Filed under: Gaming
The Nintendo DS may currently have the better reputation for educational-related activities, with Brain Age and similar titles molding minds young and old alike, but a school in England looks to be doing its best to sway things in the PlayStation Portable's favor, announcing that's it'll soon begin employing some of the handheld's non-gaming functions to take the place of old school textbooks. According to The Daily Mail, some 30 students will be given PSPs as part of the pilot program, which apparently could be expanded nationwide if it proves to be successful (one sure way to boost sales). While we're all for putting the PSP to some non-intended uses, we can't help but think that the school is overlooking some of the educational benefits of the PSP's gaming options. After all, you never know when the life skills learned from guiding all those LocoRocos to safety may come in handy.

[Via The Inquirer] 
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Ever spend five minutes yelling, "SIT! SIT! SIT!" at your DS only to have the other people on the subway get up and move away like you were a psycho? Check out this Ear Force D2 from Turtle Beach. This Nintendo DS headset includes both headphones and a mic, which means you can both hear and speak without bothering bystanders too much.
It's better than other headphones since it supports the mic, and with the mic you can talk softly while still being heard. Which is great, since playing Nintendogs on the subway really gets you that authentic fresh urine smell. – Jason Chen
Product Page [Turtle Beach via Gadgetell]

If making Mario jump, Kirby suck, and Phoenix OBJECT! is starting to bore you, check out this RoboDS project. It's an "open" robot platform for the Nintendo DS, which comes with a little robot kit, connectors, and a cart to connect it to your DS for programming.
Once you have the whole thing purchased ($99 + $45 + shipping), set up, and programmed, you can control the little wheeled robot from the Wi-Fi in your DS. We suppose you could mount cameras or listening devices on the thing and spy on other cubicles in your office, but having it deliver toilet paper to you on the can when you run out is a much nobler endeavor. Ships April 7. – Jason Chen
Product Page [Natrium42 - Thanks strider_mt2k]

Filed under: Gaming, Robots

What? You still only play video games on your NDS? It's time to look and learn from these restless DS owners who've promoted their trusty handhelds to robots on a mission. Natrium 42's homebrew kit is an open robot platform that lets you control your RoboDS (pictured right) with an NDS WiFi connection through a web browser interface. You can add a wireless camera to use it for remote spy tactics or strap on a laser pointer to burn enemies' corneas play mean-spirited red dot target jokes on your friends. On a lighter note, Bob Sabiston's bot takes a more poetic route and makes up for those art skills you never had. Sabiston, a professional programmer and engineer, got Nintendo to send him a DS software development kit which allowed him to pump out a sweet painting and animation app to make his DS bot a visual virtuoso (example pictured left). Hopefully with more bot-mods to come, the DS is really blossoming from what we know and love into the task...

That's right, months after being available in both Europe and Japan, Opera for the DS finally arrives stateside June 4th. Woohoo? It's not exactly an optimal way to go online, but in a pinch, it sort of gets the job done.
Granted, there are only about a million other ways to go online on the go, so why'd you be waiting patiently to do so with your DS is beyond us. No official price yet, but around $30 seems likely. – Matt Buchanan
Nintendo DS Web Browser Announced [GameDaily XL via Ars Technica]

Not only do the Japanese love solid gold Styluses for their most beloved gadget of the last century—the Nintendo DS—now they've got one for the Sharp W-ZERO3 as well. Made out of solid gold and costing 63,000 Yen ($536), this gold stylus is worth as much as the actual phone. Which means, if you're anything like us, that you're going to be losing $536 on the subway, $536 in your office, $536 in the couch, and $536 at the laundromat.
Seriously, this is a bad idea. Unless of course you're Bruce Dickinson and want one of these to go along with your solid gold diapers. – Jason Chen
W-ZERO3 [Coffret Jewlry via Kotaku]

Filed under: Gaming, GPS, Handhelds, Wireless

A highly reliable source just sent in this image of a Nintendo DS using WiFi -- rather than GPS -- for geopositioning data (sorta like that iriver W10 we mentioned back in January). Not sure when this might be commercialized, but it would potentially make it possible to add location-based data to DS games without requiring some sort of GPS add-on. Click on for a full-sized shot.Continue reading Nintendo DS does geopositioning with WiFi
 
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