Sony Turns PSP Go Into Portable Media Center

Sony is quietly positioning its new Playstation Portable Go (or PSP Go) as a more expensive but infinitely more capable proposition than the DS Lite or even Apple's iPod Touch as the Japanese firm officially launches it in the UK today.

The pricey portable gaming console was launched back in June 2009 and currently costs £225, roughly the same price as the Sony Playstation 3 Slim which was launched in August.

And in a rather bold move, Sony has introduced internet tethering to the PSP Go console which will allow gamers to piggyback on any Bluetooth-enabled devices connected to the web to allow internet access without wires.

Sony has also added a Genius-like feature called Sensme to the PSP Go as the console will be able to analyse music tracks (using Sony's own "12 Tone Analysis" technology) to generate playlists based on the users' moods.

SensMe is also present on many Sony Ericsson smartphones and thanks to a new firmware, will also be present on older PSP consoles. The firmware also brings in an update to the MediaGo platform which will allow PS users to manage their content straight from their computers, like iTunes.

Also announced today is the release of more than 100 games for the PSP Go via its Playstation Store and Sony has confirmed that more than 16,000 TV shows, movies and games will be available for download.

The PSP Go is significantly smaller and lighter than the former flagship gaming platform from Sony, the PSP3000, and introduced an innovative slide out game controller.

It packs 16GB worth of flash storage and is capable of downloading games and content straight from the web.