Sony to Launch PSP Successor by Year-End

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)--Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Thursday it will release a successor to its PlayStation Portable video game console, dubbed Next-Generation Portable, or NGP, by the end of the year.
The NGP features improved operability and communications functions. It will have a 5-inch organic electroluminescence display, gyroscopic and other sensors, and two touch panels and cameras, the Sony Corp. <6758> unit said.
The new console will also be equipped with the Global Positioning System as well as Wi-Fi wireless Internet connection and third-generation mobile communications functions.
Separately, Sony Computer Entertainment said it will start releasing PlayStation game titles this year for mobile phones based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
Competition in the portable game market is intensifying, with rival Nintendo Co. <7974> set to launch its three-dimensional portable game console, Nintendo 3DS, next month and games on smartphones and tablet personal computers gaining ground.