Sony in Europe (and the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand) has issued release details for the PSP2.... sorry, PlayStation Vita.

The date: "PlayStation Vita will be available throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia from 22nd February, 2012."

And on the pricing:

From €249.99 (RRP) [AUD$349.95 (RRP) / NZD$449.95 (RRP)] for the Wi-Fi model.
From €299.99 (RRP) [AUD$449.95 (RRP) / NZD$549.95 (RRP)] for the 3G/Wi-Fi model.

Yes, there is no UK pricing right now.

And the specs:

Platform name: PlayStation Vita
Model number: PCH-1000 series
CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
Main memory: 512MB
VRAM: 128MB
External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largestprojection)
Weight: Approx 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model)Approx 260g (Wi-Fi model)
Screen(Touch screen): 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLEDMulti touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras: Front camera, Rear cameraFrame rate: 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA)Resolution: Up to 640×480(VGA)
Sound: Built-in stereo speakersBuilt-in microphone
Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Threeaxiselectronic compass
Location: Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches: PS buttonPower buttonDirectional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)Right stick, Left stickSTART button, SELECT buttonVolume buttons (+/-)
Wirelesscommunications: Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only)3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGEIEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)
Slots/Ports: PlayStation®Vita card slotMemory card slotSIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In],
Power: Built-In Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2210mAhAC adaptor: DC 5V
Operatingenvironmenttemperature: 5?~35?
SupportedAV contentformat: Music-MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM)Videos-MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile(AAC)Photos-JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

Source: Sony