PlayStation phone named Xperia Play, previewed early

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Engadget has published an exclusive preview of Sony's upcoming PlayStation Phone, which is due to appear at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Reportedly named "Xperia Play", the device features a four-inch 854x480 multitouch screen that slides up to reveal PlayStation-esque controls. Gaming buttons include a D-pad, four action buttons (triangle, circle, square and x), two shoulder buttons, and two circular touchpads that serve as analog sticks.

Overall, Engadget says the device is comfortable to use and has a better build quality than the PSP Go. The site has posted a demo video of the Xperia Play running a few emulated games, including Ridge Racer Revolution, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Gundam Battle Assault 2, and Super Mario Bros. 4. Sony hasn't been clear about what games will be supported at launch, nor has it mentioned pricing or a delivery method, but we imagine that will be covered at MWC.

The handset runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and is powered by single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 SoC with a processor that clocks from 122.88MHz to 1GHz and an Adreno 205 GPU. In one benchmark (NenaMark), the Xperia Play scored similarly to the Tegra 2-powered LG Star. It also carries 512MB of RAM and a 1500mAh battery that gives about a full day of moderately active 3G use. The 5MP camera is limited to 800x480 video recording and is accompanied by LED flash.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/42162-playstation-phone-named-xperia-play-previewed-early.html

 

[CamaroMullet]

oooooooo, I want one!

 

[princeton]

Wow. For a phone meant for gaming those specifications are just TERRIBLE. Plus a camera that doesn't even do 720p? Give me a break.

 

[Raswan]

Princeton said:
Wow. For a phone meant for gaming those specifications are just TERRIBLE. Plus a camera that doesn't even do 720p? Give me a break.

Wow. Hater. The screen is 854x480 pixels, so you don't need a freakin quad core in there. The article says it performs like the Tegra2. And what are you taking video of with your phone that is so important you need it to be 720p? 800x480 is fine for YouTube or whatever, and if you need more here's a novel idea: bring a digital camcorder with...

 

[princeton]

Raswan said:

Princeton said:
Wow. For a phone meant for gaming those specifications are just TERRIBLE. Plus a camera that doesn't even do 720p? Give me a break.

Wow. Hater. The screen is 854x480 pixels, so you don't need a freakin quad core in there. The article says it performs like the Tegra2. And what are you taking video of with your phone that is so important you need it to be 720p? 800x480 is fine for YouTube or whatever, and if you need more here's a novel idea: bring a digital camcorder with...

It's nice to know you registered just to show how you don't know how fast mobile tech is progressing. The point is the phone is going to perform well below other phones on the market. It's a last generation phone already. If you had read the endgadget article you would know it got NEAR the tegra 2 in 1 benchmark. For 854x480 the tegra 2 will be superior for real world performance.

 

[pcnthuziast]

In a word... novelty.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Well, those touch-pad 'joysticks' are a let-down. Similar type of stuff on iPod/phone games. It doesn't spring back when you release pressure, way too hard to play with them.

 

[lawfer]

Sometimes I just wonder what's the thought process behind the manufacturing of these products. This thing fails so much it's painful to know there are going to be folks buying this while other more capable smartphones already are being released.

 

[ET3D]

@Princeton (and others), most techies just fail to grasp such products. They think that hardware power is the only measure of a product. When a new underpowered product arrives, there are tons of comments about how it's worthless and nobody would want it. That happened to Netbooks, the iPad, the Wii, and probably other hugely successful products. Of the previous generation of handhelds the winner was the Nintendo DS, which is vastly underpowered compared to PSP.

Remember also that the phones which surpass this spec are in the $500-$1000 range. Hopefully the Xperia Play will be significantly under that.

 

[fpsgamerJR62]

The D-pad and other buttons look like they're manufactured from thin plastic. I wonder how they'll stand to up a moderate amount of gaming. In my opinion, it also looks rather plain looking for a gaming phone.

 

[lawfer]

ET3D said:
@Princeton (and others), most techies just fail to grasp such products. They think that hardware power is the only measure of a product. When a new underpowered product arrives, there are tons of comments about how it's worthless and nobody would want it. That happened to Netbooks, the iPad, the Wii, and probably other hugely successful products. Of the previous generation of handhelds the winner was the Nintendo DS, which is vastly underpowered compared to PSP.

Remember also that the phones which surpass this spec are in the $500-$1000 range. Hopefully the Xperia Play will be significantly under that.

There are two things wrong with your comment.

1. "...there are tons of comments about how it's worthless and nobody would want it." Nobody said nobody would want it. You must have commented in the wrong article, or website for that matter.

2."...the phones which surpass this spec are in the $500-$1000 range." That's not true. When we talk price, we talk carrier-based price, not unlocked. This phone falls easily in the 100-200 carrier price, and 400-500 unlocked. And as of now, neither carrier nor unlocked price has been unveiled, so your assumption is as (or more) incorrect as your earlier sentence, which again leads me to believe you must have commented in the wrong article, website, or world for that matter.

The main thing being discussed here is that the phone is underpowered for what it's aimed to do. And it's not about being techie or non-techie; it's about facts. The question that arises here is, why if there are already superior smartphones (not aimed at gaming), Sony creates a device (aimed at gaming) that's underpowered in comparison? And don't even get me started on the mediocre battery life.

 

[princeton]

Lawfer said:

ET3D said:
@Princeton (and others), most techies just fail to grasp such products. They think that hardware power is the only measure of a product. When a new underpowered product arrives, there are tons of comments about how it's worthless and nobody would want it. That happened to Netbooks, the iPad, the Wii, and probably other hugely successful products. Of the previous generation of handhelds the winner was the Nintendo DS, which is vastly underpowered compared to PSP.

Remember also that the phones which surpass this spec are in the $500-$1000 range. Hopefully the Xperia Play will be significantly under that.

There are two things wrong with your comment.

1. "...there are tons of comments about how it's worthless and nobody would want it." Nobody said nobody would want it. You must have commented in the wrong article, or website for that matter.

2."...the phones which surpass this spec are in the $500-$1000 range." That's not true. When we talk price, we talk carrier-based price, not unlocked. This phone falls easily in the 100-200 carrier price, and 400-500 unlocked. And as of now, neither carrier nor unlocked price has been unveiled, so your assumption is as (or more) incorrect as your earlier sentence, which again leads me to believe you must have commented in the wrong article, website, or world for that matter.

The main thing being discussed here is that the phone is underpowered for what it's aimed to do. And it's not about being techie or non-techie; it's about facts. The question that arises here is, why if there are already superior smartphones (not aimed at gaming), Sony creates a device (aimed at gaming) that's underpowered in comparison? And don't even get me started on the mediocre battery life.

Thank you lawfer. You seem to be the only person who is actually READING my statements.