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A thrifty version of Apple TV

Wii Transfer iconOne of the things that puts me off about buying Apple TV is the thought of adding yet another device to the tangle of wires in what passes for the home theatre at thriftmac headquarters.

Here’s what we have hooked up so far: a TV, a PVR, a CD player, a record player, a DVD player, a karaoke machine, the receiver, two speakers with extra-fat cables, a Nintendo 64 and a Nintendo Wii. Wait a minute: did I say Wii?

It turns out that if you’ve got one of the ubiquitous Wiis, you may not have to spend hundreds of dollars on an Apple TV after all. Try $19 on Wii Transfer instead. I did, and I’m pretty happy with the results.

In a nutshell, Wii Transfer allows you to create a website on your Internet-enabled Wii that can wirelessly receive movies, tunes, photos and web-browser bookmarks from your Mac.

Connecting your Wii to the Internet

If your Wii is not connected to the Internet, don’t despair — you can connect for free using your Mac’s built-in AirPort.

Here’s how it worked for me. First turn your Mac into a wi-fi hotspot for your home. Go to System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet Sharing. Set it up so that “Share your connection from:” points to Ethernet and “To computers using:” points to AirPort.

Next, click on AirPort Options. Give your network a name and — to keep hackers out — enable encryption. I suggest the 13-character string to be extra safe. When you’re done, click on OK to close the options, then click on the box beside Internet Sharing.

You should now have a handy little hotspot.

But what about the Wii?

Now let’s turn our attention to the Wii. I’ve seen instructions that suggest all kinds of Terminal voodoo to allow the Wii to get in touch with AirPort. But try it the simple way. If that doesn’t work, I have some links you can try.

First, get your Wii to the opening screen and choose the Wii Options button in the bottom left. Now click on Wii Settings. Move one screen over and click on Internet. Click on Connection Settings and pick any of the three options. Choose Wireless Connection, then click on Search for an Access Point. The one you created with AirPort should be on the list. Click on it, enter your password, and save the settings.

If this method doesn’t get your Wii tuned in to AirPort, try clicking the Manual Setup button instead and follow the instructions found here or here.

The wonderful world of Wii Transfer

Assuming your Wii and Mac are now sympatico, you should have an Internet channel on the Wii, which is cool enough — you can go surfin’ with the built-in Opera web browser to YouTube and watch videos of cute kittens. Better still, you can download Wii Transfer, pay for it and get your very own website — one that brings in all the media on your Mac.

You can watch slide shows of your photo collections, listen to any DRM-free music (pretty much all of it these days), watch movies (more on that later), and access Safari and Firefox bookmarks to drop in on your favourite sites.

How to watch movies

Watching movies does require a little extra work. First of all, you have to drag the movie file into Wii Transfer so it can be converted to a format the program can handle. For the most part, this just means you have to factor in a bit of prep time before watching a movie. Wii Transfer will not, of course, convert DRM-laden movies you’ve purchased from iTunes.

Apparently, there are ways of stripping DRM from iTunes movies, but, frankly, it doesn’t seem worth the effort. You’re better off either avoiding iTunes for movies or putting them on your iPod and plugging it into your TV with AV cables sold by Apple.

So who need Apple TV now?

Those kinks aside, Wii Transfer makes for a nifty alternative to Apple TV. It does a great job of bringing your DRM-free media to the living room at a reasonable price and without adding to the clutter.

Posted Friday, March 19, 2010 in

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Comments are open

  1. Thanks for this information, but I have a question regarding WII Transfer. Are the slideshows and movies sent directly from your Mac to the WII or do they get uploaded to the internet in order for this to work? An issue for someone like me with restricted broadband.

    Thanks

    RickB

  2. The way I understand it is that a mini server is created for you, so you are accessing the files through the internet. For example, you would be able to go to a site called wiitransfer.com/yourname

    Mark

  3. Hi, I’m the developer of Wii Transfer and just wanted to add a quick comment on Rick’s question. The wiitransfer.com/yourname URLs are simply to make it easier to connect to your Mac without remembering IP addresses. All your music, videos, and photos are sent directly from the Mac to the Wii and never uploaded outside your home network. (Glad you liked the product, and feel free to email support if you have any questions.)

    Manton Reece

  4. Thank you, Manton Reece. I stand corrected.

    Mark





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