*UPDATE* - More sources are beginning to corroborate this rumor.  CVG is now reporting that an unnamed source who has the device in hand has told them that "It's genuinely the best thing I think I've ever worked with...I can tell you that it's got a 'tilt' function that's not dissimilar to iPhone, but does a lot more. We know that The Pokemon Company are getting special attention with it."

For a few weeks now, there's been a rumor that Nintendo will be unveiling a new handheld device at GDC next month.  The portable device, rumored to be the “true sequel” to the DS, is the subject of much speculation and conjecture, but remains a complete mystery.  Is it really coming so soon?  Does it already exist?  What the hell is it going to look like and do?  While we may need to wait until at least GDC for the answers to these questions, there are allegedly a few people who already have first-hand knowledge of the shadowy device.  According to French website Game Kult, several developers already have development kits.

A translation of the French story reveals that not only does Game Kult believe the "DS 2" is in developers’ hands, but that they expect the “future machine of Nintendo could even be put in circulation before the end 2010.”  With the North American release of the DSi occurring less than a year ago, and the DSi XL expected on American shelves in the first half of 2010, a brand new portable later in the year seems a little premature.  That has never stopped Nintendo before, though, so anything’s possible.

We’ll need to wait until GDC to see if this rumor has any validity, but until then feel free to speculate wildly about triple touch screens, accelerometers, Wii connectivity, and thought-controlled interfaces.