The launch of the Sony PSP’s little brother, PSP Go has been confirmed this week at the E3. Indeed the PSP Go was agreed by Sony’s CEO Kaz Harai to be the worst kept secret of this year’s E3. The PSP Go will be released in North America and the UK later this year on October 1, 2009, for $249 and £229.99 respectively. Those in Japan (and likely rest of Asia) on November 1, 2009.

For those worrying about UMDs, just to reinforce, the PSP Go won’t replace the PSP-3000 or UMDs. The PSP Go will simply be a choice of the PSP for people who would prefer to have their gaming done the digital way.

It was first reported that in the UK we would be charged the same price as the original PSP (£179) but it looks like that price has been adjusted at online retail stores Game and Gamestation where they are now offering a pre order price of £229.99.

Main features:

• Easy Sliding Display Panel and Original Applications – PSPgo offers a variety of exciting entertainment options by taking advantage of the sliding panel.  When the panel is open, users will be able to enjoy various entertainment content with the familiar button   control as PSP-3000, when closed, original applications for PSPgo, such   as a clock and calendar is displayed on the screen. Users can also   enjoy video and music when the panel is closed.
• Game sleep function – PSPgo has unique features such as game sleep function which enables users to operate XMB (XrossMediaBar) while pausing gameplay   temporarily.
• Bluetooth function – Bluetooth function will also allow users to connect Bluetooth   standard peripherals such as head-phones and head-set as well as PS3 wireless controller (DUALSHOCK3 and SIXAXIS) to be   used when watching video content on TVs via PSP at home.
• Peripheral line-up – One of the products within PSPgo’s peripheral line-up is a new Cradle (PSP-N340) that will become available in stores worldwide concurrently with the release of PSPgo. This new Cradle enables users to charge the PSPgo battery and also enjoy watching video and listening to music.  Also included in the peripheral line-up are video-out port cables that enable users to enjoy games and videos on their TVs at home.

Detailed specifications:

• Product Name: PSP (PlayStationPortable) go
• External dimensions: Approx. 128 x 16.5 x 69 mm (width x height x depth) (excludes largest projection)
• Weight: Approx. 158g / 5.6 oz (including internal battery)
• CPU: PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1-333 MHz, Main memory 64MB)
• Display: 3.8 inches (16:9) full-transparent type, TFT drive, 480 x 272 pixel, Approx. 16,770,000 colors displayed
• Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone
• Main input/output:
  • Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b) (Wi-Fi)
  • Bluetooth(R)2.0 (EDR)
  • High Speed USB (USB2.0)
  • Memory Stick Micro(M2)
  • Analog Video Out
  • Microphone
• Main connectors:
  • Multi use connector
  • (DC IN / OUT, USB, Video Output / Input, Sound Input / Output)
  • Headset / Microphone connector
  • Memory Stick Micro(TM)(M2(TM)) slot
• Key / Switches:
  • Directional buttons (up/down/right/left), analog stick,
  • Action buttons (triangle, circle, cross, square),
  • L/R buttons
  • START button, SELECT button, PS button
  • POWER/HOLD switch, WLAN switch
  • display button, sound button, volume (+ / -) buttons
• Power sources:
  • Lithium-Ion rechargeable internal battery pack
  • AC adaptor
  • USB power supply
• Internal memory: 16GB (Flash Memory)
• Supported Profile: PSP Game
• Access Control: Region code, parental control
• Wireless
  • Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b) (Wi-Fi)
  • (Infrastructure mode / Ad hoc mode (connect up to 16 consoles))
  • Bluetooth2.0 (EDR)
• Supplied accessories:
  • AC adaptor
  • USB cable
  • CD-ROM (Media Go)

• Video
  • Memory Stick Video Format
    • MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC)
    • H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile (AAC)
  • MPEG-4
    • MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC)
    • H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile (CABAC) (AAC)
    • Baseline Profile (AAC)
  • AVI
    • Motion JPEG (Linear PCM)
    • Motion JPEG (u-Law)

• Music
  • Memory Stick Audio Format
    • ATRAC3
    • ATRAC3plus
  • MP3
    • MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer3)
    • MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC)
    • WAVE (Linear PCM)
    • WMA (Windows Media(R) Audio 9 Standard only)
  • Photo
    • JPEG (DCF2.0/Exif2.21 compliant)
    • TIFF
    • BMP
    • GIF
    • PNG

[via Press release, Pocketgamer]