A new version of the Nintedo DS handheld could be unveiled at this year’s upcoming E3 (that is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on July 15th – 17th), Enterbrain boss Hirokazu Hamamura predicted.

According to Hamamura, Nintendo is likely to use the opportunity to present the new DS model at the year’s biggest gaming trade show.

His predictions were based on the fact that Nintendo has made a habit of presenting a new handheld every two years, and the DS Lite was released in 2006. Mathematics point to this year as the year of a new announcement, but Nintendo representatives refused to make comments on the rumors.

Bloomberg reported (article in Japanese) that Hamamura relied on rumors circulating in the industry, as well as on the historical evidence that point out to this year’s E3.

The exact specifications of the possible new features of the new DS model are hard to confirm, but here are the speculations: media functions will be added, such as dedicated audio and video playback, as well as an additional slot for removable hardware.

When DS Lite was released in 2006, it unveiled a thinner, smaller, lighter version of the previous DS game console. The DS was first launched in Japan, and rumors have it that the new DS said to appear this year will also be launched in Japan first.

The Nintendo DS is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo and released in 2004 in Canada, U.S., and Japan. In September 2007, it was reported that Nintendo had sold over 50 million units at the fastest pace of all time for a handheld game console.