The wait is over gadget lovers as just few minutes ago Sony Ericsson leave every rumour away and officially announced Xperia Play at Barcelona. What a way to begin MWC 2011 !!!
There were doubts that any mobile phone manufacturer in the world would produce a phone that is optimized both as telephony and as a gaming gadget. Sony Ericsson teased these doubts as far as October 2010 by leaking a prototype of such phone, which stirred many enthusiasts. However, until January 2011, people saw only one full-playstation handset offered by the mother company of the teaser (PSP2).
The official announcement was teased last week by a Super Bowl ad where the green Android was attached with human fingers symbolizing that “Android is ready to Play”(two thumbs at each shiny green hand, exactly).
Is one of the that kind of device that makes you instanly love it without even touch it. Why? Because it incorporates the power of a usual smartphone with the PlayStation buttons we all love. The official name is finally set at Xperia Play despite previous guesses that dubbed the phone as Playstation Phone.
As it was expecte the phone has a 4-inches multi-touch screen display with 480 x 854 resolution and also a front facing camera just above it. Under the display there are the 4 physical buttons(Back, Home, Menu and Search).
On the back of the phone there’s a ap5 megixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. It has standard functions and also some that we have not seen before: Geo tagging, Image Stabiliser, Send to web, Touch focus, Video light, Video recording and Video blogging.
If you slide up the phone, a magic will happen and it will uncover: a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. PlayStation games on a smartphone is now available and Xperia Play is the first mobile phone that gets it.
Xperia Play will run the latest version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and beside this will also feature a 1 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon(Scorpion ARMv7) processor + 512 MB RAM, but that’s not all. To deliver silky smooth 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption so Xperia Play users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time, Sony Ericsson has embedded an Adreno GPU graphics processor. It is expected that games such as Need For Speed, Sims 3, Fifa 10, Assassin Creed, Guitar Hero, Splinter Cell will be available to play on the launch date of this device.
On the connectivity side Xperia Play will offer 3G, GPRS, DLNA, Wi-Fi(with Hotspot functionality), Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB, 3.5 mm jack, GPS with aGPS support.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will be available worldwide from March 2011, but no price has been revealed yet.
Introducing Xperia Play the worlds first PlayStation certified smartphone
- XperiaTM PLAY combines a PlayStation-quality gaming experience with the very latest Android smartphone technology.
- Super fast graphics and dedicated game controls deliver the ultimate smartphone gaming experience from March 2011
- Sony Computer Entertainment and leading game publishers provide top titles from launch –available to download from the AndroidTM Market.
February 13, 2011, Barcelona, Spain – Sony Ericsson today announced the game changing XperiaTM PLAY, the latest phone in its XperiaTM range of Android based smartphones.
XperiaTM PLAY delivers the smartphone functionality that the most serious power users could need, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want.
In portrait mode, the Android smartphone offers all the benefits that users have come to expect from Sony Ericsson’s existing range of XperiaTM smartphones with best-in-class entertainment experiences, a great 5 megapixel camera, a brilliant 4” multi-touch screen and great social networking features.
However, slide out the gaming control and users enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm’s optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver silky smooth 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption so Xperia PLAY users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time.
Rikko Sakaguchi, Executive Vice President and Chief Creation Officer at Sony Ericsson commented: “Today is a very proud moment for Sony Ericsson as we bring something truly revolutionary to the market. Living up to our vision of Communication Entertainment, Xperia PLAY will forever change the way people think about smartphones and mobile gaming.
XperiaTM PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google’s AndroidTM platform. The XperiaTM PLAY will also be the first PlayStation Certified device. This means it will have access to PlayStation® game content provided through the PlayStation® Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year.
Kazuo Hirai, President of Networked Products and Services Group at Sony Corporation said: “I am delighted to see Xperia PLAY as the first PlayStation Certified smartphone to hit the market. Xperia PLAY provides a unique consumer offering and is yet another example of great products and services coming to market that leverage Sony’s strong assets.”
Sony Ericsson has partnered with key publishers in the gaming industry to deliver a rich, vibrant ecosystem at launch and post launch with many leading new titles available via the AndroidTM Marketplace. Leading franchises coming to Xperia™ PLAY includes EA’s Need For Speed, Sims 3 and a world-first multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile. GLU Mobile/Activision will be bringing Guitar Hero while Gameloft’s titles include Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell. Sony Ericsson is also partnering with Unity Technologies, using its award-winning development platform, to ensure a continuous flow of high quality 3D game titles.
Mr Sakaguchi continued: “The launch of Xperia PLAY could not have been possible without the close collaboration of both Google and Sony Computer Entertainment. The commitment of so many industry leading game publishers further demonstrates that Xperia PLAY will deliver on the long-held expectations from consumers the world over.”
XperiaTM PLAY and PlayStation Certified gaming are great examples of the kind of innovation that’s possible in the open Android ecosystem,” said Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google.
A pre-loaded application will enable users to easily discover and download titles that have been optimised for game play on Xperia PLAY, access recently played games and see information about the games they have downloaded.
Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY will be available globally in selected markets from March 2011
What do our content partners say?
Electronic Arts, Travis Boatman, VP of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile:
“EA collaborated closely with Sony Ericsson to bring exciting versions our best-selling consumer favourites such as The Sims™ 3 and EA SPORTS™ FIFA 10 to the Xperia PLAY. The device’s dedicated gaming keypad gives FIFA players what matters most in a footy game — ultimate ball control, quick player selection on the pitch, effortless passes and more. The Xperia PLAYS’s unique gamepad also delivers robust control in The Sims 3 bringing a whole new life simulation experience to fans of the franchise. We look forward to watching consumers interact with our great games in new ways through the Xperia PLAY.”Gameloft, Michel Guillemot, President:
“We are pleased to partner with Sony Ericsson to offer a catalogue of 10 of our best-selling games at launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY,” said Michel Guillemot, President of Gameloft. “My vision since the creation of Gameloft was to turn video games into a true mass market form of entertainment. This vision is realized with the launch of Xperia PLAY, which combines a perfect smartphone for daily use as well as a real game controller to provide the best gaming experience ever seen on a mobile phone. Gameloft will support the launch with more than 20 titles over the next 6 months that will take full advantage of the power of this device.”Glu Mobile, Niccolo de Masi, CEO:
“Glu’s strategic relationship with Sony Ericsson aligns us with a leading innovator in mobile and gaming. We look forward to accelerating our momentum in social mobile gaming with compelling offerings on Sony Ericsson’s newest mobile devices.”Content partners at launch include:
Sony Computer Entertainment
Digital Chocolate
Digital Legends
Electronic Arts
Fishlabs
Gamehouse
Gameloft
Glu Mobile
Handy Games
Namco Bandai Networks
Polarbit
PopCap
Trendy Entertainment
Unity TecnologiesFor further information, images and videos visit www.sonyericsson.com/mwcnews
I really like the looks of the Xperia Play. It be sweet if Apple or some case company released something like this for the iPhone. iControlpad works but not the same like the slide out game pad like the Xperia.
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