PS Vita 3G will require RICA registration

It has been announced that Vodafone is the preferred PS Vita 3G connectivity partner for a number of countries throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Initially, these are the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands – and Vodafone’s Partner in France (SFR).

Naturally, this raises the question of whether Vodacom, which is a Vodafone-owned company, will also be affording the status of ‘preferred connectivity partner’ for the PS Vita in South Africa.

We contacted both Vodacom and representative and distributor of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) products in South Africa, Ster Kinekor, to find out.

Both parties stated that they are in discussions regarding the partnership, but no further details are available.

Ster Kinekor confirmed that the PS Vita 3G will be available through many retail channels, and will not be SIM or network locked.

Vodacom said that the PS Vita with 3G connectivity will be subject to RICA compliance. This means that customers will have to register the built-in SIM module with their provider.

The questions that remain unanswered are whether there will be special data tariffs offered to PS Vita 3G users and if there will be launch promotions offered through mobile operators, Vodacom or otherwise. For example, Vodafone PS Vita 3G customers in the aforementioned SCEE countries will be receiving a voucher to download WipEout 2048 from the PlayStation store.

It is not just Vodacom and Ster Kinekor that are remaining mum on these issues as, officially, both Vodafone and SCEE are playing their “to be confirmed at a later date” cards.

While the PS Vita 3G model can use 3G to connect to PSN, perform related downloads, surf the internet, and use various PS Vita social and gaming applications, it is not a cell phone.

PS Vita specs

Platform name	PlayStation Vita
Model number	PCH-1000 series
CPU	ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU	SGX543MP4+
Main memory	512MB
VRAM	128MB
External Dimensions	Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largestprojection)
Weight	Approx 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model)Approx 260g (Wi-Fi model)
Screen(Touch screen)	5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLEDMulti touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad	Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras	Front camera, Rear cameraFrame rate : [email protected]×240(QVGA), [email protected]×480(VGA)Resolution : Up to 640×480(VGA)
Sound	Built-in stereo speakersBuilt-in microphone
Sensors	Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three axis electronic compass
Location	Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches	PS buttonPower buttonDirectional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)Right stick, Left stickSTART button, SELECT buttonVolume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications	Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only)3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGEIEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)
Slots/Ports	PlayStation®Vita card slotMemory card slotSIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only)Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In],
Power	Built-In Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2210mAhAC adaptor: DC 5V
Operating environment temperature	5°C~35°C
SupportedAV contentformat	Music-MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM)Videos-MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile(AAC)Photos-JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG