Sony PSP2 Draws Nearer

Sony may have just secured the use of third-party graphics technology from Imagination Technologies for the PlayStation Portable. This would make the arrival of a new handheld slightly more imminent than it was yesterday.

This comes via electronics publication, EETimes. Unnamed sources have told it that a recently announced major new mystery licensee of Imagination is, in fact, Sony, which plans to use the company's POWERVR SGX tech for the next PSP.

This, of course, adds weight to the notion that a new PSP is on the way. A word of caution is in order at this point, however. EETimes writes that the license is "for an upgrade to the Sony PSP2". Note the word "upgrade". That suggests that the PSP2 already exists and is awaiting improvement. That would make the PSP2 all but complete, or EETimes (which isn't, remember, a dedicated gaming site) could simply be referring to the recently released PSP 3000 - an improvement on previous models, but certainly not a brand new handheld. Or it could just be clumsy wording on EETimes' part...

That a PSP2 will at some point be released is in little doubt, of course. Given that the original is now nearly four years old, you would expect Sony to be working on a follow-up at this point. The only thing that will stop it is if Sony decides to throw in the towel on the handheld front.

Anyway, if you're wondering what exactly POWERVR SGX does, here's the skinny according to Imagination - "The POWERVR SGX graphics IP core family provides a powerful and flexible solution for all forms of next-generation embedded multimedia processing, including 3D, 2D and vector graphics, advanced anti-aliasing and image processing." Graphics. It does graphics. EETimes claims that the particular processor in question is the SGX55x. If you want to find out more about the technology, head this way.

^{Source: EETimes}