In light of the beating they’ve taken, Sony really needed to come to market with something to revitalize their position in the market and the PS Vita may do exactly that. Originally called the NGP (Next-Generation Gaming Portable) the Vita retained the name it was rumored to possess when Sony representative’s debuted the platform at E3 Expo 2011. Details during the release were scant as to the nature of the marketing, but it’s expected that they will begin a phased rollout across their regional markets.

The Vita comes in two vanilla versions, a Wi-Fi only variation that will cost $249 and a Wi-Fi and 3G enabled device that will cost $299—in the US the 3G enabled version will require an exclusive contract with AT&T.

The PS Vita is a beautiful device with a multitouch display, augmented reality features, and the ability to provide “uninterrupted play between your PS3 and PlayStation Vita.” How exactly uninterruptible play will work hasn’t yet been demonstrated, but it’s been said the Vita does not connect to the PlayStation like the PSPgo as a controller. Nor does the Vita have Bluetooth for external peripherals.

It sports a 16:9 aspect-ratio OLED with a 960×544 pixel resolution capable of displaying over 16,770,00 colors. In all the videos, it has a stunning graphics experience augmented by accelerometers inside the PS Vita that detect the movement of the player. Many games demonstrated at E3 are enabled to use the touch screen, movement, and the two analog sticks for a multitude of interface options (such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss .)

An interesting element of the PS Vita being touted by Sony happens to be a technology called “Near”, which is a location-based service that will leverage the PlayStation Network to let customers find one another by proximity. Apparently this feature will be enabled even on the Wi-Fi only model. The usefulness of this capability may be limited; although, I could totally see the early-childhood having-walkie-talkies-in-my-room trope revisited with Wi-Fi enabled devices like this in order to play video games with my best friend who lives right next door at midnight.

As the PS Vita has both Wi-Fi enabled and 3G versions and it has access to the Sony Marketplace, it will probably be a good contender for apps. It’s not exactly a smartphone—and it’s certainly not the direction the Xperia PLAY has gone—but it will find itself in the same ecosystem as smartphones when it comes to the potential for advertising or interacting with the Internet of Things and location-based services.

With a difference of only $50 between the Wi-Fi only and the Wi-Fi/3G versions, it may be worth it to always buy into the upgrade—although not all people would be able to afford a wireless contract, it would be a future investment.

Even the Wi-Fi only model will still have access to the some 80 games already planned for it, and with the powerful graphics engine, it looks like the PS Vita is indeed the next-generation gaming portable.