Nintendo announced at the Nintendo DS conference in Japan that they will be making a web browser for the Nintendo DS.

Like the browser which will be made available on Nintendo’s new Wii Console, the Nintendo DS browser is based on Opera.

It uses both screens and the touch panel input. The big screen shows a section of the page and the small one the whole web page. Text input is done via the stylus and handwriting recognition.

Norwegian-headquartered Opera Software has officially announced July 24 as the Japanese release date of the previously confirmed Opera web browser for the Nintendo DS platform.

The DS browser will initially be only available for purchase online for a price of ¥3,800 (£18 / $33 USD), and comes with an additional memory expansion pack. Nintendo has not yet announced product release dates for the U.S. and Europe. The company noted that additional details concerning the web browser will be unveiled on July 24.

The Japanese version includes pop-up keyboards for Japanese and English characters, and also includes a character recognition mode for free form writing. Japanese character entry was shown, but it looks like there is also an option for English characters as well. Apparently, there will also be password protection for the browser, most likely to act as some kind of parental lock feature.

We’ve managed to get our hands on a copy of the box art/package shots for the software (click the thumbnail for a large image), I’m sure this will be a popular add on for many DS users.