Update 10.2.08: Nintendo's chief executive in the US, Reggie Fils-Amie, stated that due to the continued stateside popularity of the DS Lite, the new and improved DSi will not ship to North America until "well into 2009," at a media summit in San Francisco.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata officially announced the Nintendo DSi, an update to the popular Nintendo DS handheld gaming console, to a crowd of Japanese press and investors at the company's annual Fall press conference. The DSi will retain the form factor of the DS Lite but reportedly be 12 percent thinner, forego the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot entirely, and include an SD slot, media playback and two built-in cameras including a 3-megapixel external camera and a VGA camera on the hinge facing the user. The dual-screens, now both touch screens, will get a slight size increase to 3.25 inches, while a built-in browser will enable downloadable games to be stored permanently on the device. Calling the DSi a "third platform" that doesn't compete with the DS, Nintendo also announced the launch of a DSi shop to sell games and other downloadable content over the DSi's WiFi connection. Slated to be released in Japan on November 1, 2008, the DSi will be available in white and black at a price of ¥18,900 or about $179 USD. Originally published on Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 1:11AM.