Sony will revitalise its 32-bit PlayStation next month with the launch of a portable version of the console.

'Portable' doesn't mean the device can be used on the move: batteries are definitely not included, and the PSone has to be hooked up to the mains.

That said, it will be a third of the size of the current PSX1 and can be hooked up to a cellphone to download games and potentially network with other users.

The console will cost $142 in the US, where it will ship this autumn, the same time that it ships in Europe, according to Sony. As ever, the Japanese market will see the product first, on 7 July.

Sony said it won't replace the existing PlayStation 1 immediately, but it's clearly not too long for this world, if only because attention will be increasingly focused on the PlayStation 2, which is still set for an autumn US/Europe debut. ®