Nintendo has confirmed that the Nintendo DSi system, the third iteration of the world's best-selling portable video game system, will launch in North America on April 5, 2009, at an MSRP of $169.99 USD and $199.99 Cdn.

To be available in a whole two colors, blue or black, the Nintendo DSi is Nintendo's timely response to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch systems, units that have surprised many with their remarkable appeal to gamers.

The new DSi will sport new features both integral to and independent of gaming, not unlike iPhone, which is also, like, a phone.

Built into the DSi is a double-lens Nintendo DSi Camera, Nintendo DSi Sound and Nintendo DSi Shop.

The marquee feature of DSi is its two camera lenses, one facing outward, the other pointed inward when the device is flipped open. This allows the device to operate as a regular point & shoot camera -- with photo share, editing and upload options a-plenty -- and as a new type of interface for games.

As with previous models, the DSi will still feature a built-in microphone and speaker along with the trademarked dual screens, one of which is touch-activated.

The Nintendo DSiSound application, meanwhile, will serve as both an interactive voice recorder and music player that allows users to play with their music and audio files while they listen to it. Users will be able to access different audio filters, for example, control the pitch and speed of recorded voice or music files to alter them or to change the tempo of a song. The mic is located between the two screens when the device is flipped open, and there is also a stereo headphone jack that will let users listen to music saved on an SD card even with the screen shut, effectively making it a pocketable MP3-player.

Lastly, the Nintendo DSiWare application will populate DSi with software that can be downloaded using Nintendo DSi Points directly to the portable system, not unlike Apple's iTunes and iGames. DSiWare games and apps will start at about $2.00, or 200 points.

In addition to downloadable games, DSi will play games made specifically for the system and sold at retail in cartridge format, plus what's only described as "most" previous iteration Nintendo DS games, currently about 850 of them.

Unlike the DS, the DSi will not be backward-compatible with old GameBoy Advance games as the access port for such retro cartridges has been removed from the DSi in favor of a slimmer form factor (again, like iPhone).