Nintendo plans to launch a new version of its popular DS portable gaming device with a camera and music player function, according to The Nikkei Business Daily. Cool!

The new version will have better wireless capability for connecting to the Internet and will cost under ¥20,000 or US$189, the report said(not confirm).

The company is scheduled to present an unnamed “new product” at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday and speculation has been rife that it would be a new version of the DS.

Let’s see and wait.

According to EDGE, analyst Michael Pachter is telling investors that, with DS sales taking a dive in Japan and PSP on the rise, Nintendo may release a new handheld game console by year’s end:

We think that the timing of a new product introduction will depend upon the sales profile for the DS, and believe that lower than expected DS hardware sales could trigger an earlier launch for the new device. DS sales are solid worldwide, but are weak in Japan, leading us to expect an introduction of a new device in Japan before the end of the calendar year. We think that Nintendo has a new handheld device ready for launch in [Japan] before the end of the calendar year.

It’s not the first time that analysts have said Nintendo has a DS follow-up ready to go. Months ago, Colin Sebastian with Lazard Capital Markets said the same.

Pachter also said “It is clear that Nintendo is executing flawlessly.” On Wednesday, the Japan-based game maker announced quarterly sales of $3.9 billion and operating income of $1.1 billion.

The analyst estimates that Nintendo is producing 2.4 million Wiis monthly, up from 1.8 million. “We expect to see a large portion of the increase in Wii monthly production … shipped to the U.S. market, and believe that Nintendo is well-positioned for dramatic software sales in that territory over the balance of the year.”

He added, “Similarly, we think that the lion’s share of the expected 28 million DS hardware units shipped during the fiscal year will land in the U.S. and Europe, and we expect to see strong software sales in those territories.”

Picture taken from Gizmodo.

Hmm… this is ot a rumors anymore. Nintendo Europe will be getting 3 new shades of DS next month, with Nintendo confirming that a red, lime green and light blue DS Lite will go on sale on June 13.

Personally I have black NDS lite but I like new lime green color.

Source: Kotaku