Nintendo today announced that it will begin selling a Nintendo DS web-browser and TV tuner card that acts as a digital receiver by the end of the year.

The web browser is based on the Opera browser, and will come on a standard Nintendo DS card retailing for 3,800 yen (about $32 US). It's expected to be released in June in Japan. The lower screen will show the web page itself, while the top screen will show a magnified area of the screen as selected by the user. Nintendo is currently exploring the possibility of releasing the browser outside of Japan, but no further release dates have been announced at this time.

The TV card is expected to come equipped with an antenna, and will support the mobile television programs major Japanese broadcasters will begin transmitting on April 1st. These broadcasts will be sent in QVGA resolution (320x240) MPEG4 format, and are aimed at mobile devices only. For that reason alone, a release outside of Japan seems unlikely at this time unless Nintendo opts to release a more traditional TV tuner elsewhere.

These products continue to build on Nintendo's new strategy of appealing to more than just gamers, as emphasized by comments from a variety of Nintendo execs in recent weeks and recent Nintendo DS releases such as Big Brain Academy and other teaching games. Regarding these announcements, Satoru Iwata commented "These products propose a different use for the DS in entirely new fields."