If you were lucky enough to snag the free Facebook app for the PS Vita last week while it was briefly available, you probably found its performance balky, at best. Shortly thereafter, Sony unsurprisingly pulled it from the PlayStation Store, noting issues stemming from Facebook’s side of town. Well, good news just came in from Sony’s PlayStation Twitter account — Zuckerberg’s app is “fully restored” and ready for your downloading pleasure. Facebook’s relationship with Vita OS will, hopefully, be less “complicated” this time around, but let us know how it’s working for you in the comments.

SOURCE via https://twitter.com/#%21/PlayStation/status/175393147843649536

Have you considered that if a secretive governmental cabal seized control of your Kinect, it would be able to spy on you as you lurched awkwardly to Just Dance? Such is the price we pay for abrogating our right to privacy, or at least it was until Catalyst Components came up with a solution. Connect Pritect to Protect Kinect is a high-gloss plastic shield that clips over your device to block the sensor bar’s cameras from prying eyes. The only opening is a tiny hole for the Xbox logo — the efficacy of which is shown after the break. Freedom from surveillance will cost you a meager $15 from Target, Microcenter, Best Buy and Amazon.

Good news for all you socially connected (and hip) regulars of local retail establishments — who have PS Vitas, of course. Sony’s just announced that the free Foursquare app has officially landed at the PlayStation Store (US), and it can be yours for a paltry 4.5MBs of space on your precious proprietary memory card. The app works over WiFi, however, the fine print advises that users may want to use 3G for the best results to help alongside the Vita’s GPS. Notably, the rear touchpad and cameras are listed as being compatible with the app, as well. Now that we can watch Netflix over WiFi, and view our Flickr albums along with Tweeting and “Checking In” between our ModNation racing tours, how’s about finally letting us get our Skype on? (P.S. We’d really like Facebook back in the store, too!)

SOURCE via Sony

As of recently, the PS Vita has become available in the locales of America, Europe and PAL territories, and now Sony’s updated sales figures are in. How does “over 1.2 million units worldwide” sound? Because that’s how many systems were purchased as of February 26th. If you’ll recall, just two days after its December 19th arrival in Japan, the Vita rushed out of the gate, with Sony citing 321,000 units sold.

Sales quickly slowed, however, despite the system making its way across Asia, as that number only rose to 500,000 by the time CES hit in January. Considering that means an additional 700K+ units were moved in less than two months, it seems that Sony’s latest handheld isn’t doing too shabby.

Furthermore, it looks like a healthy amount of early adopters stocked up on games, as Sony also noted that more than two million pieces of software have been sold (out of 25 currently available titles) via retail and the PlayStation Store — that said, there’s no telling how popular those slightly cheaper digital editions have proved.

SOURCE via Joystiq

We’re not suggesting Sony has a Kinect style controller coming soon, but it certainly filed a patent for one. The application for a “User-Driven Three-Dimensional Interactive Gaming Environment” was initially logged in October last year by Richard Marks of PlayStation Eye fame. The controller can “determine when to interact with the system by allowing part of the user’s body, or an object, to cross the maximum depth range plane” meaning input could be limited to just the hands etc. This wouldn’t be the first time Sony has created controller technology similar to its competitors, but the company is careful not to outright state that’s what it’s for. That said, amongst the legalese it does go as far too say the system can be implemented by an entertainment system “such as” its flagship console. So, sadly there’s no way of knowing if we’ll be getting a PlayStation Motion any time soon, but feel free to wave over the source link to see the patent for yourself.

SOURCE via USPTO

iFixit’s (counter-intuitively) done it again. This time it’s made gamers of the world weep by ceremoniously un-fixing a PS Vita, Sony’s latest portable gaming powerhouse. Standard screws and fittings — alongside a modular design — made for a relatively pain-free deconstruction for these tinkerers — especially compared to recent iFixit visitors. Highlights from the tech autopsy include a 2,200mAh battery, Toshiba SDRAM and an OLED display that is unfortunately fused to the plastic, reducing the score down to a could-be-worth-a-fixin’ 8 out of 10. Get your goggles, grab a surgery mask and meet us at the source below. Things could get a little messy.

SOURCE via iFixit

Need another reason to cough up for that PS Vita? Well, Sony’s attempting to sweeten the pot for existing PS3 owners with the launch of a promotional lure that’ll make a trio of titles available for cross-platform play. Yes, that portable-to-console bridge has been attempted before and though it’s always reeked more of gimmick than true killer feature, that’s not stopping the electronics juggernaut from giving it the ol’ college try. Gamers that download either Hustle Kings, WipEout 2048 or Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 on the PlayStation Store will be able to transfer and play that content on both devices for the price of one. If you currently claim any of the above as your own, not to worry, you’ll still be able to take part in the company’s pan-PS content share. So, are you red E? Then hit up the source below for the extended deets.

SOURCE via PlayStation Blog

Japanese site AV Watch reports that comments from incoming (April) President and CEO Kazuo Hirai indicated that Sony may be looking to bring the PlayStation Vita OS to smartphones and tablets. Hirai made this revelation on Friday during a Q&A, reminding everyone that the Vita OS isn’t just for gaming, that it’s actually a mobile OS, hinting to the two aforementioned form factors.

“If you’re asking if we’ve made it in a way that’s expandable, so that it’s possible to apply to smartphones and tablets on top of achieving the high responsiveness we need for gaming devices–it is possible,” added SCE’s Senior Vice President Yoshio Matsumoto during the Q&A with reporters. “That doesn’t mean that we’re applying it to smartphones and tablets at this point in time, but it’s been designed with expandability in mind.”

Currently Sony is using Google’s Android as its primary OS for smartphones and its two tablets. However the PlayStation Vita is very similar to a smartphone OS, sporting a host of applications (Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, Skype etc) and mobile functions (Web browser, location-based social networking, 3G connectivity, camera functions, etc). In appearance alone, it’s easy to see the Vita’s OS on a smartphone at the very least, but it’s unknown how difficult it would be to bring the software to smartphone and tablet environments.

Sony’s deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki also piped in a hint during the Q&A as to why we still haven’t seen the actual PlayStation Suite which was revealed over a year ago. When questioned about the feasibility of porting popular smartphone apps to the Vita platform, Suzuki said that the PlayStation Suite will be expanded for that purpose.

“That’s exactly why we’re going to be putting energy into building up PlayStation Suite this year,” he stated.

Sony already stated that exclusive titles will be developed for the PlayStation Suite in addition to providing PlayStation classics, but this little tidbit of information could mean that games may be cross-platform capable between Vita and PlayStation Suite-compatible devices. And as stated last year, the Vita will also receive exclusive content via the PlayStation Suite that can only be played on the Vita’s hardware.

“SCE also plans to open PlayStationStore where users will be able to download content in an easy to use environment, directly via the Android based portable devices,” Sony said last year. “Moreover, SCE will provide a new game development environment in an effort to ensure new and compelling content is delivered on PS Suite, which will also offer opportunities for a wider base of developers and publishers to further expand their business on various portable devices.”

Xbox World magazine claims that Microsoft’s next Xbox console will include a Wii U-like touchscreen controller.

Based on info provided by unnamed sources, the magazine states that the next Xbox will be “a matt-black media hub with a mission to bring games to life in your living room with augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player, finger-tracking Kinect.”

Microsoft is reportedly experimenting with a tablet-like controller shape similar to Sony’s PlayStation Vita rather than borrow Nintendo’s Wii U “bulky unit.” The article also describes the controller as to having an HD screen surrounded by the traditional buttons and sticks.

“That touchcreen will be second only to Kinect in how you operate your console,” the magazine claims. “It could be a remote control when you’re watching TV, a browser when you’re on the internet, extra buttons and information when you’re playing a game or a portable display when you want to take your game with you.”

“Microsoft is playing it safe with the CPU and GPU but running wild with the functions that will change how you play, but it won’t be cheap,” the magazine adds.

GameSpot made a similar accusation last month, saying the next Xbox console will be tablet-based. It’s speculated that a premium Xbox 720/Next/Loop setup could include a base station, a tablet, a conventional controller, and the recently discussed high-def evolution of the Kinect.

This could seemingly spell certain doom for Nintendo if Microsoft releases a more powerful console with a tablet-like controller. Also in Microsoft’s cross-platform arsenal would be Windows 8 for desktops and notebooks, Windows 8 for tablets, and Windows Phone, seemingly backing Nintendo up into its little two-console corner.

SOURCE via CVG

The latest update for Sony’s PlayStation 3 is live and available for download from via your PlayStation Netw…oops, Sony Entertainment Network account. While we get used to the new branding (nothing we could see in the system UI has actually changed at all), there’s a few tweaks included in v4.10, like some sorely needed upgrades for the web browser and the ability to set the time and date automatically upon each sign-in.

A scan of the forums reveals a few who noticed problems with Netflix post-update (which may or may not be update related, deleting Netflix data from the Game Data utility section and/or installing the newest version seems to fix the issue), however most are just seeing significantly better scores in browser benchmarks like Acid3 and HTML5 Test, better compatibility with most webpages and improved YouTube playback (still 240p).

SOURCE via Playstation Blog