PS4 controller: DualShock 4

If you have an eye for details you may have noticed that the PS4'sDualShock 4 controller has no Start or Select buttons. Norden confirmed this, saying that it will have a so-called Option button instead, as well as the much bandied about Share button on the rear.
The analogue sticks have been tightened up to be more precise, and the controller also features a brand new three-axis gyroscopic motion sensor with three-axis accelerometer which should be great for getting you immersed in the games. The camera continuously tracks all four controllers with precise accuracy. Rotational tracking is provided by the internal components and.
The controller has a two-point Vita-like touchpad on the front with a 1920x900 resolution, and a tactile clicking sound letting you know you've pressed it. The light bar on the front will glow different colours depending on whether you're player 1, 2, 3 or 4 and will be tracked by the new PS Eye camera. It also has an Xbox-style headset jack and a mono speaker inside it.
Video-watchers take note
This new PS4 controller won't accidentally fast forward when you set it down. Norden said this was one of the biggest complaints his team heard about the PS3's DualShock. The PS4's controller has triggers designed not to depress when set down. What's more, Norden even said he'd been dropping controllers without skipping a single frame.
That touchpad on the DualShock 4 will be capable of two simultaneous inputs. The light on the controller will glow blue, red, green or pink light, depending on whether you're player one, two, three or four.
The Share button
The PS4's ardware encoder always records the last several minutes of game play without using any additional resources from the game, by pressing the Share button you can then upload or save your gameplay and show your friends or keep it just for your own amusement.

The PS4 Eye

What's really grabbing though is the development of the PlayStation 4 Eye, a newly developed camera system that utilizes two high-sensitivity camera equipped with wide-angle lenses and 85-degree diagonal angle views.
Sony said the cameras (amounting to 1280 x 800 pixels) can cut out the image of a player from the background or differentiate between players in the background and foreground, enhancing game play handily. There's also mention of logging in using facial recognition and using voice and body movements to play games "more intuitively."
If you want to know how these specs stack up against what we know so far about the Xbox One (clue: PS4 is more powerful) - check out our comparison of PS4 and Xbox One specs.

Pre-order the PS4

We don't yet know what the PS4 price is going to be in any territory, but in the UK at least, retailers are clambering all over each other to take £20 deposits in return for guaranteed PS4 consoles on release date.
So far, you can pro-order your console at ShopTo, GAME and ASDA.

PS4 Specifications

PlayStation 4 Specifications

• CPU: low power x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores
• GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon™ Graphics Core Next engine
• Memory: GDDR5 8GB
• Hard Disk Drive: Built –in
• Optical Drive (Read only): BD 6xCAV, DVD 8xCAV
• I/O: Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0), AUX
• Communication: Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)
• AV output: HDMI, Analog-AV out, Digital Output (optical)

DualShock 4 specifications:

• External Dimensions: Approx. 162mm x 52mm x 98mm
• Weight: Approx. 210g (tentative)
• Buttons: PS button, SHARE button, OPTIONS button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Left/Right), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), R1/L1/R2/L2/R3/L3, Right stick, Left stick, Touch Pad Button, Touch Pad 2 Point Touch Pad, Click Mechanism, Capacitive Type
• Other Features: Light Bar, Vibration, Built-in Mono Speaker
• Ports: USB (Micro B), Extention Port, Stereo Headset Jack
• Wireless communication: Bluetooth® Ver2.1+EDR

PS4 camera specifications

• External Dimension: Approx. 186mm x 27mm x 27mm
• Weight: Approx. 183g
• Video Pixel: (Maximum) 1280 x 800 pixel x 2
• Video Frame Rate: 1280x800 pixel @ 60fps, 640x400 pixel @ 120fps, 320x192 pixel @ 240fps
• Video Format: RAW, YUV (uncompressed)
• Lens: Dual Lenses, F value/F2.0 fixed focus
• Field-of-View: 85 degrees
• Microphone: 4 Channel Microphone Array
• Connection Type: PS4 dedicated connector (AUX connector)
• Cable Length: Approx. 2m (tentative) 

The PS4 release date

The PS4 release date is "Holiday 2013" for the USA. That's the only official detail Sony revealed at the launch in February and it's unclear which other territories it applies to, if any.
However, Sony recently took out a newspaper ad in the UK, clearly advertising the PS4 release date as '2013'. That tallies with an interview in May with our buddies at CVG, a source inside Sony said that the company is pulling out all the stops to launch worldwide in 2013 and ensure that the PS4 is not trumped by the new Xbox.
Sony also advertised at the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, London, with 'PS4 - coming 2013' signs.
Officially, Sony has said it wants the PS4 release date in Europe to be as soon as possible but makes no promises on whether the UK and other European countries will get a release date in time for Christmas this year or whether it'll be an uncomfortable wait until sometime in 2014.
Stock issues might be the reason for this, and that's exactly what happened back in 2006/2007 when the PS3 launched. It went on sale in the US and Japan in time for Christmas and Europe and the rest of the world had to wait for March the next year.
But that newspaper ad certainly seems to confirm that we'll be able to get our hands on the PS4 before Christmas in the US and Europe.
What we know for sure is that we'll get our first glimpse of the PS4 at E3. Check out the PS4 teaser video.

The Playstation 4

At GDC 2013 at the end of March, a room full of would-be PS4 developers and press got some new details about the hardware, controller, online and social functions of the forthcoming PlayStation 4.
Well before Microsoft eventually announced the Xbox One, Senior Staff Developer Support Engineer Chris Norden unveiled the news under an overarching theme of a "frictionless and seamless" gaming experience.
We've known that the PS4 will track both the controller in a gamer's hand, as well as their face, since the console's launch in Feb. But during his GDC talk Norden revealed some interesting ways that this technology will be implemented in games.
For example, the old multiplayer standby of split screen, divvying up television real estate when two or more players go at it, will be aided by this tracking tech. If a gamer gets up and moves right or left, his section of the screen will automatically be swapped.