Tuesday, February 12, 2013

New PS VITAs May Have HDMI and USB ports

A patent was filed by Sony last year that added an HDMI and USB port to the PS VITA. That patent was published this month. View the parent HERE.

As of August 2012 Sony had stated that they had no plans to introduce an visual output option for the device, but a lot can change in five months.

What could this mean for the future of the VITA and more importantly its relationship with Sony's next-gen console?

Images below are the blueprint of the PS VITA's new design and a "rumoured" leaked image of an actual "new" PS VITA with the HDMI and USB ports.



Daniel, Jedi Editor
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5 comments:

  1. Look at the writing on the bottom left of the image what does it say?
    Also what is absent from the image?
    Did you read through all of the information in the patent?
    Is there a summary that could be made from it, whilst still linking to the original source?

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  2. I do not see writing on the bottom left of either image and the summary is that of Sony introducing an HDMI and USB port into the VITA's design which I stated.

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  3. I was trying help but be prepared for some "knowledge" based on observation & experience.

    Under the word SONY can clearly be read the words "Development Kit for PlayStation Vita". The image is covered in censored stickers. If you owned a Vita you would know they are covering up unique data ie Model Number, serial number et al.
    Why would this information be covered? Answer because it's unique. This would mean Sony would know who leaked.
    I don't think it's a straight conclusion that this is the next Vita but clearly a Development kit given to studios to test and program for.

    What do I base this conclusion on?
    Nobody a bought a PSP just because it had a video out. Why, because portable gaming is far better without wires.
    Based purely on the hardware I can see that it has an addition power socket & mini-USB port, as well as the connector that Sony currently supply a cable in the PSVita box for charging the PSVita.
    What is the benifit of these added connection for both the consumer & developers?

    The addition of the HDMI is interesting but may be there purely to be able to grab video content for trailers & presentations. Thus never see the general public's hands as it would increase the cost.

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    Replies
    1. No response so lets take this a little further shall we.

      The patent diagram shows a flap on the right. Which looks like the current Sim card slot. Possibly for 4G compatibility? It's not clear if that appears on the Dev Kit due to where the photo is cropped.

      If I was to answer my own question, I would postulate that all these new slots could have some awesome potential.

      If the mini-USB has version 3 compliance it would allow for faster data transfer. It is already known that the PS3 is only compatible with USB2.0. Could this mean PS4's would have USB3.0 connections? Very likely not a huge leap of faith there.

      If this system was connected via Dock then you could output the HDMI to a home theatre system. Recently the PSVita had a firmware update that now allows it to play video in 720P (true HD resolution). Also the PSVita currently has Blue-tooth, what are the possible implications when used said docking station? Imaging being able to pair your Dual Shock 3 to your PSVita. What if this allowed you to play PSVita games via your HDTV.

      The PSP allowed something similar when playing Resitance:Restribution when paired to PS3 and Resistance2. So not a ridiculous jump of logic.

      That said with Sony's big thing of "Flinging" media via WiFi why do you even need a wired connection?

      All of this is just pure speculation and is far from conclusive.

      If there's to be a Hardware refresh for the PSVita, it would be likely to be revealed on 2013-02-20.

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    2. Interesting analysis. From the point of view of a consumer; if the 'Future of Playstation' being announved on 20-Feb is an HDMI port on the 'new' Vita, I will cry... on the plus side my wife might let me have access to our bank accounts again if she knows the PS4 is not available for pre-order!

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