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    Today in Tech

    PlayStation Vita now available; Netflix, Twitter, and Flickr join the party

    By Mike Wehner, Tecca | Today in Tech – Wed, Feb 22, 2012

    Sony's new handheld game console finally hits store shelves

    Japan may have gotten the early jump on some PlayStation Vita love, but the U.S. launch is finally here and the system is now available for all who desire it. We've already spent some serious time with the new handheld, and if you've read our review you know that we were mighty impressed by the pint-sized powerhouse.

    The Vita is available in both wifi-only ($249.99) and 3G/wifi ($299.99) flavors, with the latter being powered by AT&T's high-speed data network. You should be able to track one down at any big box store in your area, or of course through online shops such as Amazon. Roughly two dozen games launched alongside the new system; check out our review roundup to see the best of the best.

    The PlayStation Store has also been updated for the launch, bringing Netflix, Twitter, and Flickr functionality to the console. We've given the apps a spin and found each to work exactly as advertised, with Netflix content looking particularly impressive on the Vita's large OLED display.

    The apps are free to download — a Netflix subscription is required to access the content, of course — and take up minimal room on whatever size storage device you have equipped. For a full rundown of the titles and accessories available today, check out our Vita launch guide, and if you can't wait to see the system in action, we have plenty of game trailers ready for you to drool over.

    This article originally appeared on Tecca

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    4 comments

    • R
      R  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      my psp 3000 web browser sucks, hope this one is better
      • A Yahoo! User 3 mths ago
        It actually is. Seems much more css3 HTML5 compliant.
    • Raccoon City Survivor
      Raccoon City Survivor  •  Olympia, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      If you are around the olympia washington area, the k-mark on sleater-kenny and martin way has a few PSV 3g versions for 209.99. the store is closing so everything is marked down 30%. you can save yourself 90 bucks and pick one up there. alot of other k-mart stores are closing, you may want to check one near you too, they may have the same deals going.
    • Mike
      Mike  •  3 mths ago
      Once upon a time, I bought a PSP. Good luck finding games for those. I have learned my lesson from Sony. I won't be burned by them again. Once upon a time, I had an Apple IIe PC. They discontinued those and software was always a problem with them too. I learned my lesson and never bought another Apple computer since that time (1983). Lesson learned: burn me once, shame on you. The same company can't burn me twice.
      • Raccoon City Survivor
        Raccoon City Survivor 3 mths ago
        welcome to the world of technology. in 6 months what you paid full price for, is no less then half.

        My advice to you is, if you don't like having to upgrade every 2-3 years. you're better off using your money to paint your house. i spent 1,000 bucks on my computer a year ago, it would cost me less then 600 if i bought it today.

        while they may discourage you, think of it this, by 2030, computers will be in our blood system.
      • t
        t 3 mths ago
        Well, you're correct about Apple. The only time they kept with industry standards on their equipment was while Steve Jobs wasn't with the company. The rest of the time they were in business to screw the customer out of as much money as possible.

        The trick is to always get a product which has support for a wide array of industry standards. This ensures its relevance for years to come. Otherwise, you are being duped. That's why I've never owned a 'smart' phone. I haven't yet found one which is worth it in terms of cost and long term relevance and usefulness. So instead, I continue using Google's free nationwide calling via Gmail as a phone substitute, which I have done for two years now.

        I never bought an MP3 player for more than $25. In fact, I still have and use the one I bought in 2005 because it has a radio, built-in speaker, headphone jack, microphone, recording/playback capabilities, support for WMA and MP3 standards, a built-in equalizer, shuffle, and a song segment repeater (meaning it will let you isolate individual parts of songs and loop them). Best of all, it ran off of just 1 AAA battery, which lasted quite a while. The WMA standard support meant that you could reduce the bitrate of your music and cram 4x the songs on the device than you could using the MP3 standard. The built-in speaker could be used at the same time as the earbuds, too.

        The whole thing was the size of a large USB flash drive, and it came with a male USB port with a sturdy cap which let you directly upload or download music from the device. I used it to store both my music and my files. It didn't need any retarded iTunes or other software to do it for me.

        Devices like this are tough to find. They're out there though and Apple products can never hold a flame to them.
    • Daryl
      Daryl  •  3 mths ago
      I picked up VIta via the pre-launch package.

      I can say this is by far the best hand held gaming device ever made. Will it entice lots of gamers who have plenty of options, well that is the question. However no tablet or smart phone will be capable of offering the type of gaming experience this unit offers in the near future.

      I am impressed and look forward to traveling and having a gaming device like this at hand
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