Sony PlayStation Vita officially announced

Sony has officially unveiled a new handheld gaming console named the PlayStation Vita as the successor to the company's PlayStation Portable. The device is set for release in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17 and on February 22, 2012 in the U.S. and in Europe.

The device features a 5 inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G connectivity and is powered by a quad-core processor with a quad-core graphics chip. The Vita uses LiveArea software as it's main UI which succeeds XcrossMediaBar.

The Vita is fully backward compatible with PlayStation Portable games which have been digitally released on the PlayStation network, and the graphics on those games will be up-scaled on the Vita with a smoothing filter for reduced pixelation.

The device will be available in a 3G and non-3G version. You can take advantage of the 'always on' 3G connectivity in the US through AT&T and in Europe through Vodofone.

Check out the PSV in action in this demo courtesy of Sony.

source - Sony