Some nice bits of information has been released about the new Nintendo DS handheld called DSi. Most notable is the larger screen by a quarter of an inch, also slightly longer than the DS Lite and thinner too. Battery life however has taken quite a large hit with the camera and internal SD card reader inside and one can only hope that the camera can actually be turned off in the software/firmware to save battery life more. The Stylus pen is also slightly longer (a good thing!) and there is no GBA Slot anymore. Anyway check out the specifications below!
Screen Size
- DSi: 3.25 inch
- DS Lite: 3.0 inch
Screen
- Both TFT LCD with 260,000 colors
System Size
- DSi: 137 x 74.9 x 18.9mm
- DS Lite: 133 x 73.9 x 21.5mm
Stylus
- DSi: 92mm length
- DS Lite: 87.5mm length
Power source
- DSi: DSi AC adapter and special battery pack
- DS Lite: DS Lite AC adapter and special battery pack
Weight
- DSi: 214g (battery pack and touch pen included)
- DS Lite: 218g (battery pack, touch pen, GBA connector cover included)
Charge time
- DSi: 2 hours 30 minutes
- DS Lite: 3 hours
Battery life ( listed by screen brightness, lowest to highest)
- DSi: 9-14 hours, 8-12, 6-9, 4-6, 3-4
- DS Lite: 15-19 hours, 10-15, 7-11, 5-8
Compatible software
- DSi: DS software, DSi software
- DS Lite: Game Boy Advance software, DS software
Input method
- DSi: DS card slot, SD memory card slot, AC adapter connector, stereo head phone/mic connector
- DSLite: DS card slot, GBA card slot, AC adapter connector, stereo head phone/mic connector
The DSi also comes with these programs as default: DSi Sound, DSi Shop, Picto Chat, Download Play and DSi Camera, which offers a variety of modes for you to play with. One of which allows you to take pictures of people’s faces and warp them for amusing effects, much like what you can do with most mobile phones. No word was given what other “Wireless Enhancements” was given to the system though as many of us are praying for WPA2 support, anything is better than WEP!
DSi Sound lets you play back music with a visualiser as well as the ability to strip the vocals out from the song for a Karaoke effect (could there be such a game for the DS? There is the microphone after all…). Word is that the DSi only support AAC, something that I was hoping it would actually when I previously reported about the new model on eMagi. It offers superb compression and sound quality at lower bitrates and add that to my How To Convert music to save space guide, you can store a huge amount of music.
DSi Shop acts pretty much like the Nintendo Wii version of the Shopping Channel which enables you to download free and paid programs and games to use on your DSi while the other stuff is found on your standard DS and DS Lite. No word was given though that such options will be available for us already with a DS and due to the lack of any form of firmware update from Nintendo it seems unlikely.
Set for release in Japan this year and the USA next year, Europe will then follow suit.
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