When Nintendo released the first firmware update for the Wii yesterday it slipped us a little somethin'-somethin' extra: USB keyboard support.

"Industry sources" let the information slip quietly onto the internet, with Nintendo making little effort to publicise the feature.

It was with much glee that SPOnG inserted our bitch of a USB keyboard this morning and confirmed that we'll no longer have to enter text into the console by waving the Wii remote around across a virtual keyboard. We look forward immensely to being able to type in those pesky friend codes when we need to vent some aggression on Mario Strikers: Charged Football online.

With far easier text entry now available on the Wii, SPOnG now carries a glimmer of hope that Nintendo will offer an instant messenger service in the not-too-distant future. Setting the Wii up for a further upgrade of this type would certainly explain Nintendo's coyness about the feature.

You can read about the rest of the features included in the update here.

Thanks to SPOnG reader James Whatley for the tip.

^{Source: Random Nintendo}