You’ve looked at pictures and you’ve seen videos of the poorly kept secret that is the PSP Phone, officially branded the Xperia Play. As you likely know by now, when it becomes available it’ll be an Android-powered, games-centric phone with a slide-out gamepad – complete with real buttons.
Now it’s time to delve a little deeper and take a look at the phone’s specifications – as well as peek at details of what software will be included with the handheld.
The important specifications are the the 4-inch multi-touch screen, running at a resolution of 480 x 854 – powered by a 1Ghz Scorpion ARMv7 coupled with an Adreno 205 mobile GPU. The device will apparently give gamers over 5 and a half hours of game time before needing a charge.
The system will launch with over 50 games available, and will come pre-loaded with Asphalt Adrenaline 6, Bruce Lee, Star Battalion, The Sims 3, and Tetris. It’ll also ship with an 8Gb microSD card, with support for up to 32Gb. all of this will be running on android 2.3, otherwise known as gingerbread. There’s no word on a local release – or indeed a price point – but the device is set to launch in the US next month.
The rest of the specs are listed below.
*Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 8 hrs 25 min*
*Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 425 hrs*
*Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 25 min*
*Standby time UMTS: Up to 413 hrs*
*Talk time CDMA2000®: Up to 7 hrs 40 min*
*Standby time CDMA2000®: Up to 405 hrs*
*Game play time: Up to 5 hrs 35 min*
*MP3 playback: Up to 30 hrs 35 min*
Camera
5.1 megapixel camera
Auto focus
Flash / Photo light
Geo tagging
Image stabiliser
Send to web
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Video blogging
Music
Album art
Bluetoothâ„¢ stereo (A2DP)
Googleâ„¢ Music Player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNowâ„¢ service*
Sony Ericsson Music player
Stereo speakers
TrackIDâ„¢ music recognition application
Internet
Android Marketâ„¢*
Bookmarks
Googleâ„¢ search*
Googleâ„¢ Voice Search*
Pan & zoom
Web browser (Webkit)
Communication
Call list
Conference calls
Facebookâ„¢ application (from Android Marketâ„¢)
Googleâ„¢ Talk*
Noise Shield
Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Sony Ericsson Timescapeâ„¢***
Twitterâ„¢ application (from Android Marketâ„¢)
Vibrating alert
Messaging
Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)
Conversations
Email
Google Mailâ„¢*
Instant messaging
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)
Design
Auto rotate
Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)
Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)
Picture wallpaper
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation
Entertainment
3D games
Dedicated gaming keys
Flash Liteâ„¢
Gesture gaming
Motion gaming
Video streaming
YouTubeâ„¢
Organiser
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document editors
Document readers
E-Manual
Flight mode
Google Calendarâ„¢
Google Gallery 3Dâ„¢
Infinite button
Phone book
Set-up Wizard
Widget manager
Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
aGPS
Bluetoothâ„¢ technology
DLNA Certified
Google Latitudeâ„¢
Google Location Service
Google Mapsâ„¢ with Street View
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB Connector
Modem
Synchronisation via Facebookâ„¢**
Synchronisation via Google Syncâ„¢
Synchronisation via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
USB 2.0 high speed support
Wi-Fiâ„¢
Wi-Fiâ„¢ Hotspot functionality
* The service is not available in all markets.
** Requires Facebookâ„¢ application installed on the device.
Googleâ„¢ services*
* These services may not be available in every market Android Marketâ„¢ Client
Gmailâ„¢
Google Calendarâ„¢
Google Gallery 3Dâ„¢
Google Latitudeâ„¢
Google Mapsâ„¢ with Street View
Google Media Uploader
Google Music Playerâ„¢
Google Phone-top Search
Google Search widget
Google Syncâ„¢
Google Talkâ„¢
Google Voice Search
Set-up Wizard
YouTubeâ„¢
Facts
Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
Weight: 175 grams
Phone memory: 400 MB
Memory card support: microSDâ„¢, up to 32 GB
Memory card included: 8GB microSDâ„¢
Operating system: Googleâ„¢ Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Processor: 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7
What do you think? Personally, I feel that if you’re a gamer looking for an android phone, then this might be just the one for you – but the relatively small amount of memory might prevent this from running really impressive games. Had this been announced before the NGP, I’d be all over it. Now? I think I’ll wait it out.
Still, as an always-with-you portable emulator, it’s tempting.
Last Updated: February 14, 2011
