Today is the day when Sony has announced the new Playstation Portable. This was not named as PSP 2 but as Next Generation Portable (NGP), and this is correct given the fact that has a lot more features than the first portable console as you will see below.
First is the OLED 5 inches screen which is a capacitive multi touch and 960 x 544 pixels resolution. This screen has a 4 times higher resolution than the PSP. On the back there is a capacitive multi touch pad for a new game play style 'allowing users to interact directly with games in three dimensions-like motion through touch, grab, trace, push and pull moves of the fingers'. The processor (CPU) is a... get ready... ARM CORTEX A9 quad core and the GPU is SGX543MP4+ - very powerful hardware for a portable console. But this console is a revolutionary one so wait as there is more. Have you ever wondered what PSP did not have or perhaps wanted more? Well you got more as the NGP has connectivity, and this is no small talking. This device comes with wireless IEEE 802.1 b/g/n, GPS with Wi-Fi location service support, Bluetooth 2.1. Above all these there is a 3G connectivity included. Why this large connectivity support? This is because the portable console has a new approach for gamers. One reason is that they can share games achievements with friends. Another reason is the internet access and satellite navigation. But most important for a gaming console these days is the cloud gaming. There are more and more singes that future of gaming is in clouding. If you were looking for multimedia you need to know about the 2 cameras - front and rear - and the built-in microphone and stereo speakers.
As you probably noticed, in terms of design, this looks a lot like PSP. The differences are the dual analog sticks which should allow a wider range of games categories to be brought into the portable experience. These go with the usual action buttons, a D-pad two shoulder buttons, a PS key, volume controls, start and select buttons and a power key. The Next Generation Portable has something in common with PlayStation Move as comes with the same six-axis motion sensing control system - 3 for gyroscope and 3 for accelerometer - plus a 3 axis compass. What I like is that different than PSP the UMD drive is missing because was replaced with 'a small flash memory based card' slot. So the games will be played from a normal card - which may have a great impact regarding the price but also for gaming experience as content or save data will be stored on the card.
NGP has also a new User Interface named LiveArea. Through this users will be able to share 'the fun and excitement with other players', will have access to the latest games information from the producers and the achievements will be also highlighted there. Another application which will come pre-installed on this console is the Near. This is a location-based system which will allow the users to check what their friends nearby are playing. Another important information is regarding the games made for more platforms. If you have a game in progress on PS3 this will be synchronized with the NGP so you can play further.
In conclusion this is WOW plus a serious competitor for PS3. I am sure more information, reviews and feedback we will have after this will be available. But this is the only bad news - Next Generation Portable from Sony will be available at the end of 2011 - so we will have to wait for about a year.
