According to Nikkei Trendy, Nintendo might be planning on updating the 3DS's design.
Update: It turns out that Nikkei Trendy was speculating based on past Nintendo actions; they had no new information regarding a 3DS revision.
In the latest issue of Nikkei Trendy, a blurb appears underneath a picture of what appears to be a standard 3DS.
Very loosely translated, this text reads, "To promote sales of the 3DS, which is thick, a new lighter version may be introduced."
This is clearly pretty vague, but it could be leading to more concrete news down the line for a 3DS hardware revision. As for the scan itself, we implore you to find anything new about the 3DS that they display.