Sony Japan has announced it will no longer be supporting PlayStation Mobile (PSM) for Android.
Not everyone may have been aware that there is a PlayStation mobile gaming service for Android, especially since Sony has already created a portable gaming console known as the PS Vita, but for those who knew or who didn’t know, the latest news from Sony confirms that the company will no longer be supporting PSM for new versions of Android.
The PS app should continue to run on mobile devices running older versions of Android.
Those who still have a device that supports Android versions 4.4.2, KitKat, and lower, should still be able to use the app and it should function like it always has. Sony has said that mobile users who have access to the PlayStation Store should have the ability to re-download games or buy new content.
Moreover, while devices that operate on Android 4.4.3 should still have the capability of running the mobile gaming application, glitches may occur. That being said, apparently mobile users who have upgraded to the Android L DeveloperPreview will not be able to obtain the app and Sony said that these users may not even have access to the PS Store.
The PlayStation mobile gaming app was initially released to improve sales of the Xperia handset.
Sony’s attempt to draw mobile gamers with its app was never as successful as the company had hoped. Although Sony had given users the opportunity to play some of their favorite classic PS1 games, their mobile game offering was not large enough nor were there enough exclusive games to really boost the apps popularity. Many of the titles available for Android could also be played on iOS.
In addition to its announcement that it will no longer be supporting the Android mobile gaming PlayStation app, Sony has also stated that no other devices will receive PlayStation Certified status. The Japanese company will be pouring its focus into creating content for its PS Vita devices and for its PlayStation TV Vita, and is encouraging any developers developing games for the PSM platform to create content for Vita instead.
Sony has been making some teasing remarks about this technology for its popular console.
The PlayStation Japan blog has just released an update that includes a number of videos that have revealed several different augmented reality experiments that the electronics giant has been conducting with its PlayStation 4 console and its camera device peripheral product.
The experiments include a number of different types of purposes for the AR technology.
For example, among the augmented reality experiments was one for fluid simulation, which was demonstrated in the video. It worked when the user held up a white card, which appeared on the display as a virtual cube that held water. That digital water could then be poured into a second container, which was also only virtually created. This illustrates a number of different challenging concepts that hold a considerable amount of potential to the console and mobile gaming worlds.
The videos went on to demonstrate the way that augmented reality can be used for a realistic experience.
For example, one of the videos showed AR dynamic lighting that was demonstrated through the PlayStation 4. In this video, the user had a light source in real life, which appeared to illuminate a dinosaur that was appearing virtually. This technology was not just for light, but also a range of different colors.
The PlayStation Japan also went on to discuss the “trading card recognition” work that Sony has been pursuing. This AR recognition tech demonstration uses AR in order to be able to recognize a trading card’s pattern in high speed and to then be able to display the character and play music related to that character, nearly immediately. That specific function was not demonstrated within the videos in the blog post.
The blog also underscored different two augmented reality demos that used the PlayStation Vita. The first was a demonstration of a diorama of the Narita Airport. It used an actual flight schedule from that airport and gave users the chance to see virtual planes that were taking off and landing as viewed through the PS Vita when aimed at the diorama. The second demo involved the so-called “VitaHoloPoP”, which is a “Super Cyber transmission box” that would use the PS Vita to project virtual images of various character figurines in a hologram-like way, into a display case in real life.
