PlayStation 4 Specs

The official PS4 release date is currently pencilled in for 'Holiday 2013'

Main Processor

• Single-chip custom processor
• CPU : x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores
• GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine

Memory

• GDDR5 8GB

Hard Disk Drive

• Built-in

Optical Drive (read only)

• BD 6xCAV
• DVD 8xCAV

I/O

• Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0), AUX

Communication

• Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)

AV output

• HDMI
• Analog-AV out
• Digital Output (optical)

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The Next PlayStation is Called Orbis

While the official reveal of Sony's next home console could still be months away, if not longer, Kotaku has today learned some important details concerning the PlayStation 3's successor. For one, the console's name—or at least its codename/working title—is apparently Orbis. And it's being planned for release in time for 2013

The details in this story come from a reliable source who is not authorized to talk publicly about next-gen hardware but has shared correct information with us before. What they're telling us in specifics matches much of what we've heard and reported in generalities in recent weeks.

A Sony spokesperson declined to comment about these details, citing the company's policy not to comment on "rumors or speculation." A source supplied some basic specs for the console, but as the future is always in motion, bear in mind these could easily change between now and the Orbis' retail release. Still, if you'd like to know what developers are being told to plan for now, here you go.

AMD x64 CPU AMD Southern Islands GPU The former, that's largely something we've heard before, but the latter is interesting. That's the name given to many of AMD's 2012 roster of high-end PC cards. 

The PS4's GPU in particular, we're told, will be capable of displaying Orbis games at a resolution of up to 4096x2160, which is far in excess of the needs of most current HDTV sets. It'll also be capable of playing 3D games in 1080p (the PS3 could only safely manage 3D at 720p).   none outside none;"> Our main source tell us that "select developers" have been receiving dev kits for the new console since the beginning of this year. 

 Revised and improved versions of these kits were sent out around GDC, while more finalised beta units will be shipped to developers towards the end of 2012. That should hopefully give developers plenty of time to have launch games ready for the Orbis' retail release, which will be in time for the 2013 holiday season.

 If you can remember the PS3 launch—it's OK if you can't, it was a while ago—that too was in time for the holiday shopping season (November 2006 for Japan and North America). Remember how the PlayStation 3 swiftly dropped the ability to play PS2 games? Well, our main source tell us the Orbis won't even bother, and that Sony has no plans to offer backwards compatibility for its existing catalogue of PS3 games. 

  Just like the next Xbox/Durango, we've heard from multiple sources that the Orbis will likewise have some kind of anti-used games measures built into the console. Here's how our main source says it's currently shaping up: new games for the system will be available one of two ways, either on a Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account, after which you can play the game, save the whole thing to your HDD, or peg it as "downloaded" in your account history and be free to download it at a later date. 

Don't think you can simply buy the disc and stay offline, though; like many PC games these days, you'll need to have a PSN account and be online to even get the thing started. If you then decide to trade that disc in, the pre-owned customer picking it up will be limited in what they can do. While the sources were unclear on how exactly the pre-owned customer side of things would work, it's believed used games will be limited to a trial mode or some other form of content restriction, with consumers having to pay a fee to unlock/register the full game. 

 This would allow used games to continue to be sold at outlets such as GameStop, while also appeasing major publishers who would no longer have to implement their own haphazard approaches to "online passes". >

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Sony patents 'me too' controller

A Sony patent shows what looks to be a touchscreen handheld controller ..It's called the “Position-Dependent Gaming 3-D controller, and Handheld as a Remote,”  and appears to act as a controller that allows interaction between what’s on its screen and those on your box.

patent info:

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PlayStation 4 next year ?

Usually reliable US news site IndustryGamers claims it's heard from "industry sources at a top developer" that the PlayStation 4 will become a real thing in the next 18 months.

The claims come just a few weeks after a similar story pointing to an Xbox 720 reveal next year, with developer Crytek cited as the source of the rumour.

Industry Gamers doesn't elaborate further on its claims, but the announcement of two next-generation consoles in 2012 surely wouldn't make Nintendo, which has just revealed plans to enter the HD generation with Wii U, particularly pleased.

It'd also be quite a surprise, seeming as only a few weeks ago Sony reaffirmed its 10-year cycle strategy for the PlayStation 3.

We'll see eh ..

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PlayStation 4 cheaper to make than PS3 - Sony

Sony confirmed this week that it has already begun PlayStation 4 development, but has said that post-PS3 hardware projects won't be granted the same level of investment as the costly current-gen console.

The company spent many, many millions designing the PS3's Cell processor and its own semi conductor facilities, and Sony chief financial officer Masaru Kato told investors (via Andriasang): "It is no longer thinkable to have a huge initial financial investment like that of the PS3."

"Significant cost reductions" of PS3 hardware were yesterday cited as a major factor in the PlayStation business swinging to a profit in the financial year ended in March.

Kato said the main factor in the PlayStation division's losses in prior years had been the big difference in the PS3's retail price and the cost to manufacture the system.

[ Source: Andriasang ] via cvg

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