Nintendo has announced today that they will be releasing two new applications for the DS. These new features will make the DS more than just a gaming machine. Today in Tokyo, Nintendo unveiled their web browser and television tuner for the DS handheld system.
In a cooperative venture between Nintendo and Opera Software, the companies are developing a web browser application tentatively called “Nintendo DS Browser.” This web browser will borrow its main features from Opera?s mobile browser for cell phones. The bottom screen will display web pages in their entirety while the top screen will show a zoomed in version of the displayed page. Users will also have the option to use both screens as one tall vertical window. The stylus will be used to navigate the pages as well as generate text.
The other gadget set to be released for the DS is a TV tuner. A new digital broadcasting service, called 1seg (which is pronounced One Seg) will launch in April. Cell phones are also being developed to utilize this signal. This TV tuner is currently named “DS Terrestrial Digital Broadcast Receiver Card,” but is still subject to change. This card plugs into the standard DS card slot at the north end of the system. Users are able to use the stylus to change the channel while the top screen will display all the action. While all these prototypes were actually running off GBA cartridges plugged into the GBA slot of the DS at the time of this announcement, Nintendo promises the final version will use a DS game card.
Yes, this is very good news, but Nintendo has not yet confirmed a US launch of these products. Both the TV tuner and Web app are currently scheduled for release only in Japan. The web browser is currently under the speculation of having the price point of 3,800 yen, but the final price might change by the time it is released.
Stay with mygamer.com as more important DS news details released.