It's all true! Nintendo has confirmed that the rumoured upgrades to the DS's hardware are indeed a reality in the form of the DSi.

At a Japanese press conference Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, announced that the new machine will be available from November 1st at ¥18,900 (£102, or €129) in Japan. A Nintendo representative told SPOnG, "We plan to launch DSi in UK/Europe in Spring 09."

As has been suggested in earlier reports, the new hardware will feature both a camera and music playback. Dedicated software will enable owners of the DSi to edit their pictures using the touch screen. Users will also be able to change the speed of music playback. The file-type of choice is apparently AAC, although others may be playable.To help with storing that lot, an SD card slot will also be included.

Additionally, the new model will be thinner and will feature bigger screens. It will be available in white and matte black.

It will also enable users to connect wirelessly to the DS Shop, which will offer downloadable games and software dubbed (you'll never guess) DSware! The shop will use Wii Points, with prices weighing in at free, 200 points, 400 points and 800 points. If users connect to the shop before March 2010, they'll be given 1,000 points for free.

Additionally, Iwata reported that Nintendo's DS kiosks, which have popped up in America and Japan to offer short-term game downloads, have entered "phase two." They will be turning up at McDonalds soon.

On the downside, the GBA game slot will not feature in the DSi.

Nintendo told SPOnG that the announcement coming today rather than at the Tokyo Game Show (which starts on October 9th) was not a reaction to news of the DSi being leaked. "The announcement was always planned for today", a representative said.

While the DS is still going strong, this is clearly an attempt to stay ahead of the curve, with devices such as the PSP and iPhone already sporting an array of multi-media features.

^{Source: IGN}