The Sony PS4 release date has been announced at the PlayStation event held in the US and the company has revealed that it will be up for grabs in the holiday season of 2013 itself. The console has not been kept under wraps for now, but the Japanese manufacturer has already shared the key specifications of the much-anticipated device with us. It will be accompanied by the DualShock 4 controller and the Eye.
Some of the main attractions of the PS4 include a powerful system architecture, social integration and intelligent personalization. It can be expected to deliver the kind of performance that hard-core gamers demand as the device is powered by a single-chip custom 8 core x86-64 AMD Jaguar processor. And as far as the graphics are concerned, a 1.84 TFLOPS next-generation AMD Radeon GPU works towards rendering enhanced visuals.
The chipset is accompanied by 8GB of GDDR5 RAM and a hard disk has been integrated into the system as well. This Bluetooth-enabled gaming gadget connects to hotspots through its built-in Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n and the other connectivity options are inclusive of a USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, an HDMI connector as well as analog and digital AV output.
Needless to mention that the successor to the PS3 console can connect to the PlayStation Network. The device is embedded with a dedicated Share button and comes with an ‘always on’ video compression and decompression system for allowing users to upload gameplay clippings and pictures on social networking websites in real time. Additionally, Ustream has been included to facilitate live broadcasting of games.
And that’s not all. The second-screen feature enables players to use the PS Vita, a smartphone or a tablet as the alternate device to continue playing over Wi-Fi, while on the move. The iOS- or Android-based smartphones and tablets require the PlayStation App in order to act as the second screen. The Eye, an intuitive camera capable of recording 1280 x 800p videos at the rate of 60 frames per second will also be bundled along with the console. This snapper weighs in at 183 grams and measures 186mm x 27mm x 27mm.
Moreover, the all-new DualShock 4 has been introduced in its full glory and it sports all the essential buttons as well as a capacitive 2-point touchpad. Complete with a 6-axis motion sensing system, the controller tags along an extension port, a USB port and a stereo headset jack. It draws power from a 1000mAh lithium-ion battery.
Availability details of the Sony PS4 which is slated to be released later this year, have not been given a mention.
