A patent recently granted to Nintendo opens the possibility of a touchpad for the DS that can recognize more than one contact point at the same time.

The images included with the patent show two fingers being placed on the pad at once that correspond to the left and right wingtip of a plane on the upper screen (that looks somewhat like a Starfox Arwing). The patent explains how the player could control the ship's speed by sliding his fingers together or apart, as well as controlling the ship's roll by changing the angle of his fingers.

Before ideas of yet another DS iteration start dancing in your head, though, it's important to note that the patent was drafted in 2004 and filed in 2005. Most likely, this patent was part of Nintendo's early experimentation with the potential of the system -- it's not new and is thus not a sign that Nintendo is planning an upgrade soon. They may have decided the more technologically complex touchscreen was simply not worth the added cost. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility that the idea could still be used in a new version of the DS sometime down the line.

Source: Gamespot