PSP News: PlayStation Phone, aka Zeus Z1, Found On Leaked Video - PSP News

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PlayStation Phone, aka Zeus Z1, Found On Leaked Video

The PlayStation Phone is at that point where it's almost an inevitability. All it lacks is the official press release.

Pics and information have been leaking out over the past month or so, and now, we may have the clincher: Engadget has not one, but two videos of the PlayStation Phone, codenamed Zeus Z1. This time, rather than a relatively vague, blurry unveiling, we get to see the entire thing in all its gadgetized (my word, you can't have it) glory. It clearly has the PlayStation icon and although there is no audio in either video, we get a pretty darn good look at the device. But here's the question: it's very likely going to exist, but will it cater to gamers, or to gadget/phone lovers? Will it have a place amongst the PlayStation crowd, if only because it says "PlayStation" on it? For my part, my cell phone is five years old and I almost never use it, but I might upgrade to a PlayStation Phone. Well, if the world forces me to upgrade, that is.

So what do you think? You want this bad boy or not? We can't wait for the final, official announcement...

Tags: playstation phone, ps phone, sony phone

12/3/2010 9:02:35 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (41 posts)

ABUrabad
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 9:44:23 PM
Reply

I was expecting such a hybrid phone between Sony-Ericsson Phone and a PS mark ,but I'm still wondering what kind of games will this new phone will be capable of running?PSN mini games?PSP game?classic PSX games?or just games dedicated for this phone released by Sony?but still I would consider this phone the perfect replacement for my current one and this is holding me back from buying a new one at this moment , I think this phone will have a great influence on the gamers community specialy Playstation fans ,

This phone will be mine on day 1 ,I'm now getting easily bored with my Iphone at this moment because of this

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SmokeyPSD
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 10:54:51 PM

This is what I'm worried about. What's the point in me getting this if I can't actually play my vast amounts of psp games on it to begin with.

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Ergi
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 6:05:14 AM

Exactly, totally agree with this, will it take part of the psp market? Will it play games that the psp won't be able to play? I don't get the added value of the phone in comparison to the psp. I mean if you have a psp, and any regular old phone that you can just call with, you have enough don't you?

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LightShow
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 9:47:18 PM
Reply

i had a sony-ericsson phone years ago and loved it. any excuse to permanently junk the string of samsung phones ive had since then (which were horrendously designed, not made to last i assure you) will be welcomed with open arms. thusly i eagerly await this possible phone.

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kevinater321
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 9:55:16 PM
Reply

Looks great and all but i'm not in the market for a phone, got a lovely iphone 4. So i hope they release non phone version that runs on wifi (kind of like ipod touch and iphones). That is of course if this really is an upgraded psp, not just a psp go with a phone in it...

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cLoudou
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 10:04:59 PM
Reply

Hopefully the Playstation App will be available across the android platform.

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Inception
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 10:46:50 PM
Reply

You really don't use your phone Ben?

I have a Blackberry and I use it almost 24/7

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 12:43:29 AM

No. As far as I'm concerned, much of what cell phones have become are what's dreadfully wrong with this world.

I have it for emergencies and a wee bit of convenience...convenience I could easily live without.

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Fane1024
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 2:22:25 AM

FWIW I don't even have a cell phone and I have never once been sorry I didn't have one.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 12/4/2010 2:24:19 AM

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CH1N00K
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 2:46:14 PM

Completely agree with you Ben, My phone for the most part is a very expensive alarm clock that I pay once a month to use...And yet, as little as I use it, It feels awkward if I'm out somewhere and I don't feel it's weight in my pocket...

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frylock25
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 10:52:37 PM
Reply

i would never buy an iphone. this i would buy day 1 if i have the money. i will start saving asap for this. hmm maybe i will save to fix my broken ps3 then i will save for this. i expect we wont know about this til E3 next year.

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Highlander
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 11:03:14 PM
Reply

If it can play some PS1 games or something, then it might be worth a look, but if it's just a rebadged Android, forget it.

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Qubex
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 11:31:38 PM

To be honest, on the portable front... with Apple now getting serious about gaming (and remember Highlander, I mentioned this years ago that Apple would go for this market, and look, they are...) I am still eager to see what happens with the next generation of iPhone and iPad 2..

The Playstation phone doesn't interest me at this point in time. The PSP2 does though if it is a cool device.

BTW Highlander, I was "given" a free psp to mess about with. A colleague at work doesn't use it. Now that I am using it it is quite a good piece of kit come to think of it.

I was very impressed with GoW, Ghosts of Sparta, GT and now Resistance. This little unit can pump out some spectacular visuals considering its age.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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Highlander
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 12:51:50 AM

Qubex,

That's the crying shame of the PSP. It's still the premier hand held gaming device.

I agree(d) with you that Apple would go after the portable gaming market, I saw that potential back before the iPhone when it was just PDAs. But the same problem exists for all such devices, they are not designed to be gaming devices, they are multi-purpose and are therefore not optimized for games.Not only that byt a touch screen control interface will never replace buttons and analogue controllers. That's not to say that touch interfaces can't work at all, they can, but I can't really see playing a God of war title on an iPhone, can you?

But again, the crying shame of the PSP is that even 5 years on, it's still the best hand held gaming unit on the market. It has consistently led the Nintendo DS in terms of capacity and capability, and in many respects still does, despite the new 3DS coming and the most recently updated DS already on sale.

When you consider everything the device offers, the fact that it was only $70 more than the DS should actually make people wonder why the DS was so expensive.

I have a Droid, there are games that work, and games that don't. Remember that the Moto Droid has a sliding keyboard, so you aren't limited to the touch screen for control, but even so, it's an awkward gaming device because of the controls. I see the iPhone having the same issues. Small, more casual games may well find their niche on these multi-function devices like smart phones. But games that require actual controls will always need a dedicated gaming hand held - IMHO of course.

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Qubex
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 4:48:48 AM

Well, I was quite literary blown away after strapping some earphones on whilst playing Ghosts Of Sparta... I thought I was holding a PS2 in my hands... some the latter titles are spectacular for a hand held.

I am sure if Naughty Dog put there minds to it we could have had an Uncharted on the psp. Of course if would be cut down a tad... but if Ghosts Of Sparta can be done, then why not a psp version of Uncharted.

I wonder why they haven't done it! Probably waiting for the PSP2.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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Qubex
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 11:34:32 PM

That is actually a very good point Sweedie, come to think of it. They could make the PlayStation Service ubiquitous across all Android phones so users can get to their media where ever they are... does make sense...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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Highlander
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 12:56:04 AM

Actually I think that this will not be a device independent service. If I were Sony, considering the potential for abuse of Cell phone hardware, I'd use some of the lessons from PSP and PS3 security and make the device difficult to crack, and have the firmware pretty heavily encrypted. Any access to PSN would be limited to approved devices running approved firmware. I don't see Sony allowing their games to be sold online by third parties. Selling download codes perhaps, but you still connect to PSN to get the content.

I strongly doubt that any PlayStation application for Android will run on anything other than a Sony PlayStation phone.

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Qubex
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 4:54:24 AM

The Highlander, the addage is true though that something is just not uncrackable anymore...

Latest news I picked up is that the PS3 encryption MASTER KEY has now been discovered out of the odd 8 million that were dumped from the internal NAND.

This is what the homebrew community were waiting for. Apparently the key will be released tomorrow, allowing for decryption of the last remaining bits of the system. The hacking community has moved very quickly with all the walls being knocked down hard. I am quite astounded though at what has occured. Obviously internal Sony leaks of the service usb jig stick and other information has gotten out, like the SDK's etc.

Also, it seems you can downgrade your PS3. Its a non evasive USB stick that permits you to downgrade from fw3.50 back to 3.41 and below if one wants to run homebrew. You can also upgrade it again back to fw3.50 if you want to play online. Upgrading and downgrading are limitless, you can do it as many times as you want if you want to go through the hassle that is... this works for both the Slim and the Phatty model.

I am thinking now, Sony will be forced to redesign the internals of the PS3 a little to try to stem further hacking attempts. But already we have moved into psp hacking territory... I think the cat is out the bag.

Who would have thought...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 12/4/2010 4:56:33 AM

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BikerSaint
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 11:32:39 PM

Qubex,
The PSP's not only good for games, I've picked up a lot of movies & music & concert UMDs for only $0.99 to $2 bucks "USED" at Gamestop.

And for me they're great for when I'm stuck at the laundermat for 2 hours doing the ole weekly wash & dry routine

I love reggae so I was able to find up a great Bob Marley "live" concert UMD.

I've also picked up music/& bio UMD's on Iron Maiden, Black Label Society, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, & Puddle Of Mud, so far.

And if you like horror movies, check out the "Cursed" UMD movie. It's great, & the graphics are unbelievable.
2 other good plot movies are the bumbling British gangster movie called "L4yer Cake", And the Brad Pitt movie called "Once apon a time in Mexico".

Just some of the other movies I've picked up so far were....
Hollow Man, Go, Boogyman, Lords of Dogtown, Saw, & Be Cool, Species & Vantage Point.
I even have the animated Viewtiful Joe Vol.1.

There's also some TV show on UMD too....I've picked up "Family Guy:Freaking Sweet" which has multiple episodes from their shows.

There's even sports documentaries... I'm not into football(U.S.) much, but I picked up "NFL:In just one play" which showed tons of totally incredible plays that sealed the game just by itself.

So to coin a phrase from Family Guy's Peter...

The PSP is "FREAKIN" SWEET"
(and I should know, I own 5 of them, so far)LOL
Last edited by BikerSaint on 12/4/2010 11:33:18 PM

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Qubex
Sunday, December 05, 2010 @ 4:07:14 AM

I hear you Biker Saint. Only issue with it now is that it is starting to feel "cumbersome". The only way to go with the PSP is to copy your UMD's to a 16GB flash memory stick. You could carry quite a lot of media that way. If you start to take all your disks around it gets weighty.

Also, using UMD's must chew alot of batter power. If you watch a full movie using UMD how much battery power do you have left? Can you watch another full length movie on one charge, or is two pushing it?

I have only used the PSP to play games at the moment.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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wiiplay
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 11:39:36 PM
Reply

In the handheld gaming market, you only have one or two main competitors to worry about. Because there is only one or two competitors, the handheld developers see no reason to rush into future devices.

However, the smartphone market has far more active competitors, all wanting to create the more powerful and feature-rich device. Sony would either be forced to create a phone with unheard of specifications, gaining them a major advantage in the smartphone market, or Sony would be forced to release a new and likely more powerful iteration of their phone on an annual basis, to stay up with the competition.

If Sony created a phone with console-like specifications, the manufacturing cost would be rather high, and thus a high price-tag for the consumer is in order. Given these economic times, it is unlikely for the average consumer to buy a very expensive phone, no matter how advanced the technology is.
If Sony instead released a new iteration of their phone on an annual basis, the consumer would feel as if the phone they just bought has suddenly went out-of-date.
It is likely that this new phone simply has some form of PlayStation compatibility, such as playable PlayStation One games, Store and Network functionality. However, I do not believe that this phone will be a suitable PlayStation Portable replacement.. At least not yet.
Last edited by wiiplay on 12/3/2010 11:42:15 PM

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Highlander
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 12:53:12 AM

Smartphones lack two things that kill them as serious gaming devices.

Buttons

Analog stick(s)

The touch screen interface and been multi-touch can only tack you so far in games. As Kevin Butler pointed out, we have these things called buttons....

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Qubex
Sunday, December 05, 2010 @ 4:07:58 AM

Yhea, I prefer to have the analogue sticks if at all possible!

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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BikerSaint
Sunday, December 05, 2010 @ 10:00:32 PM

Qubex,
I didn't know you can transfer your UMD's to a memory stick, so how would I go about doing that????

As for how many movies on one battery charge, I'm not sure, cause I'm only at the laundromat long enough to watch one, & then I'll just recharge my PSP just before I do my laundry again the next week. But I'd think you could watch at least two.

BTW, I'll check it out the next time I go, & then I'll get back to you with the info I find, in another thread later on.

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AshT
Friday, December 03, 2010 @ 11:53:09 PM
Reply

As i said before this cud replace my iphone 3g.

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___________
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 1:15:34 AM
Reply

that looks uncannily like my friends HTC i think it is.
dunno if that is the psp phone, hope its not because honestly sony are wasting there time and money on this.
apple are going to wipe the freaking floor with them!?
the iphone 4 has been out for 6 months and its STILL out of stock!
think the PSP phone can compete with that?
not to mention, the apps store is well run in so theres so much content it would take 2 lifetimes to play everything!
PSP phone on the other hand, even if it has PSN integration, well look how sony have supported the PSP!
the fact that 3rd party developers support that thing better than the people who make it is down right pathetic!

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Highlander
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 4:28:11 AM

The problem is that with the iPhone App store, there is so much crap, that it would take two lifetimes to find something worth keeping.

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___________
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 9:14:55 AM

theres heaps of things worth keeping!
just stunt cars, the new RAGE game, NFS hot pursuit which has working controls which is a nice touch, mirrors edge, PoP, shopping kart hero, splinter cell conviction, NOVA(which is coming to the PSN soon. WOOOOOOOOT!!!!!), prey, doom classics, doom resurrection, resi 4, assassins creed, assassins creed altairs chronicles, terminator salvation, NFS shift, NFS undercover just off the top of my head.
in fact i have found more games i like off the apps store in the last 4 months than i have found on the PSN since it launched!

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jcynavarro
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 1:54:15 AM
Reply

The phone looks cool.. but I'll wait until its official. No point in making speculations and theories and all that crap. Just wait and see what happens. :)

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BikerSaint
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 11:44:39 PM

__________________,

You have Shopping Kart Hero?????
So what's next....Cooking Mama????

(HEHEHE, HOHOHO, HAHAHA)...."Evil" Saint couldn't resist....

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raztad
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 7:51:08 AM
Reply

Looks very nice. Those "touch" 2 sticks make me think this game will be used for some serious gaming and will be fully compatible with both current PSP and the yet-to-be-announced PSP2 library.
Last edited by raztad on 12/4/2010 7:51:29 AM

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amzngskillz
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 9:32:31 AM
Reply

I think the focus should stay on it being a gaming device with a phone as a bonus. Thats what I believe Sony should focus on. THe PSP is the superior handheld device out for gaming. We all want that. I just need a phone on it so I don't have to carry two devices. I want the same XMB,with internet,pictures,music,video games, PS3 connectivity, skype etc. If they try to make it a competitor to the iphone I think thats a strategic mistake. It needs to be its own device. It's a day one purchase for me. F..k an Iphone.

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amzngskillz
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 9:39:44 AM
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Just watched the video and I hate to say it but its kind of ugly.

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Shams
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 8:00:12 PM
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There's another hands-on vid navigatable from the embedded scroll bar links in the first vid that shows move of it's use as a phone. Must say, it seems quite slick.

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AnonWTF
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 8:21:35 PM
Reply

Need more information and most likely not. Hopefully it is at LEAST better than the n-gauge and it would be worth buying if it is better than a iphone.

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AnonWTF
Saturday, December 04, 2010 @ 8:36:11 PM

okay, I looked at both videos... I'M EXCITED AS HELL!!! Now it has changed to I most likely will! Already hit the bench mark of being way better than the n-gauge.

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meltdown
Sunday, December 05, 2010 @ 2:34:34 PM
Reply

i actually hope this is fake, even though there are videos. Or at least let this be a prototype, cause i clearly see a spot where 2 things could go that i always wanted, and by that i mean 2 analog stick (or nubs).

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catdr
Monday, December 06, 2010 @ 11:02:31 AM
Reply

For the little people out there that can't get wifi the psp should be upgraded to a phone/ lets face it what hand held machine is as good as the new phones other than the psp . It just doesn't ring/ leave it alone just add the ability that normal phones have and u got the best darn thing on the planet/ right/ just don't limit it to AT&t or verizion allow it to connect like the cheaper companys that only cost $30 a month like net10 who has 3g cappibility. Bam there u go call ur friends on a trip while play playing a game or texting keeps the little ones busy or yourself.

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wizzardofozzy
Monday, December 06, 2010 @ 4:09:24 PM
Reply

While I'm perfectly happy with my lg flip phone and psp,I would like to see sony be the one to release a phone with proper gaming controls.

Then we can watch as the other phone brands scurry to release phones with gaming controls.


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wizzardofozzy
Monday, December 06, 2010 @ 4:09:30 PM
Reply

While I'm perfectly happy with my lg flip phone and psp,I would like to see sony be the one to release a phone with proper gaming controls.

Then we can watch as the other phone brands scurry to release phones with gaming controls.


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Nynja
Wednesday, December 08, 2010 @ 11:28:22 AM
Reply

Just tell me it's coming to Sprint. I'll be eligible for an upgrade in 6 more months...I want that phone!

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