When Nintendo took down the Shopping Channel for 3 hours earlier we knew something was up, it now seems that Nintendo updated the firmware on the Wii to include many small but nice features and even according to anecdotal evidence increase the speed of the UI. Also updated is the Wii Shopping Channel. For a list of changes head inside, pictures up now!.

Firmware 3.0U/E

Channels:

-Digital Clock added to the Wii Menu right under the channel bar -Forecast Channel now displays the current condition (cloudy, raining, etc.) directly in the Wii Menu in the Forecast Channel box -News Channel can now show 2 scrolling headlines at a time in the Wii Menu, 3 when you click on the button -Message Board now has the "Today's Accomplishments" message as a white message which allows it to stand out from other messages -Address Book entries can now be shifted around using A+B (supposed to be a launch feature) but only to empty spaces. -Calendar in Message Board no longer shows "Today's Accomplishment" only days as having messages.

Wii Shop Channel Overhauled

-New Welcome screen detailing 4 Recommended Titles and the points they cost (gone is the title screen bar that had linkable games) -Titles You've Downloaded was moved to the main shop menu -New ways to browse -Popular Titles (2 pages of 10 and includes launch games so not only based on recent info) -Newest Additions remains the same -Search for a title which can use partial names -Search by Category -System shows the different systems and how many titles have been released under each -Publisher showing different publishers and amount of titles released (Nice logos!) -Genre (different genres listed and amount of titles under each)

Mod Chip Warning

After you update and go back to the update section to before a "test update" you will be greeted with a message that says something to effect that if you have a modified Wii your console may be disabled or lock up. Mod Chippers owned? If you want to cancel you have to power down your system. Credit to EphemeralDream at NeoGAF for Text.