Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled official name and price of its next-generation portable game console previously known as NGP. The device will cost PlayStation Vita, will start to emerge on the market starting late in 2011 and will cost $249 in the U.S.

SCE announced PlayStationVita (PS Vita) as the official platform name for NGP. A Wi-Fi model will be available for ¥24980 yen (including tax) in Japan, $249 in the U.S. and €249 in Europe, while a 3G/Wi-Fi model will be available for ¥29980 yen (including tax) in Japan, $299 in the U.S. and €299 in Europe. PS Vita will launch in the global market starting at the end of 2011. AT&T, which powers the U.S.’s fastest mobile broadband network, will be the exclusive service provider in the United States for PlayStation Vita.

Derived from the Latin word "Vita", which means "Life" this next generation portable entertainment system enables a robust combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context, Sony said.

Sony NGP is based on a system-on-chip with four ARM Cortex-A9 cores, PowerVR SGX543MP4+ graphics engine and a memory controller. The new portable game console has 5" multi-touch OLED screen with 960x544 resolution, typical set of PSP buttons, two cameras (front and rear), Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, GPS, six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), three-axis electronic compass, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR controller, integrated speakers and microphone as well as multi touchpad located on the back side of the system. For the first time, a portable entertainment system will feature two analog sticks, which enable a wider range of game genres to be brought into the portable experience.

Separately, the consumer electronics company announced that the cumulative worldwide sales of PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system reached a total of 70 million units (sold-in number) as of April 27 2011. On the games front, more than 3200 titles on UMD are available worldwide, with cumulative software sales reaching 298 million units to date.

Tags: Sony, NGP, PSP, Playstation, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita