Sony unveils next-gen PlayStation Portable, Android store

Sony had quite a few announcements to make at a media event yesterday in Japan. Although the recently unearthed Xperia Play was not part of the show (it's expected to be introduced at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona), attendees were still treated to a first look at the long-rumored PSP successor, which is codenamed Next Generation Portable or NGP. It looks very much like the original PSP handheld at first glance, but it's a whole 'nother beast inside.

Sony promises a PS3-level experience with a much faster, quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a multi-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics chip four times faster than before. The NPG will come with a 5" OLED screen, two micro-analog sticks to simulate the Dual Shock experience, front and rear facing cameras, and two-finger multi-touch pad on the back of the machine that might open the door for new ideas in game control. A Sixaxis equivalent with a gyroscope and accelerometer is also available to let players control games by moving and tilting the system itself.


In terms of connectivity you can expect built-in 3G in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR -- though it's unclear if users will need a separate for-pay service to use the 3G options. GPS is onboard as well, and a new app dubbed "Near" will let users see what other gamers nearby are currently playing and add them as friends.

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