DS goes telly, PS3 goes online

Nintendo announced today that gamers will soon be able to watch TV and surf the Web on the DS. This is good news, because added functionality can only be a good thing. But I don't think it's earth-shattering news: the DS screens seem too small and not sharp enough for this to be a really big deal. I know people watch and surf on their cell phones and watch TV shows on the iPod, both of which have smaller screens than the DS, but the DS screen isn't nearly as clear as an iPod's. This is yet another reason I wish Sony and Nintendo would join forces and release a handheld that's as powerful as the PSP but has Nintendo's games and interface and sense of innovation and exploration.

Also today, Next Generation has a short report that seems to confirm PlayStation Magazine's scoop on Sony's online service. PlayStation HUB is the name. We'll see soon enough if Sony really has been working on this for a few years or if they're trying to pull it all together over a few months: the story pegs the release date as Sept. 16 in Japan, Sept. 21 in the U.S.