And this has ‘what’ to do with portable gaming? Eh, I will say the idea of VoIP via Wi-Fi all through the DS is a cool idea. But will people take it seriously?

Nintendo revealed new technology for the Handheld DS at the E3 Expo show in Los Angeles. Named DSpeak, it will allow voice over IP, utilizing the forthcoming DS Wi-Fi connection.

Although the version shown at E3 was a prototype, and neither a release date nor prospective pricing for the software was revealed, attendees for the Nintendo booth could speak into a microphone in one area of the booth and another attendee in another part could hear them speak.

The prototype software came complete with a wavelength display and a 3D Nintendo character which had lip-synced movement. Whether the DS has processing power to deal with both speech and gameplay is questionable, but more details on the application are likely to be revealed later in the year when the DS Wi-Fi launches. [Read the rest]