14 DAY TRIAL // Video game hardware developer Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that the soon to be launched PlayStation Vita handheld will get free applications that allow the device to access popular sites like Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Skype.
Sony is saying that the four apps are just the first ones in a bigger social line-up that will get more details closer to the launch date for the Vita.
All the applications will be downloadable for free from the PlayStation Store and will allow those who use the new hardware platform to connect to the sites that have become some of the most used in the world, especially in the young demographics where Sony is hoping to sell the most devices.
Sony did not specify when the Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Foursquare apps will be launched but they presumably will be offered when Vita is released.
Sony has also announced that all video games that are released for the PS Vita in physical form will also be offered through the PlayStation Network, the first time a dedicated gaming platform does not discriminate between physical and digitally distributed media.
The four socially oriented apps are a sign that Sony understands that the biggest threat to the Vita at the moment comes not from the under performing Nintendo 3DS but from the smartphones that have captured a big slice of the gaming=on-the-go market.
It will be interesting to see whether the Vita can hold its own against devices like Android and iOS powered phones, which offer gaming options and also allow users to make phone calls and use the Internet without any restrictions.
The PlayStation Vita will initially be launched in Japan before the end of 2011 and during the first months of 2012 gamers in North America and in Europe will also have access to it.
The launch price is set at 250 dollars.