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Cellphones Handhelds PlayStation (Games) Sony Games

Playstation Phone "Zeus" Revealed 154

Posted by timothy from the two-birds-one-rock dept.
tekgoblin writes with this excerpt from Tekgoblin: "A video has surfaced on YouTube which shows the new Playstation Phone now called the Zeus. Rumors had surfaced that the phone would be announced on December 9th but with this leak the rumors have now been made fact. The phone is called the Sony Ericsson ZEUS (Playstation Phone). The demo video shows the phone running Android 2.3 codename Gingerbread. The video also shows the phone with the standard Playstation buttons along with a touch pad in the center. The controller for the phone is placed normally where a physical keyboard would be."
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Playstation Phone "Zeus" Revealed More

Playstation Phone "Zeus" Revealed

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  • Prices and locked down? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by iamhassi ( 659463 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @08:57PM (#34455228) Journal
    All I want to know is how much the games will be, and since it's running Android will everyone be able to make games for this or will it be locked down in some manner?
    • looks like it's an android phone with a psp emulator app. No doubt it will be locked down and you'll need to buy psp games through a Sony psp app store.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by headhot ( 137860 )

      Andriod will probably only be the boot OS. The games will run on the custom hardware. Sort of like the Sega Dreamcast, running on WindowsCE. The games were not windows games.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @12:22AM (#34456380)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

        The worst part is, I bet that even if someone managed to make a safe, portable nuclear reactor the size of an AA battery, companies wouldn't use it because it's not thin enough.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Smartphones already last less than a day under any kind of usage. This means that people who use them have learned to adapt. Most people can find a way to charge there phone at work. I keep a USB cable for my phone at work and that works perfectly. So when i return from playing on my lunchbreak i plug in and if my wife calls to say her mother is being rushed to the hospital that is fine because when i answer i am fully charged. To many people on slashdot keep talking this nonsense about "a phone that is j

        • Re:Prices and locked down? (Score:5, Funny)

          by walshy007 ( 906710 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @05:19AM (#34457990)

          I want this because im not batman

          decreasing the likelihood of females wanting to have sex with me.

          Something tells me, both of these problems could be solved by simply becoming batman.

          • There can only be one Batman. And you have to kill all the other Batmans to become The One Batman.

            Although, I might be thinking of some other movie.

        • Smartphones already last less than a day under any kind of usage.

          You mean "iOS and Android-based smartphones already last less than a day under any kind of usage", right? Because I rarely see Blackberry and Symbian users complaining about their battery life, and when they do it's something like "I need to top off the battery on this phone every night, because if I don't I'll have to control my usage on the second day". My Symbian smartphone gets five days out of its battery under regular usage, maybe three if I go wild with the radios and games. A phone whose battery doe

          • Because I rarely see Blackberry and Symbian users complaining about their battery life

            That's because they're running previous-gen OSes on previous-gen hardware, not in the same league with iOS or Android and the hardware they run on. It's like comparing a gaming laptop running Win7 with an Atom netbook running DSL, if they both had similar batteries. Of course one is going to run down the battery faster.

            I don't think Blackberries will be in the same league until some breakthrough in battery technology, because they need the long battery life of the previous-gen devices.

            • But what is more important? A device that does everything you could possibly think of for 6 hours, using up power faster than it would have to? Or a device that uses power efficiently, does everything you want it to do, and that won't let you down when you need it?

              "Previous-gen OS", you said? Compare the power and resource management capabilities of Symbian and Android. Which one is more modern?

              Again, some manufacturers don't get it. If a phone's battery will last for six hours of usage when you put every

              • But what is more important? A device that does everything you could possibly think of for 6 hours, using up power faster than it would have to? Or a device that uses power efficiently, does everything you want it to do, and that won't let you down when you need it?

                Depends. I made the tradeoff when I upgraded from a Treo 650 to an N900. I do miss the Treo's battery life but the N900's far greater hardware and software capabilities make it more useful to me overall.

                The N900's battery generally lasts from morning to night if you use it like a normal phone. If you use it like a laptop - browsing constantly while playing music etc - it'll last around 4 hours. Most current-gen phones are similar, but mobile CPUs are in the "P4 Prescott" age right now - an age of vastly imp

      • I've gotten rid of most of my separate devices (DAP, nav unit and so on) and now only carry an Android smartphone and a battery pack (About 20Wh)... gives me about 3 full phone charges). It's much less to carry, and having one device that does it all just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside ;)

        It's doable. :)

      • I'll ignore all your condescension and answer simply:

        You value call time/quality highly, which obviously won't be the strong suit of this phone. I'm interested because I value gaming highly, and nothing can replace a full gamepad for that. I don't make a lot of calls, if I miss a call they can leave a voicemail, even if I am playing a game.

        • But if you *really* valued gaming highly wouldn't you want to use a device that was designed for gaming without having a phone tacked on as a clunky extra feature?

          • But if you *really* valued gaming highly wouldn't you want to use a device that was designed for gaming without having a phone tacked on as a clunky extra feature?

            Android is not a clunky extra feature. The phone is clearly designed for gaming, for starters, it has a dedicated gamepad. I *really* do value gaming highly, which is why I don't want to have to pick between spending money on a smart phone or a portable console.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        I agree it would be nice if smart phones lasted longer before charges but the way they are now is still useful. A single device that does music, vids, phone, internet, games, PIM, apps etc. on a charge that lasts a day or two is still better than carrying around a whole bunch of different devices.

      • Re:Prices and locked down? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by teh kurisu ( 701097 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @08:20AM (#34458572) Homepage

        You're using the word 'would' a lot, as if people weren't already playing games on their smartphones. The largest single category in the iOS app store is the gaming section. I think we're past the point where we're asking, do people want to play games on their smartphones? Yes. Yes they do.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by qortra ( 591818 )
          Excellent, succinct assessment. I truly wish I had mod points for you. This needs to be said. In fact, because Luddites like the grandparent keep posting and getting modded up, this apparently needs to be said over and over again. A few additional points:
          • *Of course* there is a market for this. Why would people want to carry multiple tools around with them when one will do, especially when those tools share almost all the same components?
          • If you are playing games so much that you can't make a 911 call for y

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ukemike ( 956477 )
        did you see how fat the keyboard section of the phone was!!?? There was plenty of room for a big fat battery.

      • what if it was like this,

        ... "Sorry dear I didn't get that call about your mom being rushed to the hospital, but I was listening to Aerosmith and totally ran the battery dead, sorry". I mean it isn't the smartest idea to tie a device you need and use every. single. day. and have its functionality depend on whether or not you listened to music on lunch break.

        or maybe this,

        ... "Sorry dear I didn't get that call about your mom being rushed to the hospital, but I was using Google navigator and totally ran the battery dead, sorry". I mean it isn't the smartest idea to tie a device you need and use every. single. day. and have its functionality depend on whether or not you needed your GPS on lunch break.

        the popularity of smartphones is at least partly in that they are multifunction devices. i was very happy on the day i could stop carrying around a dedicated mp3 player. i was even happier when i could put my old dedicated GPS in the drawer. i think a lot of folks feel the same way.

        Question: Why exactly would you WANT this?

        the game market for iphone is huge, and the lack of games on android is the main differentiator between it and iOS devices nowadays. will this be any harder on your battery than current sm

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrSkwid ( 118965 )

        blah blah blah
        Just add one of these solar chrged battery packs [ebay.co.uk] to your possessions.

        Mine sits in an outside pocket on my rucksack sucking up the murky light.

        The power on my G1 sucks like a porn star, I already upgraded it to 2Ah. Because of the very problem you mentioned.

        Now I can wake up anywhere and know I've got phone juice.

      • "Question: Why exactly would you WANT this?"

        Seriously? I guess you're serious, but this comes from the "why do I want a color screen/camera/internet/touchscreen on my phone" crowd.

        Here's a shocker: people play games on their phones. Angry Birds has been purchased by 6.5 million people. [techcrunch.com] That's a lot, and that's not even a good game. EA makes iPhone games like SimCity, Need for Speed, Spore and Command and Conquer Red Alert. [eamobile.com] Square Enix makes a little game called Final Fantasy. [apple.com] Yes, that Final Fa [wikipedia.org]

      • I'm all for games on the phone. I just HOPE TO GOD they never combine one with a music player...

  • This could actually be surprisingly awesome (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AdmiralXyz ( 1378985 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @08:59PM (#34455248)
    Based on App Store and Marketpace sales, I think people are itching to have a phone that doubles as a gaming device, but there's nothing that scratches that itch perfectly yet. The iPhone doesn't do the trick because it has no physical controls (touch- and accelerometer-based games are great for some genres, but lousy for many others), and Android's game library is still pretty lame.

    Of course, if anyone can screw this up, it's Sony. Their recent track record with both phones (Ericsson, ick) and portable gaming (PSPGo, double ick) is not great, so trying to do both at once could be a big bag of fail.

    Still, I'll be paying close attention.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EdIII ( 1114411 )

      Of course, if anyone can screw this up, it's Sony.

      True Dat.

      What I am wondering is if Sony picked the name Zeus. That would be particularly funny to me since Pandora was a punishment against all men for stealing fire (technology) from Zeus via Prometheus. So will we be forced to use a Pandora battery to "steal" our technology from Zeus yet again?

    • I hope that they're using the name Ericsson simply due to the fact it's Sony's own phone brand, rather than this device being comparative to any previous Ericsson devices. I have always found them lacking. :( However, like a sucker, I frequently end up with them due to the Sony association. Certainly - this will be no different. I MUST HAVE ONE!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      Of course, if anyone can screw this up, it's Sony. Their recent track record with both phones (Ericsson, ick) and portable gaming (PSPGo, double ick) is not great, so trying to do both at once could be a big bag of fail.

      Sony can screw this up simply by not licensing the PSP brand to other handset manufacturers. A single handset model from a single manufacturer which may end up on a limited number of networks / payplans is never, ever in a million years going to compete with gaming options available for iP

    • I used to think this way, about touch, until I played games on an iPhone. Side scrollers, top down, and even shooters play great with on-screen touch gamepads. Heck, off late I play more on my iPod than I do on the xbox.

      I can't wait until Epic Games releases their engine for iOS development.

      I don't think a ps phone will work well, specially if it's running android. Not because quality issues, but because Sony will be not just fighting against the iPhone, but also against every other android phone out th

    • I think a $800-120 control pad, that docks an iPhone/G2, or other handheld phone, with supplemental (AA Batteries) power would be a nicer buy... with most of the newer 4G phones running android being in the 1-1.2Ghz range it could be a better seller than a multifunction phone. having a Hand-held Controller/Dock could be a better win. The issue is being able to act as a dock, for additional power, and as an input device... would it have to be bluetooth, or can the USB port act as a host in these devices, o

  • Sure it can run Linux... for now.

  • Nice video. Silent, but (mostly) clear and sharp.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by denzacar ( 181829 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @09:08PM (#34455316) Journal

    Now show me one where this smug bastard [nowgamer.com] eats crow. Preferably a live crow.
    CmdrTaco can join him. [slashdot.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by BRock97 ( 17460 )

      Except that it showed nothing. All I saw was a slider running Android with a d-pad and buttons where the keyboard should be. There wasn't even an analog pad.

      Listen, I don't want to be a pessimist but until video footage surfaces that had some form of gaming content, I wouldn't get too excited yet. The really pessimistic side of me wonders if someone didn't dummy up an Android app and called it "Playstation". I'll ignore that little voice for the time being though.

      The nerd in me would like you to keep th

      • Except that it showed nothing. All I saw was a slider running Android with a d-pad and buttons where the keyboard should be. There wasn't even an analog pad.

        Listen, I don't want to be a pessimist but until video footage surfaces that had some form of gaming content, I wouldn't get too excited yet. The really pessimistic side of me wonders if someone didn't dummy up an Android app and called it "Playstation". I'll ignore that little voice for the time being though.

        The nerd in me would like you to keep that plate of crow warm. The concept looks cool (except they better have some form of analog control) so now show me the substance to seal the deal.

        The analog control is in the form of the multi-touch thumb bar, which appears to have two nubs to help position your thumbs. Might work alright (i hope).
        This device would be hard to fake. That's a lot of components to fabricate even to make the outside. And it does appear to be the unreleased Android 2.3, so really only a manufacturer would be able to have that yet.
        So I guess some *other* company could be making a phone that looks like this and someone could pretend it's a Sony device, but that seems unlike

      • Except that it showed nothing. All I saw was a slider running Android with a d-pad and buttons where the keyboard should be. There wasn't even an analog pad.

        Seriously, what a waste of time that video was! Open the phone to show the D-pads. Close it, show the Android home screen. Flip it over to show the Sony Ericcson brand. rinse, repeat 4-5 times. Based on that video, we have no clue whether it can run any game at all - heck, can it even launch a game? Can it even launch an Android app, since we didn't see that either? For all I could tell, that "Android" homescreen could've just been a jpeg screenshot from some other, real, Android phone.

  • We are going to need to outlaw playing GT5 while driving. Word has it, playing video games while behind the wheel may distract some drivers.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by zach_the_lizard ( 1317619 )
      Why invent all these special-case laws? Jjust charge them with negligence or something. Maybe invent a distracted driving law?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by neoprint ( 949158 )
      Yo dawg...

  • carrier locked? forced data plan? GSM? CDM?

    • In this day and age, of course to the first 2.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xugumad ( 39311 )

      I'm sure you'll be able to buy an unlocked version of the phone, but don't expect too much change from $1k from it (any more than you would from buying an unlocked iPhone 4 - I'm aware they're not available in the US, but the UK edition is £500/$800 or more inc tax).

  • Direct Youtube Links (Score:5, Informative)

    by pavon ( 30274 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @09:21PM (#34455394)

    Tekgoblin was very slow to load for me, so here are some direct links to the YouTube Videos in case the site gets slashdoted.
    Video 1 [youtube.com]
    Video 2 [youtube.com]

  • Same name as a botnet? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Funny, the first thing that came through my mind when I read the name was the Zeus botnet. Is the PS phone (oh god, it also abbreviates as PSP) going to be a botnet client by default?

  • Sony simply MUST hire SLJ to promote this... (Score:5, Funny)

    by denzacar ( 181829 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @09:23PM (#34455430) Journal

    And I simply can't see anyone having any problem with that. [youtube.com]

    Well... Except maybe Rupert Murdoch.

  • We clearly didn't want a gaming phone then, but do we want it now?
    Will digital distribution and the increased processing power available make the difference?
    I'll admit. Part of me wants to see Sony fall on its ass - But I also want to see Android succeed.

    • Re:N-Gage, anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Xugumad ( 39311 ) on Sunday December 05, 2010 @10:07PM (#34455666)

      The N-Gage was a badly designed device that was neither a good phone, or gaming device. Side-talking was absurd looking, and put many people off the phone. The needs to remove the battery to switch games also did not help it.

      The Zeus may not be perfect (especially as the PSP is exactly new, any more), but at least should launch as a phone that looks like a phone, with a good sized game catalogue.

      • Honestly, I'd be as happy with a dpad on the left and a qwerty keypad to the right... Though with swype, a physical keypad is less important... the trouble is, I don't trust Sony, and haven't spent a dime on them in nearly a decade...

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        The Zeus seems to have a fairly unconventional form factor except that instead of having a slide out keyboard it has a slide out game pad. It makes the device a little chunky but otherwise nothing extradordinary.

        The biggest issues I see it facing is how much the games cost for it. And how the PSP brand can survive if it is tied to a single android phone model from a single manufacturer. The PSP 1 platform asted 5 years (and is still limping along). Phones don't last a year before something better comes al

        • What happens if Google launches a gaming platform for example.

          folks seem to think that google is some magical entity that can dominate any sector they wish. remember that the only really widely successful (in terms of profit) thing google has done is search. other successful projects like gmail or android aren't money makers in themselves but are just a tie in to search. even android is just the realization that an every-increasing number of searches will be coming from smartphones, and a way to not be under control of the folks at microsoft and apple when it comes t

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by DrXym ( 126579 )
            No, it's just recognition that if Google make Google Games (or whatever they wished to call their service) that most if not all phone mobos will pick it up or would be powerless to stop it.

            Even if it were an "optional" install, chances are that more and more games would appear that required it because it would offer services they need such as cloud sync, achievements, high scores and whatnot. Much the way that Steam has taken off.

            So here's Sony in one corner with one phone which does PSP games up agains

    • We clearly didn't want a gaming phone then, but do we want it now?

      clearly we do. take a look at the game section on the appstore. the caveat is that it has to be a decent phone as well. if it just runs android and can tap into an existing library of quality games, it at least has a good chance of being a success.

  • Anyone remembers the Nokia N-gage? 'nuff said.

    • Anyone remembers the Nokia N-gage? 'nuff said.

      The tech just wasn't there with the N-gage. It was a neat idea, but it came out at the wrong time. I don't see this Playstation phone becoming the next big thing with sales rivaling the iPhone, but I don't see any reason why it won't be able to find its niche, especially amongst teenagers.

  • Perhaps one day the technology will be invented to link the words "A video has surfaced on YouTube" to the actual video on Youtube. In the meantime, here it is:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6cxaVRs60w [youtube.com]

  • Cant find it off hand now, but there was a PSP (original playstation 1) emulator for the Android phones floating around a while ago. This makes me wonder if it was an internal app leaked from sony. Regardless, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it wont be too long for the official PSP app to make it out into the wild.
    • The correct initializations for the first playstation are: PS1, PSX. PSP = Playstation Portable.

    • Exactly, if sony had ANY brains at all they would make it 100% PSX compatible and provide some sort of dual thumbstick or equivalent button controls.
      Even easier with PSP re: control layout, but needs better hardware I'm guessing + more work has been done re: emulating PSX as opposed to PSP.
      Still being the manufacturer there is no reason why they can't create some sort of shrunken clone for the original PSX for 100% compatibility. Surely the tech is there.

      From what I've seen on my now pitiful Nexus 1 the gpu

      • provide some sort of dual thumbstick

        I think that's what those two dots are... optical "mice"?

        • yeah not totally sold on that but I guess you'd have to try it for yourself to make an accurate judgement.

          Might be a physical limitation, can't think of how you'd fit a physical joystick into a slider, and most people wouldn't want an exposed joystick setup on their phone, also the size increase too.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MrDoh! ( 71235 )

        Makes total sense, all it needs is the dual shock controllers (and it looks like there could be space for it).
        Sony probably won't do the sensible thing here alas.

        • yeah maybe even make the dualshock a separate accessory. Heck you can pair a PS3 dualshock with droids already, why not make a variant with a phone mount, and make the connectivity 100% perfect / seamless.

          I wouldn't mind having to carry around a separate pad if it means its a fullsized grip

  • I wonder how locked down this device will be. Will it deny sideloading like Android devices on AT&T, or will it completely deny access via the ADB mechanism?

    I'd consider buying it if it was easily rooted (Android's antipiracy mechanism is completely separate from the presence/absence of root, unlike iOS.) However, if it was so locked down that an adb shell command was an impossibility, I'd just mark the phone as unsuitable for human consumption and continue on.

  • if only I had friends to call.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

      That's the beauty of this phone! If you don't have anyone to call you can play game online with your friends!

      Oh, never mind.

  • a leak not related with Wikileaks and not hunted down by the State Dept? Must be a fake or somethin'!

    TFS: ... but with this leak the rumors have now been made fact

  • Obvious reason (Score:5, Informative)

    by The_mad_linguist ( 1019680 ) on Monday December 06, 2010 @12:01AM (#34456250)

    It isn't actually called Zeus. That's just the codename for the Prototype.

  • So which platform gets abandoned? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by grapeape ( 137008 ) <mpope7 AT kc DOT rr DOT com> on Monday December 06, 2010 @12:21AM (#34456378) Homepage

    My guess is the original PSP will stay zombified as it has been since a year or so after launch. The go is still fairly new but I cant see Sony maintaining 2 different handheld non-compatable systems, but you know that Sony isn't going to put out an android device that isn't locked down and wouldn't go through them for content...greed is too strong with that one.

  • iOS is a huge booming platform for games, which dwarfs pretty much everything.

    The main reason is obviously some decent games, ability to have games RFN, and of course, the 1-5$ pricing.

    I could see the Playstation phone having the first two,but the last? Not sure how well it will compete if it can't live up to the iPhone/Android pricing model. I certainly wouldn't move from paying $1-5 for some suprisingly good games, to $30.
    • Especially considering you're then likely to have to dump your games catalogue in 12/18/24 months with a phone upgrade (unless they let you carry the library over, but that would mean you're tied to their phones from now on). I think most people don't mind paying a few pounds for a game, playing it until they're bored and then losing it when they upgrade, but if I pay £25-30 I want a) longevity and b) something I can come back and play in the future (I guess I can always keep the phone around - assumi

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by anethema ( 99553 )
        True, and with iPhone though as you said if you stick with iPhone, any game I originally bought for my 3G is wokring just find on my 3GS and now iPhone 4.

  • XMB is one of the best device interfaces I've used second to iOS and they're not skinning 2.3 to use XMB?

    Fuck them.

    • Ugh, XMB is the WORST UI ever. Like all Sony interfaces, the UI is pretty but ultimately terrible.

      • Ever use it on a long term basis? Compare it to the Xbox Dashboard and let's talk.

        • Yes, I've owned a PS3 for about 3 years now, and have used the XMB in different iterations on different equipment where it's been implemented. The XBL interface is no better. Just off the top of my head, the general criticisms which have been leveled at it which I agree with:

          - The system menu is way to crowded and has a number of different settings which can't be discerned without first going into them to see what the options are, usually resulting in a lot of back and forth.

          - Using left and right

  • Now that the PS3 has been jailbroken, both restoring OtherOS to any PS3 and cracking the Hypervisor for OtherOS app access to RSX, VRAM and all 7 Cell SPUs, I wonder whether Android would be a better OS than Linux for the PS3. Even with the jailbreak, the PS3 has only 256MB RAM ( + 256MB VRAM) for apps, which makes it a lot more like a mobile phone than a PC - despite all its other differences. If Android is going to run apps developed for a "Playstation Phone", maybe those apps would be a better library fo

  • I like how, in the youtube video, the phone crashes as soon as the keypad is slid out. Reminds me of the Windows 98 demo printer bsod.

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