uuuA recent report by TNI Securities today states that Nintendo’s upcoming Nintendo DS will allow gamers to make free phone calls at wireless hotspots with the built-in 802.11b networking capabilities.
Using the newly revealed headset port, gamers will be able to use the voice-over-IP chat–in effect. TNI’s opinionated statement states that this new function will “help drive adoption among the increasingly connected younger gaming audience.”
In his weekly memo, analyst Boris Markovich said “The headset will allow gamers to use the DS as a phone handset enabling free phone calls over wireless network hotspots. We think that this will be a very compelling application of the handset…”
Also worth noting is that Markovich expects the DS to be on-track with a 2004 release for both the U.S. and Japan.
More as it breaks.
