Sony PSPhone
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Sony's Tokyo Conference: Live Blog
Tonight in Japan, Sony is expected to unveil the long awaited PSP2, and IGN will be there bringing you live updates.
Of course, Sony will neither confirm nor deny that tonight's event will be the staging ground for their hotly anticipated handheld, but rumors, speculation, and leaks suggest otherwise. Whatever Sony has in store, you can count on us to bring you the latest, right here starting at at 10:00 p.m. PST/1:00 a.m. EST. For our brethren in the UK and Australia, the start time will be January 27 at 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
Be sure to tune in early, as IGN editors will be online chatting with readers, discussing their predictions for the event.
http://psp.ign.com/articles/114/1146221p1.html
Tonight in Japan, Sony is expected to unveil the long awaited PSP2, and IGN will be there bringing you live updates.
Of course, Sony will neither confirm nor deny that tonight's event will be the staging ground for their hotly anticipated handheld, but rumors, speculation, and leaks suggest otherwise. Whatever Sony has in store, you can count on us to bring you the latest, right here starting at at 10:00 p.m. PST/1:00 a.m. EST. For our brethren in the UK and Australia, the start time will be January 27 at 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
Be sure to tune in early, as IGN editors will be online chatting with readers, discussing their predictions for the event.
http://psp.ign.com/articles/114/1146221p1.html
PlayStation Phone Detailed in Hands-on Preview
Remember the PlayStation Phone Sony so painfully failed to announce at this year's CES? Well, apparently it's real and Engadget has one. The tech blog posted an in-depth hands-on preview earlier today, complete with detailed hardware impressions and a brief look at games running on the device, which they say will be officially called the Xperia Play.
While the look of the device is consistent with what we've seen already, Engadget's preview did yield some interesting new information, like, for instance, that Sony may call their new mobile gaming platform PlayStation Pocket.
Though currently devoid of any content, the PlayStation Pocket feature is believed to be a games manager for specialized games made specifically for the device. When played with existing emulators and games for the Android platform, however, the controls and graphics processing were apparently responsive and free of any graphical hiccups, like framerate drops or crashes.
As for the device itself, Engadget notes that the buttons are shallower than the PSPgo, as are the shoulder buttons, but the build quality is allegedly better.
The preview also echoed previous reports regarding the phone's standard smartphone features as well, like that it will be based on Android 2.3 'Gingerbread', and sport a 1.2GHz MSM8655 processor and an Adreno 205 GPU with 512MBs of RAM. Benchmarks reportedly topped 59fps using Neocore tests, which bodes well for its graphical performance. The rear-facing camera also apparently takes some pretty gorgeous photos, though the current build used by Engadget wouldn't support 720p HD video recording.
Of course, Engadget did caution readers that the device used is still considered a prototype, and the features are subject to change, but given the seemingly finalized nature of the product, significant changes are unlikely.
We're hoping to hear more about the PlayStation Phone next month at the Mobile World Congress. For more on the PlayStation Phone aka Xperia Play, stay tuned to IGN.com.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/114/1146203p1.html
Remember the PlayStation Phone Sony so painfully failed to announce at this year's CES? Well, apparently it's real and Engadget has one. The tech blog posted an in-depth hands-on preview earlier today, complete with detailed hardware impressions and a brief look at games running on the device, which they say will be officially called the Xperia Play.
While the look of the device is consistent with what we've seen already, Engadget's preview did yield some interesting new information, like, for instance, that Sony may call their new mobile gaming platform PlayStation Pocket.
Though currently devoid of any content, the PlayStation Pocket feature is believed to be a games manager for specialized games made specifically for the device. When played with existing emulators and games for the Android platform, however, the controls and graphics processing were apparently responsive and free of any graphical hiccups, like framerate drops or crashes.
As for the device itself, Engadget notes that the buttons are shallower than the PSPgo, as are the shoulder buttons, but the build quality is allegedly better.
The preview also echoed previous reports regarding the phone's standard smartphone features as well, like that it will be based on Android 2.3 'Gingerbread', and sport a 1.2GHz MSM8655 processor and an Adreno 205 GPU with 512MBs of RAM. Benchmarks reportedly topped 59fps using Neocore tests, which bodes well for its graphical performance. The rear-facing camera also apparently takes some pretty gorgeous photos, though the current build used by Engadget wouldn't support 720p HD video recording.
Of course, Engadget did caution readers that the device used is still considered a prototype, and the features are subject to change, but given the seemingly finalized nature of the product, significant changes are unlikely.
We're hoping to hear more about the PlayStation Phone next month at the Mobile World Congress. For more on the PlayStation Phone aka Xperia Play, stay tuned to IGN.com.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/114/1146203p1.html
GDC: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Hands-On
Walking into the first stateside demo of the Xperia Play, I was admittedly a little apprehensive. After all, how could Sony Ericsson make a gaming-centric smartphone powerful enough for experienced players, but also functional, intuitive, and accessible for the average smartphone user? Well, after going hands-on with the device, my perspective has gone from "skeptical" to "hopeful."
The Xperia Play looks and feels a lot like a PSPgo, which depending on your feelings about Sony's all-digital slider, is a good thing. The key differences are, of course, the top panel's touchscreen interface, smartphone controls, the dual analog touchpads on the slide-out game controller, a rounded rear panel, and, of course, the Android 2.3 OS.
The device is slightly thinner than the PSPgo, though the rounded rear panel makes it feel easier to grip. The shoulder buttons are remarkably smaller, which given the already thin edge, is definitely a big concern. Despite the narrow shoulder buttons, hit detection was pretty accurate.
The analog touchpads were also surprisingly responsive, though none of the games pre-loaded on the device were designed for precise analog input, like AirAttack HD and Asphalt HD, which have a more sluggish input method. I was a little curious about how the touchpads would feel, and, more importantly, how I would be able to land my thumbs in the right area and not lose track. Fortunately, the analog pads have a small indentation around them and a metallic center for tactile recognition.
As for the software, the Xperia Play is running a build of Android 2.3, which has been stylized for the device specifically. The UI is fairly intuitive, though not all of the features, like the Xperia Play game browser were fully operational. The performance of the UI was actually surprisingly lackluster, with the device having trouble keeping up with menu navigation and app loading. Of course, this was a prototype model and improvements are likely in the works, but clearly Sony Ericsson has a lot of work left to do.
Games, on the other hand, ran extremely well, with smooth 60fps graphics and fast loads. Unfortunately, however, none of the games pre-loaded on the device were designed specifically for the Xperia Play or part of the PlayStation certified program. Instead, all Sony Ericsson had on display were Android games adapted for the Xperia Play's game controller.
Obviously the success of the Xperia Play will hinge upon the software lineup, and until we learn more, it'll be hard to say whether or not the device could be a winner. Pricing will also be a huge concern -- will consumers want to pay top dollar for a gaming-centric smartphone?
We're also still waiting on more official details of the Xperia Play's release in the U.S., but as it stands the device will launch sometime this Spring.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/115/1152940p1.html
Walking into the first stateside demo of the Xperia Play, I was admittedly a little apprehensive. After all, how could Sony Ericsson make a gaming-centric smartphone powerful enough for experienced players, but also functional, intuitive, and accessible for the average smartphone user? Well, after going hands-on with the device, my perspective has gone from "skeptical" to "hopeful."
The Xperia Play looks and feels a lot like a PSPgo, which depending on your feelings about Sony's all-digital slider, is a good thing. The key differences are, of course, the top panel's touchscreen interface, smartphone controls, the dual analog touchpads on the slide-out game controller, a rounded rear panel, and, of course, the Android 2.3 OS.
The device is slightly thinner than the PSPgo, though the rounded rear panel makes it feel easier to grip. The shoulder buttons are remarkably smaller, which given the already thin edge, is definitely a big concern. Despite the narrow shoulder buttons, hit detection was pretty accurate.
The analog touchpads were also surprisingly responsive, though none of the games pre-loaded on the device were designed for precise analog input, like AirAttack HD and Asphalt HD, which have a more sluggish input method. I was a little curious about how the touchpads would feel, and, more importantly, how I would be able to land my thumbs in the right area and not lose track. Fortunately, the analog pads have a small indentation around them and a metallic center for tactile recognition.
As for the software, the Xperia Play is running a build of Android 2.3, which has been stylized for the device specifically. The UI is fairly intuitive, though not all of the features, like the Xperia Play game browser were fully operational. The performance of the UI was actually surprisingly lackluster, with the device having trouble keeping up with menu navigation and app loading. Of course, this was a prototype model and improvements are likely in the works, but clearly Sony Ericsson has a lot of work left to do.
Games, on the other hand, ran extremely well, with smooth 60fps graphics and fast loads. Unfortunately, however, none of the games pre-loaded on the device were designed specifically for the Xperia Play or part of the PlayStation certified program. Instead, all Sony Ericsson had on display were Android games adapted for the Xperia Play's game controller.
Obviously the success of the Xperia Play will hinge upon the software lineup, and until we learn more, it'll be hard to say whether or not the device could be a winner. Pricing will also be a huge concern -- will consumers want to pay top dollar for a gaming-centric smartphone?
We're also still waiting on more official details of the Xperia Play's release in the U.S., but as it stands the device will launch sometime this Spring.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/115/1152940p1.html