Sony Shares Hints of Android Tablet Connectivity at PS4 Unveiling

[dgstorm]

In case you missed it, the Playstation 4 was officially unveiled by Sony last night. It will come packing an amazing array of new features and functions beyond the usual, but the one that many of us here in the forums should be most interested in is it's reported compatibility and pseudo-integration with Android tablets. Here's a quote with a few of the advantages as well as another quote talking specifically about using Android devices as "Second Screens."

You’ll seemingly be able to connect with your friends even when you’re away from your console. We’re not sure what sort of features we’ll be getting on the go, but we imagine we’ll have access to profiles and, at the very least, the ability to exchange messages and chat with our friends.

We also saw a glimpse of an Android tablet during the demo of Sony’s new DRIVECLUB game. The tablet was shown to be running an app that lets you catch up on others in your “club,” allowing you to see who’s racing at a given time and getting updates on their progress. Since it was a simulated demo and the transitions were quick we couldn’t exactly tell how the functionality worked, but it would be awesome to be able to not only navigate that social menu from our phones and tablets, but also to initiate gameplay. ~ Phandroid

Here's a quote directly from Sony that offers a tease without any specifics,

new application from SCE called “PlayStation App” will enable iPhone, iPad, and Android based smartphones and tablets to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.

It seems like Sony is making the smart move by moving toward cross-platform compatibility with the mobile world. Convergence will only make people want the PS4 even more, because it will make it even more useful in the long run. Share your thoughts.