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| \| | _ | '_ \ | _| / _ \| '_ \ / _` | / _ \ | | | | \(__ _ *
| |\ || || | | || |_ | __/| | | || (_| || (_) | | |__| | ____)\ | |
|_| \_||_||_| |_| \__| \___||_| |_| \__,_| \___/ |_____/ |_____/ |_|
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| _ \ _ __ ___ __ __ ___ ___ _ __
| _ < | '__>/ _ \\ \ /\ / // __| / _ \| '__|
| |_) || | | (_) |\ ^ ^ / \__ \| __/| | *
|____/ |_| \___/ \_/\_/ |___/ \___||_|
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Table of Contents *
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Section Search Code
------- -----------
The Particulars. . . . . . . [TPA]
- Release Data. . . . . . . [GRD]
- FAQ Version History . . . [VHI]
- Application Summary . . . [GSU]
Usage Instructions . . . . . [USA]
- Getting Started . . . . . [STA]
- Start Page. . . . . . . . [STR]
- Input Screen. . . . . . . [INP]
- Browser Screen. . . . . . [BRO]
- Favorites & History . . . [FAV]
- Settings & Preferences. . [SET]
- Sketch Text Input . . . . [SBI]
Frequently Asked Questions . [FAQ]
- Getting Started . . . . . [QGS]
- Browser Functions . . . . [QBF]
- Technical Questions . . . [QTQ]
- Troubleshooting . . . . . [QTR]
The Three C's. . . . . . . . [CCC]
- Copyright . . . . . . . . [COP]
- Credits . . . . . . . . . [CRE]
- Contact Information . . . [CON]
Note also that if you're looking for questions on the following topics, you can
just hit Ctrl+F to open your Find dialog, then type them in to find where that
topic is mentioned.
Keywords that are particularly good to use with this include:
AIM Facebook Out of Memory
battery life Favorites parental controls
browser-based games file types plug-ins
captive portal networks GameFAQs pop-up blocker
chat programs History sketch text input
connect to the Internet keyboard support
download files Megavideo transfer protocols
DSiCade MSN videos
e-mail MySpace Yahoo! Messenger
exit online stores YouTube
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _*_ _ _ _ _ *
The Particulars [TPA] *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* *
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Release Data [GRD]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Genre : Web Browser
Developer : Opera
Publisher : Nintendo
System : Nintendo DSi
Official Title : Nintendo DSi Browser
Release Date : November 11th, 2008 (Japan)
: April 3th, 2009 (Europe)
: April 5th, 2009 (US)
ESRB Rating : E
Format : Downloadable (DSi Ware)
The Nintendo DSi Web Browser is a non-cartridge web browsing solution
exclusively for the Nintendo DSi. It was released as part of the very first
batch of DSi Ware applications, a specific category of downloadable application
that can be obtained from the DSi Store. To date, it is also the only free
application in the DSi Store.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
FAQ Version History [VHI]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Version 1.0.1 : GameFAQs displays FAQs in a much narrower font than Notepad, so
: the header decoration has been adjusted to reflect this.
: File Size: 51KB, 49357 characters, 7044 words, 18 pages
Version 1.0.0 : This guide now exists. It didn't used to. All great guides
: start this way.
: File Size: 51KB, 49216 characters, 7026 words, 18 pages
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Application Summary [GSU]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Nintendo DSi Web Browser is the non-cartridge-based web browser that is
exclusively available for the Nintendo DSi. It is obtained for free from the
DSi Store, and is one of the first DSi Ware applications that was released.
Unlike the Nintendo DS Browser cartridge previously released, the DSi Browser
does not require an additional memory plug-in due to the DSi's increased
internal memory.
The browser itself was developed by Opera, and provides most basic browser
functions without doing anything too advanced. Downloaded data is never kept in
permanent storage, preventing viruses from invading the DS, but also preventing
the user from installing plug-ins or extensions that would increase the
browser's functionality.
The interface allows the user to view any web site in full -- not just mobile
versions of web sites. One screen is allocated to a birds-eye view of the page,
while the other allows the user to zoom in and actually read the information.
It also allows users to view an automatically shrunk version of the page in a
full-column view.
The system is not without faults. Download speed is typically much slower than
downloading the same file to any modern PC, and neither of the page view
options is completely perfect in offering everything that other mobile web
browsers offer. You're not going to want to use the DSi Web Browser for
frequent e-mail, heavy reading or extremely enhanced web sites -- but as far as
having a fall-back way to check your e-mail, or keeping a game guide with you
at your console, it's a great tool.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _*_ _ _ _ _ *
Usage Instructions [USA] *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Getting Started [STA]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Probably the single best feature of the DSi Web Browser is the fact that it's
free. It wouldn't be worth more than a couple dollars, but because it's free
it's definitely worth checking out.
To get the browser, you'll need two things: a DSi (no, really?) and a wireless
Internet connection. Open up your DSi, connect to the Internet and open up the
DSi Shop. If you need help connecting to the Internet, check out the FAQ
section.
If you haven't already downloaded the browser application (represented by a
square with "WEB" in blue text on a white background), it will usually be one
of the four featured applications when you first open the store. If not, pass
the welcome screen and enter the main store, then choose DSi Ware. Pick the
"0 DSi Points" category, and the first option should be the DSi Web Browser.
Choose it, then choose to download it.
Let it download, then exit out of the store. You'll find a gift-wrapped new
application at the right end of your application list. Tap it to open it and
find the DSi Web Browser. That's all there is to it!
The first time you open the DSi Web Browser, it'll initialize several settings,
and then you'll be able to start using it. You'll start at the Start Page.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Start Page [STR]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
When you first open the DSi Web Browser, you'll be presented with the default
Start Page. On this screen, you're presented with several options:
- Go to Page: This option will bring up the URL entry dialog for you to enter
a web page to navigate to.
- Search: Open the Search dialog to search your specified search engine for
your input. You can choose between Yahoo! and Google. Check out Settings &
Preferences for a bit more on this.
- Favorites: View the pages you've favorited in the past and open them back
up again quickly. Check out Settings & Preferences for more information on
this.
- Help: View the DSi Web Browser's Help information.
- Settings: Edit the DSi Web Browser's Settings. See Settings & Preferences
for more information on this.
- History: View the pages you've visited in the past, and re-open any you
would like without typing the page back in.
You can call up this screen at any time by pressing the home icon at the bottom
of the web browser view. You may exit the browser by choosing DSi Menu at the
bottom left; you may close the Start Page (if you've been browsing already) by
hitting the Close button at the bottom right.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Input Screen [INP]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
In order to get anywhere, you'll need to interact with an input screen --
either the Go to Page dialog, where you enter a web page URL, or the Search
dialog, where you can enter a search term.
Either way, the input screen is mostly the same. By default, you'll start out
in keyboard mode. When in Keyboard mode, note the following characteristics:
- Text Box: At the top of the screen is the text box. This displays the text
that you've entered so far. You can tap in this box to move the cursor and
start typing halfway through your already-entered text. You can also
highlight in this box to delete a portion of the text.
- Input Type: You'll notice three squares below the text box -- one shows a
capital A, one shows a capital A with an accent mark (`) on it, and one
shows an @ sign. You can tap amongst these three icons to bring up
different keyboards: the first is a Standard keyboard, the second is a
Foreign keyboard, and the third is a Symbol keyboard. Most symbols can also
be accessed on the standard keyboard by pressing Shift.
- Input Method: To the right of that box, you'll notice two icons: a keyboard
and a pencil. This is how you switch between Keyboard mode and Sketch mode.
Read the next set of bullets for information on Sketch mode.
- Keyboard: Below those things is the standard keyboard. It's laid out in
standard QWERTY format, and you can tap on the keys to input those
characters. Press Shift to capitalize every character for one keystroke;
this will also convert the numbers to symbols -- this will also convert the
symbols to other symbols. The Backspace key is in the top right, while the
Enter key is on the far right. The Foreign keyboard and Symbol keyboard are
fairly straightforward -- notice that the Backspace and Enter keys remain
the same. The key in the bottom right is the space key in these views.
- Buttons: After entering your URL or search term, hit Go or Search to
navigate to it or search for it. To exit this screen, hit Cancel.
- Autocomplete: When you have the Standard keyboard open and are entering a
URL, there is an autocomplete bar below the Text Box. This supplies several
common URL entry terms for easier input. To input one of these, tap on it
in the toolbar. The shortcuts are: www. .com .net .org .us http:// - / `
.html - the Autocomplete bar does not appear in Search entry mode.
The input method can be changed to the Sketch mode, which allows you to write
letters instead of typing them. At first, this will be slower than typing, but
with practice you'll find that sketching is actually faster than tap-typing,
mostly due to the DSi Web Browser's unique sketch-based input system. Note
these features of Sketch mode:
- Text Box & Autocomplete: Just like the Keyboard mode, you'll see a text box
at the top and an Autocomplete box if you are inputting a URL. You'll also
see the buttons for toggling between Keyboard and Sketch modes.
- Input Type: Under the text box and to the left of the Keyboard/Sketch
toggle buttons, you'll see two buttons with "A/1" and "1/@" on them. This
lets you toggle what type of input you want: letters and numbers or numbers
and symbols. Truth be told, though, you can usually leave it in "A/1" mode
no matter what -- it'll still pick up these symbols: ! ? @ # / \ . ( ) , +
: ; ' " $ % & ~ - _ and the Euro symbol.
- Input Boxes: There are two boxes here for you to sketch in. There's an
entire section later in this guide on how to Sketch quickly and
effectively, but in general what you need to know is that you need to
alternate between the two boxes. This might seem weird, but it serves a
valuable purpose: it lets you use multiple pen strokes per glyph. If you've
ever tried to use the old Palm sketch input, you'll recognize how valuable
this is. Within each box, there's two dotted lines. The important one is
the lower one: when writing a letter with a hanging 'tail' -- g, j, y and q
-- make sure to put the tail below the horizontal dotted line to have it
input correctly. See the Sketch-Based Input section for more information on
this.
- Buttons: The Go/Search buttons, Backspace key, Enter key and Space key are
still here. Note also that you can still tap in the text box to start
typing from different spots. You can also highlight in this box to delete
a portion of the text.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Browser Screen [BRO]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The majority of your time with the DSi Web Browser will be spent on the Browser
screen. There are three (depending on how you count) modes that the Browser
screen can be in:
- Overview, Default: 'Overview', in general', means that one of the DSi's
two screens shows a big view of the page, while the other screen shows a
zoomed-in version of the page. In this view, you see a real, unmodified
version of the web page.
By Default, the top screen is the broad view of the page and the bottom
screen is the zoomed-in version. An orange rectangle on the top view shows
what portion of the page you're currently viewing on the bottom screen. To
move the rectangle, drag your stylus across the bottom screen. You'll find
that this mode is best when you're doing a lot of navigating between pages.
- Overview, Inverted: When inverted, the top screen shows a zoomed-in version
of the page while the bottom screen shows the broad view of the page. In
this view, it's a good bit harder to click links (though it can be done if
you tap very carefully), but the benefit is that you can scroll around the
page a lot faster. Drag the stylus across the bottom screen to drag the
orange rectangle around to the part of the page you want to view. You'll
find that this view is better when you're remaining on one page for a while
or reading a lot of text that's wider than the screen width.
- Column View: Column view, unlike Overview, does modify the page. It forces
the page into being only as wide as the DS can display, removing the need
for horizontal scrolling. Surprisingly, this is actually typically done
very well, with page structure being generally preserved while being forced
into the narrower structure. This view is also especially good for lots of
reading.
In all views, you can click on links by tapping them with your stylus. It may
take a moment to respond, but it should then highlight the link you tapped and
loading the page. You can also tap on text boxes to enter text or tap on
buttons to execute actions.
At the base of the Browser view is a toolbar with several buttons. The toolbar
functions are, from left to right:
- Back: The left-pointing arrow will take you back to the previously viewed
page.
- Forward: The right-pointing arrow will take you forward to the page you
viewed after the current one (after pressing Back at least once).
- Refresh: The two arrows in a circle will re-load the current web page from
the server, picking up any updates to the page.
- Search: The binoculars will let you search your default search engine for
some term, via the Input screen. Note that searching will take you away
from your current page.
- Favorites: The star will bring up your Favorites menu. This is also how you
add your current page to your Favorites -- press the Star, then press Add
Page at the top right.
- Home: The Home icon will take you to the Start Page.
- Switch Screen: In Overview mode, the double-arrow with switch which screen
is in focus (or, in my terms, switch between Default and Inverted mode as
mentioned above).
- Font Size: In Column View, this button will switch from Large font to
Medium, from Medium to Small, and from Small to Large each time you press
it.
- Extended Info: The Extended Info (far right) button will bring up a few
other actions that you can perform.
- Extended Info -> Page Info: View the Title, Address and Security for the
current page.
- Extended Info -> Find in Page: Bring up the Input dialog to search the
current page for a specific bit of text. After entering your text, the
bar at the bottom will display how many results there are. Use the left and
right buttons alongside this display to scroll among the different
appearances in the page.
- Extended Info -> Go to Page: Bring up a dialog to type in a new page to
navigate to.
- Extended Info -> History: View the history of pages you've visited.
- Extended Info -> Overview/Column View: Switch from the current view to the
other type of view.
In addition to those navigation tips above, there are several in-browser
controls that should be noted. These are not as immediately apparent as most of
the menus, but can make your browsing experience much, much easier. These are
also listed in the game's built-in instruction manual, but who ever reads that?
- In Overview mode, you can move the orange box around with the Control Pad
as well. No, I don't know why you'd ever want to do this.
- In Column View, the Left and Right arrows can be used basically as Page Up
and Page Down to scroll down and up faster.
- If you hold down R or L while using the Control Pad, you can scroll through
the links on the page. It doesn't work terribly well, though. The currently
selected link will be circled in blue. Pressing A will click the link.
- If you hold down B while using the Control Pad, you can easily go Back and
Forward -- Left will take you Back to the previous page, while Right will
take you to the next page.
- When entering text, B is Backspace.
- When browsing, press Start to open the Start Page.
- When browsing, press Select to open the Favorites screen.
- When browsing, you can highlight text by dragging your stylus over the
text. In order to highlight instead of scrolling, hold the stylus down for
a moment before scrolling over the text. After highlighting some text, you
can paste it into the search dialog by tapping the binoculars.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Favorites & History [FAV]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Considering the slight clunkiness of inputting URLs and navigation, it's
fortunate that the DSi Browser does build in a favorites and a history
function.
The History function is very simple to use. From the Start Page, select the
History option, or select History from the extended menu (the far right toolbar
option) when browsing.
The History screen will display the last several (24) pages you've visited in
reverse chronological order. To return to any page listed, just tap that page.
You can empty your History by tapping Delete All at the bottom left.
The Favorites tool is a bit more complicated, but even more useful. You can
access the Favorites screen from the Start Page by tapping Favorites, or from
the Browser view by tapping the Star.
The Favorites menu provides the following functions:
- Add Page: To add a page to your favorites, first open the browser and
actually go to the page. Then hit the Star on the toolbar to bring up the
Favorites menu. Tap Add Page at the top right and the page will be added to
your list.
- Go to Page: To go to one of your favorites, just tap it on the list. That
seems obvious, though you might think you need to select a Favorite listing
in order to use the Move, Edit or Delete options. Nope.
- Move Favorites: To re-order your favorites, first hit Move at the bottom to
enter Move mode. From here, you can re-order your favorites by dragging
them around.
- Edit Favorites: To edit your favorites, first hit Edit at the bottom to
enter Edit mode. Tap the favorite you'd like to edit to bring up the Edit
screen. Here, you can edit the link's appearance text (the first box), the
link URL (the second box), and which view it opens in. You can specify for
a link to always use either Overview or Column View, or you can allow it to
open in whichever you're using now. Tap save to save the properties.
- Delete Favorites: To delete a favorite, first tap Delete at the bottom to
enter Delete mode. Tap the favorite you'd like to delete to delete it.
The Favorites menu comes pre-loaded with three links: a link to DS links,
Yahoo! and Google.
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Settings & Preferences [SET]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
On the Start Page, you can tap Settings to modify several settings to customize
your browsing experience. The Settings that you can set are:
- Default Search Engine: Choose whether you want searches types into the
Search box are sent to Yahoo! or Google.
- Download Images: If you're not viewing anything graphically-intensive and
you want a faster viewing experience, you can set the DSi Browser to not
download images from web pages. It will preserve the layout, but image
boxes will be blank.
- Text Wrap: Text wrap forces some text wrapping when you're viewing in
Overview mode. It makes for less horizontal scrolling, but also modifies
the layout of the page.
- Combined Frames: When set, a multi-framed page will be displayed as one
cohesive page.
- Network: The DSi Browser will automatically search your loaded connections
to find an active connection to use. The connection you're currently using
is displayed here. You can jump to the DSi's Internet Settings and Proxy
settings from here, though doing so will close the DSi Browser.
- Time Zone: You can set your time zone and daylight saving time here.
- Delete Cookies: Empty the browser of the cookies it currently has loaded.
If you do this, you'll need to log back into sites next time you visit
them.
- Version Information: Version information will tell you what version you're
currently using. You'll never need this. Ever.
- Restore Default Settings: Restore everything -- all options, favorites,
history, etc. -- to the way it came when you first got the system. This
option requires the Parental pass code and will close down the DSi Browser.
Next time you open it, your initial data will re-initialize.
The DSi Browser also supports parental controls, performed by enabling a Proxy
server. A Proxy server is basically another computer through which all content
is passed, giving it the option to filter the content. The. To set up parental
controls, open the Settings menu and select Proxy. Enter the parental passcode
to bring up the Proxy settings.
To enable the parental controls, do the following on this screen:
- Tap the 'Use Proxy' box to enable the proxy settings.
- In the Server box, type: ds-content-filter.astaro.com
- In the Port box, type: 8080
- Tap the 'Use for HTTPS' box to enable even more secure filtering -- this is
usually not necessary though.
- Optionally, you can set a username and password. Setting these means that
only someone with this username and password can later disable or modify
the filter. If you would like to do this, tap the 'Use proxy
authentication' box, then enter your Username and Password.
- Tap OK in the bottom right to save and leave this screen.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Sketch Text Input [SBI]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I'll be honest -- this section is the entire reason I wanted to write this
guide. I'm a Ph.D. student doing work on sketch recognition, and when I
encountered this sketch recognition system I found it quite interesting.
The key thing to note about the DSi Web Browser's Sketch input mode is that you
actually have two pads to write in. To write text, alternate between the two
pads for each letter. This might seem strange, but it allows a great feature:
unlike older sketch text recognition systems where every penstroke was read as
a different letter, this allows multiple penstrokes to be used per character.
They always say you should make sure to dot your i's and cross your t's -- now
you really can!
This functionality makes the sketch-based text input much easier. You don't
need to memorize more complicated glyphs for letters that could not usually be
completed with one penstroke, and the touchscreen allows you to see the sketch
so far.
That said, there are still some ins and outs of the sketch-based input system
that'll help you utilize it better.
First of all, each pad has two faint guidelines lines on it -- a vertical one
right down the middle, and a horizontal one near the bottom. The vertical one
does not serve much purpose aside from helping you center your drawing, but the
horizontal one is very important. Several times, you'll have to make sure your
letter goes below this line to be properly recognized. Many capital letters --
especially ones that are very similar to the lower-case letter, like C, O and
V -- must be drawn big enough to stretch below this line to be recognized as
capital. Also, letters with tails -- g, p, q, y, j -- must be drawn partially
below this line to be recognized correctly.
Secondly, notice that when you write a letter, the pad you write it on flips
up. If the resultant letter isn't the one you were looking for, you can tap the
flip and choose from the other close letters to the one you drew.
Unfortunately, once you start writing on the other pad, the flip disappears, so
you have to wait for the DS to process the letter in order to use this feature.
This would slow you down if you used it for every letter, but it's useful for
letters you know you have a bit of trouble with.
Other than that, here are some tips for some of the more troublesome letters
and symbols:
- Characters: C/c, O/o, S/s, U/u, V/v, W/w, X/x, Z/z
For many letters, the capital and lower-case versions of the letter look
very similar. To distinguish the capital letter, start from the very top
and stretch the letter all the way below the horizontal guideline. This
will usually make the letter capital. Anything small enough to fit in the
area above the horizontal guideline will usually be recognized as
lower-case.
- Characters: G
For a capital G, make the normal G shape (start at the top right, make a C
shape, then bring a horizontal line in), then draw the horizontal line back
outwards a bit -- don't draw it down at a corner like some people draw
their G.
- Characters: I, 1, l
I, 1 and l all look a lot alike -- to distinguish a capital I, put the
horizontal crosses at the top and bottom. To distinguish a number 1, put
the diagonal line at the top and the horizontal line across the bottom. If
you do neither of these, you'll get a lower-case l.
- Characters: J, j
To distinguish between a capital J and a lower-case j, dot the j and put
the bottom of the j below the baseline.
- Characters: K, k
To distinguish between a lower-case and upper-case K, pay attention to the
height of the left line. For an upper-case K, make sure the line is equally
high (if not a bit shorter) than the sideways-V part of the K. For a lower
case k, make the line on the left much taller than the top part of the
sideways-V part of the k.
- Characters: T, t, +
To distinguish between a capital T, a lower-case t and a plus side, pay
attention to where you're crossing it and how tall the vertical line is.
For a capital T, make the vertical line very tall and cross it at the very
top. For a lower-case t, make the vertical line just as tall, but cross it
any distance from the top (even near the bottom). To make a + sign, make
the vertical line very short.
- Characters: U/V, u/v
To distinguish U's from V's, make the letter almost comically over-rounded.
Any semblance of a pointed bottom will make the letter a V.
- Characters: Z, z, 2
Sketches of the 2 character are often read as Z. To distinguish a 2 from a
Z, draw your 2 with a loop at the bottom left in one fluid motion, rather
than with a sudden stop at the bottom left.
- Characters: g, p, q, y
To distinguish these letters from what they're often recognized as, make
sure to put the tail below the horizontal guideline.
- Characters: ! ? @ # / \ . ( ) , + : ; ' " $ % & ~ - _ and others.
Note that these characters can be sketched even when in alphanumeric
sketching mode. Most are obvious as to how to do. Other characters that can
be drawn that are not in the ASCII character set are the Euro symbol, the
Registered Trademark icon (an R in a circle), the Copyright icon (a C in a
circle), and the cents icon.
- Characters: , ;
For commas and semi-colons, the comma portion must be on or below the
horizontal guideline to be ready correctly.
*
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _*_ _ _ _ _ *
Frequently Asked Qs [FAQ] *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* *
* *
*
Most questions people have about the DSi Browser don't fall into one of the
sections above. These questions are listed below. If you have a question that
isn't listed here, feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to answer.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Getting Started Q's [QGS]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
How well does the DSi Browser work?
- Overall, you won't be replacing your existing smartphone or PDA with the
DSi and its browser, but it's definitely functional to have on hand as a
fall-back in case you need Internet access while you're out. You can do
almost anything on the DSi Browser, though it'll never be as fast as it
would be on other systems. Keep it with you in case you need to look up
directions or a phone number, but if you're looking for a device to use
to get online frequently, opt for the Palm Pre or a real smartphone.
How do I connect to the Internet?
- Connecting to the Internet is done outside the DSi Browser. At the main DSi
screen, choose Settings. First, make sure Wireless Communications are
enabled -- tap the middle option in the first page to set Wireless
Communications to "YES".
After ensuring wireless is enabled (the far left line on the left side of
the DSi should illuminate), go to the third screen and tap Internet. Enter
your passcode if necessary, then tap Connection Settings. Tap one of the
connections (where it should currently say "None"), then Search for an
Access Point. A list of routers in your area will appear -- choose the one
to connect to, then enter your passcode if necessary. After the connection
test is successful, you'll be ready to go. Open up the DSi Browser to get
started browsing.
Can I connect to captive portal networks with the DSi Browser?
- Captive Portal Networks are networks that require you to connect first,
then open your browser and enter some log-in information. The DSi Browser
can be used with these types of networks. Simply connect to the network as
you normally would, then open the browser -- you should be automatically
re-directed to the network log-in page. Enter whatever login information
you may need to connect to start browsing freely.
This type of network is typically found in public wireless hotspots, such
as coffee shops, fast food restaurants, hospitals, hotels and airports. If
you're connecting to a local connection, don't worry about this.
Can I connect to captive portal networks and then play games on Wi-Fi?
- Yes, the browser can be used to log you in to these types of networks for
use in playing Wi-Fi enabled games where you would not normally be able to.
To do so, open up the browser and connect as outlined above, then close the
browser and -- without disconnecting (no closing the DSi) -- open the game.
Depending on the network, you may be able to disconnect and reconnect
without reopening the browser, but in most cases disconnecting means you
must reopen the browser and reconnect manually.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Browser Functions [QBF]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Can I check my e-mail on the DSi Browser?
- If you have a web-based e-mail client (which almost everyone does
nowadays), yes you can. Several popular webmail sites -- like Yahoo! Mail,
Hotmail and GMail -- work extremely well. Be aware that for many of these
services, you're better off choosing the "Basic", "Lite" or "Mobile"
versions of the webmail service rather than the full-featured web
applications, which don't tend to work on the DSi Browser.
You can use the full versions as well, but the mobile or lite versions tend
to load faster. For reference, here are some of the mobile webmail versions
for popular sites -- if you're interested in one that isn't listed here,
use the normal version or contact me and I'll try to find it.
Hotmail: www.hotmail.com/mobile
Yahoo!: m.yahoo.com
GMail: mail.google.com/mail/x/
Can I play online browser-based games on the DSi Browser?
- Most browser-based games you're used to playing on sites like Addicting
Games will not work on the DSi. However, there is a page of browser-based
games created specifically to work on the DSi that has a dozen or so games
and applications -- the DSiCade. Find it at www.DSiCade.com.
The DSiCade will load in Column format automatically, and allows you to
play games on the touch screen. At the time I'm writing this, the DSiCade
has 8 games and 3 other applications, including a Calculator and a version
of Paint.
Can I view Facebook on the DSi Browser?
- Yes, Facebook works surprisingly well on the DSi browser. You'll find that
you're given the 'Out of Memory' error quite frequently, but it doesn't
actually interfere with viewing all that much. The system isn't fast enough
to really do any heavy photo-browsing, but as far as looking up some
specific piece of information goes, it works quite well.
You'll also find a lot of luck using the mobile version of Facebook,
located at m.facebook.com -- it's graphically non-intensive and strips out
a lot of the formatting to load quickly. It works especially well with
Column View or Text Wrap.
Can I view MySpace on the DSi Browser?
- Yes, although several features of most MySpace pages, like embedded videos
and audio, won't be available when viewing on the DSi Browser. The text and
layout of most pages should work fine, though.
Can I view YouTube videos on the DSi Browser?
- Unfortunately, the DSi Browser does not have the necessary flash plug-in to
view YouTube videos.
Can I view other videos on the DSi Browser, such as Megavideo or WMVs?
- No, no videos can be viewed on the DSi Browser. The closest you can come
is an animated GIF.
Can I view GameFAQs guides on the DSi Browser?
- Yes, but for guides (like mine, darn it) that rely on lots of formatting,
the layout will be substantially thrown off. This is because the DSi
Browser forces its own default font on the loaded text, displaying GameFAQs
guides in a non-fixed width font. Viewing plain text will be fine, but
charts and other complicated ASCII layouts will not appear nicely.
Can I get on AIM/MSN/Yahoo! Messenger with the DSi Browser?
- You can't use the big software that you're used to, no. There's a site
called ebuddy that claims to provide a DSi-friendly mobile chat interface,
but personally I have not been able to get it to work. I've only tried it
for AIM, though, so you might want to give it a try yourself -- the site is
http://mob.e-messenger.net/mobile/
Are there any other chat programs for the DSi Browser?
- HullBreach has created DSi chat room that works quite fantastically. You
can find it and several other projects of his at
http://dsoperasdk.com/
Can I shop in online stores with the DSi Browser?
- Yes, most online shops will work just fine with the DSi Browser.
How can I set parental controls?
- Return to the beginning of this file, then search for [SET]. The bottom
How do I exit the browser?
- Yes, this is surprisingly non-intuitive. To exit the browser, you must open
the Start Page, then tap DSi Menu to return to the DSi main menu.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Technical Questions [QTQ]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Can I download and install plug-ins to the DSi Browser?
- No; besides history and favorites, nothing is stored in persistent memory
(that is, saved between times you're using the browser), so nothing can be
installed to the browser.
Can I download files to my SD card?
- No, files cannot be saved to an SD card. Nothing can be stored in permanent
memory of any kind.
What file types can the DSi load?
- Officially, the DSi can load these file types:
- HTML
- XHTML & XML
- ECMAScript
- CSS
- SSL 3.0 & TSL 1.0
Clearly, that's not an exhaustive list. The DSi is also able to load most
image file formats, including JPG, BMP, GIF (including animated GIFs) and
PNG. It can load plain text files, but cannot load more advanced document
types like PDF and DOC. It is also known to be able to support JavaScript
-- that's what the games at the DSiCade are written in.
What transfer protocols can be used?
- The DSi Browser supports http and https. It does not support ftp, mailto,
or other transfer protocols. Basically, you can use it for browsing the
web, but not for FTP uploads and downloads or for POP3 e-mail access. Note
that it does have full webmail access, though.
Can the DSi Browser's pop-up blocker be disabled?
- Technically, the DSi Browser does not actually have a pop-up blocker -- it
just cannot load more than one window. So, no, it cannot be disabled. You
won't be able to load any pages that rely on a pop-up.
Can the DSi Browser get viruses?
- It's always dangerous to say that a device is immune to viruses because
virus programmers are notoriously devious. However, the DSi is about as
immune to viruses as a device can be. All downloaded data is stored in
active memory, meaning that not only is it lost as soon as the browser is
closed, it's usually lost as soon as you navigate to a different page. The
downloaded data has no direct access to any permanent storage, and the DSi
Browser will not even run the types of files that carry most viruses, like
Flash files and executables.
How long is the DSi's battery life when using the Browser?
- Enabling the wireless communications on your DSi will notably reduce the
battery life -- and clearly this function is necessary to run the browser.
Even with the DSi connected to the Internet and running, however, the
battery life is still rather long -- typically around 5 hours on the medium
brightness setting. Dimming the DSi will extend the battery life even
further.
One tip for extending battery life while using the Browser is to disconnect
if you won't be loading a new page for some time. To do this, close the DSi
-- the browser will disconnect, but you'll still have access to the page
you were on. This is useful for viewing long articles or guides, though the
battery life remains shortened during this by the wireless signal still
being enabled at all. This tip was originally proposed by the author of the
original DS Browser FAQ, JetPilot.
What is the latest release version of the DSi Browser?
- As of the time of this guide's posting, the latest version is 9.50 (Build
483). The browser identification is Opera/9.50 (Nintendo DSi; Opera/483; U;
en-US).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Troubleshooting [QTR]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
What's that Out of Memory error?
- While the DSi's internal memory is much-upgraded, it still isn't large
enough to store a lot of large, complicated web sites for active viewing.
When a page is too big to be displayed all at once, you'll be given this
error message. Fortunately, you can keep browsing -- the browser will just
progressively load different parts of the page, slowing the process without
completely stopping it.
For some sites, however, the page may be so large that the page will not
open at all and you'll be returned to the Start Page. In these instances,
you won't be able to open the page on the DSi Browser.
My web sites are loading slowly. How can I fix this?
- The cause of this problem is usually that you are loading a very
image-heavy site. Disable the Load Images setting in the Settings screen to
try to speed it up. This won't affect the page layout, it just won't load
the images.
How can I get official support for the DSi Browser?
- Officially, the DSi Browser says to contact Nintendo of America Inc. for
all product questions. For information on how to do this, see the Nintendo
"Contact Us" site:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/contact.jsp
Unofficially, your best bet is the Opera for Nintendo DS/DSi forum. It's
a community-run membership forum located at the URL specified below.
Before I post the URL, though, I feel obligated to say this: this forum
is for the browser ONLY. Do NOT go posting threads asking questions or
making comments about the DSi as a whole. Do NOT post just asking for
other people's opinions. Do NOT try to just make conversation. Do NOT
start social topics in this forum. This is not the place for stuff like
that. Use this forum only for help requests or feature suggestions.
Or, in short, don't you dare post threads like these.
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=278043
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=280260
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=276335
These people are volunteers, don't waste their time.
That said, the forum I'm refering to is located at this URL:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/forum.dml?id=1406
Use it wisely.
*
* *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _*_ _ _ _ _ *
The Three C's [CCC] *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* *
* *
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Copyright [COP]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Nintendo DSi Browser is a registered trademark of Nintendo.
This FAQ is the exclusive property of DetroitDJ. All rights reserved. This
FAQ may be freely distributed on any site, in whole or part, as long as this
last section remains intact (all three C's).
The latest version of this FAQ will ALWAYS be located at:
www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/file/955580/57069
Other sites are permitted to show this FAQ; however, most do not automatically
update, and I only update my FAQs on GameFAQs -- so, if you don't see
something, check that URL to see if there's a newer version.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Credit [CRE]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
To Nintendo, for creating the DSi system and its great hardware capabilities.
To Opera, for creating the Nintendo DSi Browser.
To HullBreach, for creating some great games and tools for use with the
Nintendo DSi browser.
To JetPilot, for his trick on viewing pages offline on the DS web browser, and
for his guide on the original Nintendo DS Browser, which gave me a few ideas
for extra questions to include in this document.
To CJayC, SBAllen and GameFAQs, for this great site.
To God, for everything.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _
Contact Information [CON]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
GameFAQs ID: DetroitDJ
E-Mail:
[email protected] (please preface all e-mail subjects with [DSi])
AIM: DDJGameFAQs
To e-mail me, PLEASE preface your e-mail subject line with [DSi] in brackets.
I get a lot of spam, so that will help me sort through it and find your e-mail.
If possible, IM me instead of e-mailing me if you have a question, but e-mail</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
me if you have a contribution or correction.
If you are submitting a tip or correction, please include how you would like to
be credited. Otherwise I'll credit you by your e-mail address (minus the
domain) or screenname.
Please, only e-mail me with questions about this application or other games
I've FAQed. I'm not looking to shoot the breeze.
