DS Becomes MP3 Compatible

The differences between the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP continue to blur as Nintendo has announced that it will release a MP3 player for the DS in Europe. Sony,s PSP offers MP3 capability in addition to video playback and wireless web.The DS accessory will fit into one of the game slots of the handheld machine. A Nintendo spokesperson said, "It’s just like the Play Yan [the Japanese version of the player], where you insert an SD card into a GBA cart-sized adaptor. That is then inserted into either your DS, DS Lite, GBA SP or GB Micro – turn it on and away you go."As far as when and how much, the price and release date won,t be announced until a later time. However, industry analysts speculate that the unit will be released in October and retail for a price of 29.99 Euros ($38.55). No word has been released as to the availability of the unit for North American.Nintendo,s strategy of constantly upgrading the features of its DS further turns the screws on Sony’s struggling PSP. As of now, the DS offers wireless surfing of the web, and MP3, but lacks the capacity to play movies. But as the battle to grab market share for the handheld category heats up, Nintendo may be thinking of closing the technology gap further by making the DS video compatible, as well.