Sony made two hardware announcements today during its PlayStation Showcase event. While neither one was a new console, one is designed to let PlayStation 5 owners stream and play games remotely.
The device, which was called "Project Q" during the PlayStation Showcase, will have an eight-inch HD screen and all of the buttons of the company"s DualSense PS5 controller. It will be able to play PS5 games with remote play or by connecting to the console"s local Wi-Fi network. The games must be installed on the owner"s PS5 in order to use "Project Q". It also won"t play any PS VR2 games.
The device was previously rumored back in April, and it would appear that those rumors were indeed correct. It would be a return of sorts by Sony to the portable gaming space, after the launch of the PlayStation Portable in 2004 and the PS Vita in 2011.
Sony also announced plans to release its own PlayStation earbuds, which it says will work on both the PS5 and PC. Sony says they will also connect to smartphones via Bluetooth. Sony claims that they will use new technology so that the earbuds will offer "lossless audio with low latency". The video also showed the earbuds being stored in what looked like a charging case.
Sony didn"t reveal any more info about "Project Q" or the PlayStation earbuds. Thus, we don"t know details about the price for either product. We also don"t have any more specific hardware specs like their battery life.
Sony says both products will be released sometime before the end of 2023. That likely means that the company wants to get them both available in time for the busy holiday shopping season. It will be interesting to see what the reaction will be from consumers, especially for the Project Q device.