well considering it's supposedly being stored on flash ram INSIDE of the controller, it's already your 8-track right there. They could have easily used the cost for that and simply set up a service that stored it on the internet. It's not that expensive to store buddy keys. What else do you need to store? Messages? Will it be functioning as an answering machine?

The thing is, the Wiimote likely has some sort of RAM built into it anyway regardless whether or not it will hold a phone book.

Do we know it's only one? Seems likely to me but didn't know if it was official

Of course it's not official but since all we're doing here is speculating, I don't think it really matters much.

I would hope they offer them in different colors. Have they been confirmed? Certainly at some point they will come in different colors but not sure when. Maybe they'll give you a set of 4 colored stickers?

Well again no confirmation, but it's a nobrainer really. They showed a bunch of different colored controllers and Wii consoles so all the hints point to different color controllers being available separately like what has been offered for DC, N64, PS1, PS2, GC.

And yes, visualizing a "stupid phone book" on screen. Why did cell phone companies ever bother with LCD screens?

LCD screens on cellphones serve many uses, not just for scrolling through a phonebook. A wiimote isn't going to be doing all the things a cellphone does so it won't require turning the tv on. Also since Nintendo has already gotten their voice recognition software working in actual games, voice activated dialing would be a walk in the park if they choose to go down that route. You can already see Nintendo branching out with the DS for example Opera, VoIP, Play Yan, digital TV tuner etc. Wii seems to be going down that same path.

The privacy aspect is an interesting one. How will the lack of a screen help in this regard?

If each controller does NOT have its own password (voice activated) then it's not very secure to begin with. And would it be password protected so that you have privacy?

Actually voice recognition could be fairly secure since you could set it up to only recognize your voice. It all depends on the VR algorithm. I don't really think Nintendo cares about making it extremely secure anyway. Billions of home phones have phone books without password protection.

Considering that we've only seen one color, what choice is there so far? I don't know about you, but I tend to keep all of my controllers grouped together nicely. Frankly, I don't think people are going to want to keep on in the kitchen and another in the loo.

The colors shown so far are white, black, red, green. Since Wii will come with a controller matching the color of the console, you have at least 3 other colors to choose from. In the event that you somehow did own 4 controllers of the same color, all they would require is pushing one button and 1 of the 4s LED would light up indicating which one is linked to who.

As I mentioned above, they already paid for the flash ram in each remote. Secondly you're not really using their WiFi service are you? You're using your inet provider.

Well they do have free WiFi hotspots setup for use with DS all over the country. It's also free to play online with other players. MS charges money for online play.

And the reason why cellphones have their own phonebooks is because each of us carries one of them wherever we go (we don't share). This is not true of video game controllers. Unless you see folks near you walking around with a N64 controller all the time?

If you had one cordless homephone handset then you would share it with everyone who wants to use it. OTOH if you had more than one cordless handset you can have one for each person. In my home I have 4 handsets, one for each room and they all are programmed with different ringtones.

Sure but as I mentioned, they already did by going with this schema (if the rumors are true). Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it's far more expensive. And don't forget, it's not as if Nintendo is storing a matrix of Buddy Key to IPs. So in a sense, they already are storing data as they need to store whose S/N goes to what buddy key they've been assigned by Nintendo.

Well I'm not sure how far Nintendo wants to go in storing users personalized data on their own servers, but I doubt they want to setup a complete techsupport department for online phonebooks etc. Maybe when VoIP catches on, they'll allow free personalized server side data storage or something for online storage of phonebooks, files, music, etc. Nah I think it would be better if they allowied you to connect to your home Wii console using a DSLite on the go using the free hotspots they've already set up to access files stored on it's local 512MB of flash. For the Wiimote they can allow it to connect to you own local Wii to retrieve data from another Wii console. Possibilites are pretty crazy.

 

[NANOTEC]

C'mon, that's far from ideal. What if you have 4 white controllers, you have to bleep through them to find the one you want. That's get aggravating pretty quick.

I'd rather push a button on each controller to see which of the 4 LED lights up than turn on the TV to login to use a damn phone.

Worse still if you had a friend round with their own Wiimote so they could call one of their friends and they take the wrong Wiimote back.

If they take the wrong Wiimote back that's their problem for not checking. There's no solution for ignorance. In fact if the Wiimote stores your controller sensitivity settings etc. it would make more sense to not borrow a friend's controller since his controller would be calibrated to his own custom settings.

 

[Ty]

My cordless homephone has its own phone book for each handset. Does it replace my cellphone when on the go away from home? Nope.

Same for me on both points. My cordless landline has individual phonebooks BUT I can push directories across if I want. Likewise it too doesn't replace my cellphone which is why I questioned bringing up cell phones and their address book in the first place. That is, cell phones and home phones serve two distinct purposes even though they are essentially the same function.

With all Wii2 consoles supporting WiMAX and serving as access points, they might not have to pony up anything.

Wii2 is going to support WiMAX and serve as access points? When did this get annouced? What is Wii2? I don't follow console information that much anymore.

Actually voice recognition could be fairly secure since you could set it up to only recognize your voice. It all depends on the VR algorithm.

Well there's a fairly large difference between the two and I highly doubt Nintendo is going down the path of actual keyed voice recognition and pattern matching.

But if they don't secure it to only your voice, then your previous issue about privacy when viewing an addressbook on the TV crops up again. Someone else can easily hear you speaking the name you wish to dial.

I don't really think Nintendo cares about making it extremely secure anyway. Billions of home phones have phone books without password protection.

I agree, which is why I doubt they would care about someone else in your home viewing your address book were it to appear on your TV.

In the event that you somehow did own 4 controllers of the same color, all they would require is pushing one button and 1 of the 4s LED would light up indicating which one is linked to who.

Right, and that would be a pain in the rear. Example: You have 4. The first time through you only have a 25% chance of getting the right one. The next time through you have only a 33% chance. The next time, 50%. Hopefully you'll get it by the fourth guess.

Well I'm not sure how far Nintendo wants to go in storing users personalized data on their own servers, but I doubt they want to setup a complete techsupport department for online phonebooks etc.

I'm not so sure having a server keep your buddykeys tied to the S/N of your DS or Wii requires that much techsupport. As it is, your personal buddykey is already stored by them. All that would be required is to store your contacts. Right now the DS can store how many? 32? 64? Having a centralized server allows for near infinite growth, portability (imagine being able to push buddykeys from different Nintendo devices), and data loss protection. Lose your DS? No biggie, just DL your buddy contact list.

I'd rather push a button on each controller to see which of the 4 LED lights up than turn on the TV to login to use a damn phone.

This is assuming that the controllers are semi-permanently personalized in the first place.

If they aren't (and this is likely imo), then they will function no differently than a landline phone. Any controller will allow you to pick up the phone and answer the call.

So answering the phone doesn't require you to turn on the TV. But to call out, it very well could rely on that.

 

[NANOTEC]

Same for me on both points. My cordless landline has individual phonebooks BUT I can push directories across if I want. Likewise it too doesn't replace my cellphone which is why I questioned bringing up cell phones and their address book in the first place. That is, cell phones and home phones serve two distinct purposes even though they are essentially the same function.

If you didn't like the cell phone analogy then use the home phone analogy. The point still remains, having a phone book on the Wiimote itself makes sense. You asked why so I told you why.

Wii2 is going to support WiMAX and serve as access points? When did this get annouced? What is Wii2? I don't follow console information that much anymore.

Just more speculation.

Well there's a fairly large difference between the two and I highly doubt Nintendo is going down the path of actual keyed voice recognition and pattern matching.

I don't expect them to go down that path either. I just wanted to show that voice recognition is part of biometrics.

But if they don't secure it to only your voice, then your previous issue about privacy when viewing an addressbook on the TV crops up again. Someone else can easily hear you speaking the name you wish to dial.

I didn't say anything about privacy and tvs. I said cordless home phones allow some privacy and that the Wiiphone wouldn't be that much different.

I agree, which is why I doubt they would care about someone else in your home viewing your address book were it to appear on your TV.

I didn't mention anything about that. IIRC I think you brought up the tv login password scheme.

Right, and that would be a pain in the rear. Example: You have 4. The first time through you only have a 25% chance of getting the right one. The next time through you have only a 33% chance. The next time, 50%. Hopefully you'll get it by the fourth guess.

PITA? Hardly. Much faster than turning on the tv to login and this assumes you have 4 controllers of the same color too so it would be the worst cast scenario to boot.

I'm not so sure having a server keep your buddykeys tied to the S/N of your DS or Wii requires that much techsupport. As it is, your personal buddykey is already stored by them. All that would be required is to store your contacts. Right now the DS can store how many? 32? 64? Having a centralized server allows for near infinite growth, portability (imagine being able to push buddykeys from different Nintendo devices), and data loss protection. Lose your DS? No biggie, just DL your buddy contact list.

I think looking further ahead, it might make more sense to store everything on flash SD cards and/or eFlash on your Wii console and connect to it from other hotspots or other Wii units. This solves the whole online storage issue.

This is assuming that the controllers are semi-permanently personalized in the first place.
If they aren't (and this is likely imo), then they will function no differently than a landline phone. Any controller will allow you to pick up the phone and answer the call.

Having all Wiimotes ring is a trivial matter. Having it personalizable is what makes it attractive.

 

[Ty]

I don't expect them to go down that path either. I just wanted to show that voice recognition is part of biometrics.

I don't get the point of trying to show that Voice Recognition is part of biometrics. So is Finger Print Scanning. Or are you suggesting that the controller will have that?

I didn't say anything about privacy and tvs. I said cordless home phones allow some privacy and that the Wiiphone wouldn't be that much different.

I didn't mention anything about that. IIRC I think you brought up the tv login password scheme.

Actually you did have an issue with privacy of your phonebook being seen on the TV. And it's an understandable one.

Since Wii only comes with one white Wiimote, it would make sense to buy additional Wiimotes in different colors so that you can quickly recognize your Wiimote for voice dial without having to turn on the damn TV to view a stupid phone book. Sometimes you want to keep your phone book private from other users.

And cordless phones (like yours and mine) have built-in LCD screens allowing privacy and management of the phonebooks. Wii controllers will not unless you think it's possible to manage everything through Voice Recognition? That would work but I don't know if it would still be as effective or intuitive at times. Privacy would still be compromised at times though once you're forced to speak out loud.

But in the end, I really don't think Nintendo cares much about privacy for devices in your own home.

PITA? Hardly. Much faster than turning on the tv to login and this assumes you have 4 controllers of the same color too so it would be the worst cast scenario to boot.

That's true. To dial out, it would be somewhat of a pain in terms of time as well. Personally for me, the frustration factor would be worse when picking up the wrong remote but I can see that time/speed could be just as important.

I think looking further ahead, it might make more sense to store everything on flash SD cards and/or eFlash on your Wii console and connect to it from other hotspots or other Wii units. This solves the whole online storage issue.

Either way, you're still connected to your addressbook via the net, and that was my point. Only now the addressbook is less secure and less extensible.

Having all Wiimotes ring is a trivial matter. Having it personalizable is what makes it attractive.

Guden mentioned that first and I forgot to address that. It IS an interesting prospect depending on how far they manage to run with the idea. Like new shells, pokemon aspects, etc.