We’ve been waiting for the Wii U’s cable box/television-controlling TVii features to make it since the system launched late last month. As of Wednesday, it’ll finally be here. But without a few key components. The big omission is DVR capabilities through TiVo. That’s the only way to use the Wii U as a DVR, so it’s still not all the way there as a multimedia center. The other missing piece is Netflix, though that’s slightly less of a concern since the Wii U’s had Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus since last month. What is arriving, though, is the cable box functionality as a whole. The default TV remote feature is nice and effective for controlling your television’s inputs, or volume, but the wheel-like control panel for TVii makes actually picking the channels much easier, along with other functions. There’s also some social network stuff built in.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.