Sony announces an official PlayStation app for iOS and Android and PS4

Once this app hits the App Store and Play Store, this will offer a second screen experience to the PS4. Yeah, you read right, the PS4. First let's look at the PS4, then the official app!

Sony last night finally unveiled it's PlayStation 4. The PS4 runs a 8-core X86 processor, enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB of high speed memory.

Next, there's the controller. The PS4 will use Sony's new Dual Shock 4 controller with a touch pad, share button, light bar, and headphone jack. The light bar allows a camera on the PS4 to measure how far away a player is.

As for features, Sony listed a TON in their Power Point, so here's a few fan favorites from iDownloadblog.

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• The new DualShock 4 controller connects to an included light bar, which can identify players and their movements via a 3D camera. No one is calling it Kinect-like yet, but it sounds like it serves a similar purpose.
• The PS4 has a low-power state that auto-saves games. If you have to step away from your console, just tap the power button. Then when you return, you’ll find your game right where you left it. Sony says “long console boot times are a thing of the past.”
• And the system can download games and other content in the background too, even with the power off. So no more annoying game-stopping system updates. Likewise, this also means that downloadable titles can be played as you’re downloading them.
• Social is a huge aspect of the PS4. You can upload videos of your gameplay, while playing, watch other games being played, and even invite a friend to remotely play on your system.
• And it can learn your likes and dislikes. “Long-term vision is to reduce download times to zero… if we know enough about you we know what game you’ll purchase next and can download it in the background.”
• Gaikai technology lets you see what games your friends are playing, share screenshots and videos in-game, and take over their controller. It also allows owners of the PS Vita to remotely play the PS4 from their handheld devices."

After all of that was announced Sony brought some game developers on stage. They showed some demos of their games. They all said they used live action video, but it doesn't look that way. Take a look at some of the videos:

The new device never actually made an appearance. So the question everyone is asking is, what does it look like?? Sony's event was two hours long, and it never made a live appearance, or even a picture! I think the reason is because the PS4 is still in the very early stages of development, and Sony wanted to announce their device before Microsoft does. This also explains why Sony didn’t announce any pricing details, or availability, outside of ‘Coming Holiday 2013.’

Now, on to the PlayStation App.

Here’s Sony’s press release on the app (via Engadget):

“A new application from SCE called “PlayStation®App” will enable iPhone, iPad, and Android based smartphones and tablets to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.”

Here's iDownload Blog on the story:

"The concept sounds pretty cool. Not only would it be handy for in-game maps and dashboards—which you normally have to pause gameplay to see—but it’d be nice to be able to purchase and download games from your phone while out and about.

Unfortunately, there’s no mention of being able to actually play games on your smartphone or tablet yet. But I’d assume that they’d like to keep that feature exclusive to their PS Vita handheld console, which they talked about quite a bit yesterday.

It’s not known at this time when PlayStation App will become available, or whether it will cost anything, but we should hear more closer to the PS4 release. Sony says that its next-gen gaming system will be ready in time for the holidays this year."

So, what do you think? Will you be updating from PS3 or PS2 to a new PS4?