The device has been available on Amazon for pre-orders since last week and has been listed with the same December 31 release date. Pricing on both Amazon and GameStop are the same with the WiFi-only version running at $249.99 and the WiFi + 3G version at $299.99. The latter version will require a data contract with AT&T to take advantage of the 3G connectivity.

The PS Vita features a 5-inch 960 x 544 OLED touchscreen display with an additional capacitive touchpad on the back, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, two analog sticks, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and various motion sensors. Sony has revealed that 26 game titles will be available for the handheld when it launches in December.

Techon has had an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida about the coming Sony portable console dubbed NGP. In the interview Yoshida confirmed that Sony worked backwards from what most of us would expect on the development of a console rather than just making the NGP awesome with some of the coolest hardware around and then coming to a price people would spend, the price came first. Sony settled on a price of about $310 USD as the first step and then went and chose hardware that would fit inside that price.

Sony apparently worked up several prototypes and evaluated them to see what performed best. Interestingly the rear touchpad was a more expensive component and including it was a low priority at first. Yoshida says after he used the prototype with the touchpad on the rear he decided it was unique and included it. Another cool tidbit to come for the interview is that Sony is working with carriers to offer a pay-as-you-go option for the 3G service on the NGP. There have already been rumors that Sony is cutting back on hardware to make the NGP more affordable.

[via Techon]

Several readers of Destructoid claim to have placed orders for the PS Vita on Amazon only to be notified of a January 2012 ship date. So far, rumors have pointed to a November 4th release of the PS Vita for the UK, but not much has surfaced on a U.S. release date. Destructoid is claiming a December 31 release that would suggest most shipments won’t arrive until at least January 4th. A two-month difference between the UK and US release plus missing the holiday season makes the claim a bit iffy.

The PS Vita touts a 5-inch OLED touchpad screen along with a second touchpad on the back side. It will also have dual analogue sticks, six-axis motion sensor, and both a front and back camera. It will support Wi-Fi and 3G with initial carrier being AT&T. New social features called “Party” and “Near” will also be part of the package. The Wi-Fi-only model is priced at $249 while the 3G/Wi-Fi model is $299.

[via VentureBeat]

Some things to note from the FAQ are that the PS Vita will not support HDMI video output, and will not be region-specific. The phased roll out of the device is set to start by end of this year to all SCE regions. Specific improvements of the PS Vita over the PSP include improved hardware for enhanced graphics, new multi-touch front and rear panels, two cameras, Live Area for game titles, location-based services, 3G capability, and better integration with PlayStation Suite.

Some areas that Sony is still uncertain about include whether the PS Vita will be able to access existing services such as Remote Play, Skype, SenseMe, and Comic that was accessible to the PSP. They’re also evaluating whether YouTube and Flash content will be supported. How many software titles will be available at launch and how much will they cost on average are other questions that Sony does not have an answer for yet.

The full FAQ is pasted below:

Question: When will PS Vita be available?
Answer: There will be a phased roll out from the end of the year 2011 throughout all the SCE regions.

Q: How much will PS Vita cost?
A: It will cost $249 USD for the Wi-Fi version and $299 USD for the 3G version available through AT&T stores.

Q: What is the official name?
A: The official name will be PlayStation Vita (PS Vita). “Vita,” which means “Life” in Latin, was chosen as the name for our next-generation portable entertainment system because it enables a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context.

Q: PS Vita supports 3G network connectivity, does this mean PS Vita will be sold through cell-phone providers?
A: Partnering with AT&T, which powers the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, who will serve as the exclusive service provider for PS Vita in the United States. By having both Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi models available, PS Vita will enable infinite possibilities for you to “encounter,” “connect,” “discover,” “share” and “play” with your friends wherever they are.

Q: Do all PS Vita users have to sign up with a cell phone provider?
A: No. Users can enjoy PS Vita using only Wi-Fi.

Q: How do you buy PS Vita games?
A: You can download PS Vita games and other content from PlayStation Store to a storage media via the Internet or buy the new game medium at retailers.

Q: What game format will the PS Vita use?
A: PS Vita will utilize the new game medium.

Q: Will users be able to access PlayStation Store from both 3G and Wi-Fi?
A: PlayStation Store will be able to be accessed from both 3G and Wi-Fi.

Q: Which carrier will users need to subscribe to use the 3G networks?
A: Partnering with AT&T, which powers the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, who will serve as the exclusive service provider for PS Vita in the United States.

Q: Can you use PS Vita as a phone?
A: No.

Q: What are the specs of the OLED screen?
A: 5 inches (16:9), 960×544 pixels, Approx. 16,770,000 colors displayed

Q: What colors will be available at launch?
A: This will be announced at a later time.

Q: Does the PS Vita support Bluetooth headsets / headphones?
A: Commercially available Bluetooth headsets will work, however, it may function differently depending on the device specifications.

Q: Can you use a commercially available Bluetooth keyboard / mouse? Can you connect the PS3 wireless controller to the PS Vita like the PSPgo?
A: No. Users cannot use commercially available Bluetooth keyboard / mouse or a PS3 wireless controller on the PS Vita.

Q: Can you access the Internet by connecting PS Vita to a Bluetooth supported cell phone?
A: No.

Q: Why didn’t you introduce stereoscopic 3D (without glasses) to PS Vita?
A: In the development process, we studied the possibility of introducing stereoscopic 3D feature to PS Vita, but decided not to install it. After careful consideration of our goal of offering users the ultimate portable entertainment experience with revolutionary user interface, we have decided to focus on the features and spec announced first.

Q: Does PS Vita have internal memory?
A: PS Vita is equipped with the storage media slot so that users can choose what memory capacity they want to utilize depending on their use.

Q: What is “Near”?
A: Near is a core PS Vita feature composed of location-based services, that utilize PlayStation Network. Near, developed specifically for this service and the network , will be pre-installed in the system to let users find out what their friends in the vicinity are playing now or what they were playing recently. Users can meet their friends and new players virtually, regardless of what games they are playing, simply by sharing their game information across different dimensions of time and distance.

Q: Do you need 3G network connection to enjoy Near?
A: Users can enjoy Near using Wi-Fi, but to enjoy further what Near offers, 3G connection is preferred. Users will be able to obtain more information and encounter new players in real time by using 3G connection.

Q: What is “LiveArea”?
A: Every game title for PS Vita will be provided with a space called “LiveArea™” where users can share the fun and excitement with other players. Users will have access to the latest information of games provided from SCE and 3rd party developers and publishers through PlayStation Network. Additionally, PS Vita users will be able to view “Activity” log that is constantly updated with accomplishments from users who are playing the same game, which in turn can trigger active real-time communication among users.

Q: Will existing services like Remote Play, Skype, SenseMe, and Comic content for PSP be available for PS Vita as well?
A: We are evaluating the opportunity to offer non-gaming applications/content and will announce details at a later time.

Q: Will Youtube, Flash content and files like PDF be viewable on PS Vita?
A: We are evaluating the opportunity to offer non-gaming applications/content and will announce details at a later time.

Q: What is the difference between the PSP system and the PS Vita in terms of hardware specs?

A:

Advanced portable entertainment system
A high performance CPU / GPU combined with OLED enables rich, visually striking graphics never seen before on a portable entertainment system. PS Vita also adopts the Super Oval Design form factor, which fits comfortably in users’ hands.
Revolutionary User Interface
A unique multi-touch pad on the rear, with the front touch display. Two cameras on it’s front and rear, as well as three motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer, and electronic compass.
LiveArea™
Every game title for PS Vita will be provided with a space called “LiveArea™” where users can share the fun and excitement with other players.
Location-based services
SCE will provide location-based services on PS Vita as part of the basic features utilizing PlayStation Network. The new application called “Near,” developed specifically for this service and the network, will be pre-installed in the system.
Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity
PS Vita is equipped with 3G in addition to Wi-Fi.
Closely coordinated with PlayStation Suite
The newly developed and released game content for Android based portable devices can also be enjoyed on PS Vita.

Q: There are two slots on the PS Vita, what are they for?
A: One is for the new game medium, the other is for storage media to be utilized for personal content and download content.

Q: What kind of game medium will PS Vita support? What is the official name? Why did you decide to introduce it?
A: It is a small flash memory based card, dedicated for PS Vita. Taking advantage of the flash memory feature, this innovative card can store add-on game content or the game save directly on the card. By adopting flash memory based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game data to deliver rich, immersive games. We will announce the official name at a later date.

Q: What type of storage media will PS Vita support?
A: This will be announced at a later date.

Q: What are the features of the new game medium / storage media?
A:

New game medium

It can not only store the full software titles but also save data as well as additional game content data. Therefore, the game title can be concluded with one piece of card.
Users can play games by just inserting the game medium into PS Vita. (a separate storage media is not required.)

As for storage media, we will announce details at a later date.

Q: How many software titles will be available at launch (in the new game medium/download for each region)?
A: We will announce details at a later date.

Q: What will software pricing look like?
A: We will announce details at a later date.

Q: If you buy download content for PS Vita, up to how many systems can you copy it to?
A: We will announce details at a later date.

Q: Is PS Vita compatible with other PlayStation platform games like PS3, PS2, or PSP? Do you have any plan to support other PlayStation platforms in the future?
A: Users can play PSP titles, minis and PSone classics titles which are offered on PS Store. We do no have any plans to make PS Vita compatible with PS3 or PS2 titles at this point.

Q: Is PS Vita compatible with PSP content other than games such as video and comics available on PlayStation Store?
A: SCE plans to make those content available on PS Vita.

Q: Can PS Vita users continue using their save data for PSP games that they have also downloaded from PlayStation Store to PS Vita?
A: We are looking into the opportunity to do so.

Q: PS Vita doesn’t support UMD but do you have any plan to introduce peripherals like “UMD readers” for PS Vita?
A: We do not have plans to introduce such peripherals at this point in time.

Q: I have UMD games but do I need to buy them again from PlayStation Store to play the same game on PS Vita?
A: We will consider every possibility for support on bought UMD games but we have nothing to comment at this point in time.

Q: Will you bring all UMD games to the new game medium or on the PlayStation Store for PS Vita?
A: SCE with the support of third party developers and publishers have been offering select UMD titles on PlayStation Store and will continue our effort to deliver these content in the form of game medium for PS Vita going forward. However, we will need to clear all copyright / legal related issues and due to this not all software titles will become available on PS Vita. We will announce details for each title when ready.

Q: Will PS Vita support all content that will become available on PlayStation Suite?
A: PS Suite content developed in the new game development environment provided for PS Suite can be enjoyed on PS Vita.

Q: Are PSP/PS3 user’s PSN accounts also available on PS Vita?
A: The same PSN accounts will be available on PS Vita.

Q: Do you have any plans to introduce a video output cable? Will PS Vita have HDMI output?
A: No, PS Vita does not have a video output feature.

Q: Can you take out the battery from the system?
A: No. We have adopted embedded battery since PS Vita is equipped with a rear touch pad.

The PS Vita will have dual analogue sticks as promised, a 5-inch OLED touchscreen, 6-axis motion sensor, front and rear touch panels, and front and rear cameras for augmented reality games. There will be a WiFi-only and a 3G/WiFi model. Hirai said that 3G for the device will be offered through partner AT&T, an announcement that elicited boos from the crowd. However, you do get free access to more than 24,000 AT&T hotspots nationwide. Pricing and information for other carriers will be announced later.

Some new “social” features will come with the PS Vita. One is called “Party” will allow you to voice chat with other PS Vita gamers in the same game room, no matter where they are or what game they’re playing. Another feature called “Near” is a social connection tool that lets you connect and play with others around you. It also lets you recommend games and compare trophies with those around you.

Other features include cloud saves, online competition, content sharing, and user-generated content, which is unique to PlayStation. This was startedlittle big planet started this concept

A few games were demoed to highlight the PS Vita’s capabilities. Those games include Ruin and ModNation Racers. Many cross-platform games are also promised to be upcoming that will allow users to play on either the PS Vita or the PS3.

Street Fighter X Tekken was also presented to be getting a PS Vita version. With Sucker Punch, Cole from Infamous will be joining the fighters roster. More than 80 titles are in development from all major publishers, including EA, Capcom, and Activision.

The release date for the PS Vita is set for the end of 2011 in time for the holidays. The WiFi-only model will retail for $249, while the 3G/WiFi model will retail for $299. Check out the full official press release and etc from AT&T for additional details on how you’re about to be going nuts with games forever!

Friday, Sony filed for a trademark on the PS Vita logo in the EU. The filing is confirmation that Sony is using the PS Vita name for something. The odds of the name being anything other than the official name for the NGP are slim. Sony Computer Entertainment also filed for the PlayStation Vita trademark as well.

Joystiq reports that neither of the trademark apps spells out exactly what the name will be used for. The applications point to a range of uses, though handheld gaming is specifically pointed out in the application. The Sony E3 conference is tomorrow night and we reckon the official name will be offered then.

[via Joystiq]

Microsoft Windows 8:
Windows 8 revealed: Tablet-friendly UI, HTML5 apps [Video]
Qualcomm adds Windows 8 support to dual/quad-core chips
Windows 8 To Have “Chatter” Video Chat App?

ASUS Padfone and Computex 2011 News:
ASUS PadFone official
ASUS PadFone hands-on roundup [Video]
ASUS Padfone Copycat Accusations Begin with AlwaysInnovating
ASUS Padfone Not Unique, Behold The TransPhone!
Padfone-Like Tablet With iPhone Dock By ECS
Computex 2011: Day Zero Wrap-Up

Apple news ahead of Monday’s WWDC 2011:
iPhone 4S To Have Integrated SIM, iPhone 5 Coming Spring 2012?
Apple promise iCloud, OS X Lion and iOS 5 at Steve Jobs WWDC keynote
Apple iCloud To Offer Movies, TV Shows At Launch?
Student Discount for iCloud Quite Possible

Gaming news ahead of E3 2011.

Reviews:
DROID X2 Review
LG Revolution LTE Review
T-Mobile Sensation 4G Review

Giveaway:
SlashGear Cadence 4-Bit Binary Watch Giveaway!

Sony demoed a good roster of titles including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Hot Shots Golf, Wipeout, Hustle Kings, Soundshapes, and Super Stardust Delta. These titles will all be a part of the NGP’s diverse launch lineup.

“We’ll talk more about social connectivity features down the line – today is about showing off the core games and getting you hands-on time,” said SCE president Shuhel Yoshida. “I’m sure you have burning questions on launch date, pricing, 3G data plans, and we’ll be very happy to share all those with you moving forward.”

Of the titles demoed, the most high profile one would be the Uncharted: Golden Abyss, developed by the same team that made the best PSP shooters including Resistance Retribution and Syphon Filter.

The following video shows some of the games in action. However, the demo unit shown is not how the final NGP handheld will look like. There is noticeably no marking of a device name anywhere on the unit, suggesting the company’s keeping the official name top secret until the E3 2011 reveal. Recent reports claim that the NGP could be called the Vita.

[via PlayStation Blog]

The NGP will not only be compatible with PSP games, but will also offer an optimized experience for each game. The PSP titles will automatically be smoothed and upscaled, but the option to optimize can also be toggled on and off. Furthermore, the NGP will support dual analogue sticks, which is feature long requested.

Recently, there were rumors that the Sony NGP may actually be named the Vita, after some advertising graphics showing the device emblazoned with the name turned up along with a new subdomain with the name Vita. The E3 conference kicks off on June 7, so we’ll find out all the details very soon.

[via PlayStation Lifestyle]

A few other specs were rumored, but haven’t been officially confirmed at this point. Those unconfirmed specs included that the NGP would pack in 512MB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Another rumor has turned up that claims those rumored specs have been changed now. The new rumor claims that in order to cut production costs and allow the NGP to compete with the 3DS on a price basis, those two key specs have been changed.

The RAM has reportedly been changed from 512MB to 256MB and the internal storage as been removed altogether. Rather than 16GB inside the machine, it will use memory cards as the current PSP does for storage. The big benefit according to the rumor is that those cuts will let the NGP sell for the same $250 that the 3DS goes for. As long as the chopped specs don’t impact performance significantly, lowering the price is the best thing Sony could do. That is assuming this rumor is accurate at all.

[via Kotaku]

According to Sony spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka the launch of the NGP is on track. The console is still on track to launch with its original time line. The Bloomberg story claimed that the NGP might only be launched in one of the three major regions Sony was targeting in Asia, Europe, and the US.

Fukuoka said that Sony has never stated that the NGP would launch in all three regions at the same time. That means that the NGP may in fact only launch in one of the areas just as Bloomberg noted. Fukuoka said, “So far we see no impact from the quake on our launch plan.”

In an interview with MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President Andrew House discussed their new game distribution strategy.

“One thing we learnt from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical for NGP. Just to clarify that, all games that appear physically will be made available digitally. Not necessarily all games have to be made available physically. And having the option of a digital-only method affords more creative risk-taking, and that’s because you don’t-have that in-built risk of physical inventory.”

The emphasis on having a strong digital game distribution means that there will be a hierarchy of games. Big high-end premium games are likely still to be purchased mostly in physical form, but lighter more experimental games are more likely to be downloaded digitally. This saves physical inventory on these types of games and allows for more experimentation in new game development.

[via PlayStation Lifestyle]

That survey had some prices noted in it that point to what might be the actual selling price of the portable console when it lands. According to the survey the standard model will sell for $250 and the 3G version will sell for $350. The survey was conducted on Ubisoft’s behalf by research firm Toluna.

Where exactly the prices came from is unknown. Sony hasn’t offered up official pricing yet. It is conceivable since Ubisoft is a major game publisher that those may be the real prices. At the same time they could be pre conjecture on Ubisoft’s part.

[via Kotaku]

Sony’s Kaz Hirai has sat down for an interview with the Official PlayStation Blog about the NGP to answer a few questions. The reason the console was announced so far ahead of the launch according to Hirai was so that Sony could talk openly about the portable with game developers all around the world. Sony wants a large and robust list of launch titles for the portable and should have it.

We all know that the details would have been leaked in short order as Sony lined up developers so this was a preemptive move it seems. Hirai also noted that having a stable platform that would stay for years to come was important in the developing stage of the new portable. He also said that Sony hopes to match the install base of the PSP and then move beyond that with the NGP. Check out the video to hear what he had to say.

NVIDIA will be sampling its new Tegra 3 T30/AP30 mobile quad core processors by the end of 2011. These things will bring a whole new breed of portable devices and more with loads of power. One of the coolest DIY projects I saw last week was the pedal-powered snowplow that a guy built. He used a couple old bikes and some wood to build the plow that appears to work pretty well.

The 10 billionth app was downloaded last weekend and Apple called the person who made the download to give the $10k gift card price that was offered. The catch was that the winner hung up on them. Luckily for her an Apple rep called again and she ended up with her gift. Samsung conducted a strange experiment early in the week where they launched a bunch of paper airplanes in space. They launched 200 paper planes from 36,500 meters above Berlin and each plane had a card with a text message that the folks who found it could enter online for others to read.

The Verizon iPhone 4 will cost the off-contract user $50 more on Verizon that it does on AT&T. The upside is that that extra $50 should let you talk without your call dropping if you hold your face wrong. The Acer Aspire One E100 Android netbook turned up this week and the thing dual boots Android and Windows. The netbook has a 10.1-inchscreen and is your basic netbook.

Notion Ink issued an update for the Adam tablet that was bricking some of the tablets that installed the update. The update was later pulled and only a few users were affected. It was confirmed this week that Verizon will offer a $30 unlimited data plan for the iPhone 4. The catch is that it’s a limited time offer and will go back to the normal tiered plan after a while.

NVIDIA unveiled a new video card this week called the GeForce GTX 560 Ti. The card promises to be 46% faster than the Radeon HD 6950 that is already on the market and the new GTX 560 Ti sells for about $250. Ben Heck took a flashlight with a crank, a USB charger, and some geek mojo to create a cool kinetic charger. The charger puts power into the battery of your phone as you turn the crank.

The tiny Compulab Trim Slice nettop turned up this week with Tegra 2 inside for desktop PC use. This thing would make a really good HTPC; it looks more like a memory card reader than a computer to me. Details on several new Samsung smartphones turned up this week including the Samsung Galaxy Ace, Fit, Gio, and Mini. The Ace is the coolest of them all with a 3.5-inch screen, 800MHz processor and more.

The HTC Facebook phone that we keep hearing about has been tipped to land at MWC next month. The phone will reportedly use the Facebook color scheme, branding, and push the Facebook news feed. An awesome 12-foot long DIY LED matrix display turned up mid-week. The thing is really cool and uses 512 blue LEDs to show your text message.

A Verizon BlackBerry outage rolled on mid-week and to start with the blame was placed on an update by Verizon. Apparently the outage spanned a number of states and users that were affected only received email in batches an hour or so apart. The Sony Xperia Play was the subject of a pre-release preview video this week. This is the PlayStation phone and the thing looks really cool.

Thursday the Sony PlayStation Suite and PS Store for Android devices landed. The store is for Android 2.3 and up devices and has a lot of cool games for mobile gamers to download and enjoy. The Sony NGP “Next Generation Portable” went official this week. The device is the PSP2 we have been hearing about for a while and has an ARM Cortex A9 processor, 5-inch OLED screen, and a lot more. This should be one seriously cool portable game console.

A “secret” AT&T unlimited data plan is available to keep iPhone users from migrating to Verizon. One user is claiming that when he called AT&T and threatened to go to Verizon they moved him to an unlimited data plan. Hulu is reportedly in talks within the video streaming site to change from a free offering that it is right now to a virtual cable operator where we would all have to pay to use the streaming service.

Scosche shipped its new version of the flipSYNC called the flipSYNC II this week. It is available for USB charging devices and Apple gear for about $20 and the new version has a larger USB plug. The dorkiest iPad accessory ever turned up late in the week called the Assero Defender. It’s like one of those reverse backpacks parents use to carry babies, but the Defender is for your iPad.

Details for pre-orders of the Verizon iPhone 4 were offered Thursday. Verizon is going for AT&T’s throat and is offering some big discounts if you trade in an AT&T iPhone. A 16GB iPhone 4 from AT&T will get you $280 off your Verizon iPhone. Thursday we heard that the Sony NGP console would come in both 3G and WiFi only versions. That is good news since many people have no desire for 3G if they will only use it in the house.

The FCC posted up the teardown pics of the Notion Ink Adam Friday. The Adam the FCC had used what appear to be handmade connections leading some to wonder about build quality. We know the specs on the Sony NPG, but we still don’t know the price. Some speculation has been that the console might cost around $600. Sony has said the NGP won’t be $599, but still hasn’t offered pricing yet.

Microsoft is reportedly working towards 16-core Atom processors. The 16-core Atom would apparently be an alternative to traditional CPUs inside servers. Thanks for reading this week’s edition, see you next time!

Having faced criticism in the past for their 2006 PlayStation 3 models for $499 and $599 and their 2009 PSP for $249, Sony is trying to play it safe with the NGP although no specific pricing details have been revealed yet.

“That’s something we spent a lot of time on this time around with NGP, to make sure that we don’t go off the deep end,” says Hirai.

However, keeping it affordable may also have been a factor in Sony’s decision to not incorporate 3D in the upcoming NGP scheduled for release before the end of this year. With Nintendo to release a new DS handheld in March that does incorporate 3D, it will be interesting to see how the competing devices will be received.