We’re only hours away from Sony‘s big PlayStation 4 announcement, and rumors about the console are still flying.
The latest rumors about the console come from Kotaku, which is reporting that Sony’s next-generation console could feature smartphone or tablet interaction in the form of chat or controls. The report cites a “reliable source” as saying that mobile apps could allow players to purchase and download content to their consoles remotely.
The report also states that Sony will have two different SKUs for the new PlayStation at launch – a $429 version and a $529 version. Those dollar amounts do seem fishy, though, and posts over at the NeoGAF forums have pointed out that $429 is suspiciously close to the yen-to-dollar conversion for ¥40,000.
Another rumor from the Kotaku report states that Sony will be “following the path first set by Xbox Live” and will put “most” of the new console’s online features into a new subscription service called “PlayStation World,” which would take over for PlayStation Plus.
If that means new added services, such as Gaikai streaming, will be tacked onto PlayStation Plus, that seems expected. If, on the other hand, Sony is rolling back free services such as Netflix streaming or online gameplay into their subscription service, that could upset many Sony gamers who are used to playing online multiplayer and watching streaming video that isn’t locked behind a paywall.