PSP (PlayStation Portable)
IT'S the future of home entertainment - a gadget that lets you watch a whole movie in your hand and puts arcade-style computer games at your fingertips.
SONY has taken the wrapper off its handheld PlayStation computer game console, giving a first look at what the eagerly-awaited machine will look like.
Due out at the end of next year, the PLAYSTATION PORTABLE - nicknamed the PSP - has been hailed by the electronics giant as the "Walkman of the future", a reference to its pocket tape and CD players that have taken the world by storm.
Like a little TV with its large 4.5inch colour screen, the gizmo uses tiny cartridges capable of storing up to 1.8GB of information - the equivalent of 1285 floppy disks.
The massive memory means PSP owners will be able to watch films at better than video quality, enjoy the latest music videos from their favourite chart stars or tackle games with the sort of graphics never before seen on a handheld.
It is also rumoured that the gadget may work as a mobile phone too.
Speaking at the PSP's initial launch in America in May, Sony's executive deputy president Ken Kutaragi said: "Just as PlayStation and PlayStation 2 revolutionised in-home computer entertainment, we aim to become a new driving force in the portable entertainment platform arena.
"Along with game applications, PSP will have a huge potential for delivering other forms of entertainment as well as live entertainment through the network, anywhere, anytime. This is the 'Walkman' of the 21st century."
The news comes just a week after the Japanese company revealed plans to shed 20,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years.
Sony already rules the roost in console gaming selling more than four and a half million of its best-selling PlayStation 2 in the UK and 62m worldwide.
But if this latest invention is to prove a reversal of fortune for the firm then it will have to wrestle the handheld crown from bitter rival Nintendo whose Game Boy machines have reigned supreme in the market for more than two decades.
The PSP will also have to prove a match for Nokia's N-Gage, a phone and gaming machine that was released last month in Britain and is already being given away free by some mobile networks in a bit to tempt customers to sign up.
Among Sony's other plans announced in New York is a rival to Apple's cult iPod digital music player for as little as £40. The cheapest iPod, which lets owners store thousands of songs on the palm-sized machine, costs more than £200.
taken from www.thesun.co.uk
I want one!!!