
Just a few days before Sony’s upcoming E3 press conference, the company’s next generation handheld gaming device, the PSP Go, has been given some unofficial specifications, starred in a hands-on preview video courtesy of Qore and previewed in some leaked press photos. The upcoming PSP Go will be a UMD-less slider that features the following specs:

We’ve heard some rumors about an upcoming PSP refresh in the past — ok, a whole lot of rumors — but new information is casting doubt upon the details of previous information. 1UP is reporting that the new PSP will be christened the PSP Go! and will finally do away with that awful UMD system while taking on a slider form. In place of UMDs, it is said the PSP Go! will come in 8GB and 16GB models meaning a green light for game downloads. As for games, Sony is reportedly planning to have around 100 old and new games ready for launch time. Sadly those of you who were looking for a bit of dual-joystick action will be disappointed to note that according to this new rumor, a second analog stick will not be added to the right-hand side. Such is life, we suppose. Word is Sony will make the PSP Go! official at E3 next month and have it hit the streets in Japan in September with a US launch in either late October or early November — ensuring its inclusion in plenty of letters to Santa. And yes, the image above is a mock up.

With the E3 expo coming up in June, rumors of a refreshed PSP are surging once again. Now billed as yet another “iPhone killer”, chatter surrounding the possibility of a new PSP is reportedly firming up a bit with inside sources seemingly becoming more lose lipped lately. Current status of rumors: slider form factor, touchscreen, two analog thumbsticks in addition to standard controls, “far more similar to the iPhone than the current device” (whatever that means) and a release scheduled before Christmas 2009. No, it certainly won’t look like the sweet mock up above but the more rumors that get pumped into the mill lately, the more they’ve been lining up on common ground. Sony can definitely use the buzz a device like this would create, that’s for sure.