North America Gets Nintendo DS Browser

By Geoff Duncan June 11, 2007

Although it’s been available in Japan since the middle of last year, U.S. fans of the Wi-Fi enabled Nintendo DS handheld gaming system may be thrilled to learn that the Nintendo DS Browser is now available in the North American market. Based on the Opera Web browser uses the DS’s dual screen design to offer a Web browsing experience with more features—and more real estate—than you’ll find on a typical cell phone, and the Nintendo DS Browser features include an onscreen keyboard and handwriting recognition which can be used with the DS’s stylus.

"With the DS Browser, Nintendo continues to expand the possibilities for users of this tremendously popular game platform," says Scott Hedrick, Opera Software’s EVP of Marketing. "Opera is excited to work with Nintendo to bring the easy and accessible way to browse the Internet to DS lovers in North America. DS Browser makes it easy to check news, popular user generated content sites or comparison shop while in a Wi-Fi hotspot."

Primary Web browsing modes include an overview mode which presents a page thumbnail on the DS’s lower screen and a zoomed image on its upper screen, and a browser "small screen rendering" mode which treats both displays as a single, expanded screen. Users can also zoom in on any portion of a Web page, magnifying it up to 150 percent or shrinking it to 50 percent of normal size. And, of course, the Nintendo DS Browser can be used on home Wi-Fi networks, public hotspots, and NIntendo’s Wi-Fi Connection hotspots.

Versions of the Nintendo DS Browser area available for the DS and DS Lite; both are priced at $29.99.

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