Nintendo's new and improved DSi will launch on November 1st in Japan, while Amerca will have to wait until "well into" 2009. Gamespot have a running commentary of the event.

It didn't take long for the official announcement to come. On Thursday morning in Japan, Nintendo held a press conference to unveil the DSi. The redesigned handheld will be 12 percent thinner than the DS Lite, with screens 17 percent larger than those of its predecessor. Though it will lose the Game Boy Advance slot, it will boast two cameras--one outward-facing 3 megapixel and one lower-resolution one for self-portraits--and an SD card slot for multimedia storage. It will also sport a built-in Internet browser, which will let users directly download games from a new online DSi store.

The DSi will launch in Japan on November 1 for ¥18,900 (about $179). However, Nintendo did not use its Tokyo press conference to reveal release plans for the handheld in any other territory. Presumably, that's what Nintendo of America is planning to do at its own media jamboree, which is being held at an upscale hotel just off of San Francisco's iconic Union Square this morning.