The long-rumored Nintendo DS Lite has finally been announced. The Nintendo DS Lite will be a smaller DS with a brigther screen. The Nintendo DS Lite is to the DS what the Gameboy Advance SP was to the Gameboy Advance.

The DS Lite is much trimmer than the original DS. When folded the DS Lite is 133.0 x 73.9 x 21.5 mm compared to the original DS (148.7 x 84.7 x 28.9 mm). They definitely shaved off some weight to with the DS Lite weighing 218g compared to 275g.

The Nintendo DS Lite should feature all the same hardware as the original DS: dual screens, touch panel, microphone input and Wi-Fi connection. The only new feature added is the brighter screen as well as a 4 level adjustable brightness. It should be noted that backwards support has not been officially announced for the DS Lite yet.

The official DS Lite release date is March 2 in Japan where it will debut for 16,800 yen ($145).

via GameSpot