Sony revealed 'mock-up' designs of the PlayStation 4 (Sony PS4) controller and eye at the ongoing Games Developers Conference (GDC) 2013 in San Francisco, California.
Sony revealed 'mock-up' designs of the PlayStation 4 (Sony PS4) controller and eye at the ongoing Games Developers Conference (GDC) 2013 in San Francisco, California.Industry Leaders Magazine

Speculations on the release date of Sony PlayStation 4 (Sony PS4) may not end till the Japanese tech giant makes official announcement. Now, we heard that Sony could reveal its next-generation gaming console sooner than expected.

Sony had revealed some specifications of the new console at an event in February, followed by revealation of the 'mock-up' designs of the PlayStation 4 (Sony PS4) controller and eye at the recently concluded Games Developers Conference (GDC) 2013 in San Francisco, California.

A reliable source told PCMag that Sony could make a big announcement about its next-generation PlayStation 4 console this month or early next month. 

Sony's UK Facebook page had earlier sparked excitement after it hinted at an Easter release for Sony PS4 by posting an image of egg-shaped device with the tagline "It's coming". Then several reports said that Sony PS4 would be unveiled at the upcoming E3, the world's premier trade show for computer and video games which will be held from 11-13 June at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is also rumoured that the console would be available in October in the US.

Michael Hogan, executive vice president of strategy business and brand development at Gamestop, reportedly told investors that the device would be released this year.

"We know that Sony will introduce the PlayStation 4 globally in 2013, but we are still waiting to see what Microsoft's final plans are. We have scenarios with one console introduction, as well as with two. Even a single launch in 2013 will drive double-digit console growth in 2014; and two launches would likely drive the console category north of 20% growth," XbitLabs quoted Michael Hogan as saying to analysts during a conference call.

Sony is expected to begin Sony PS4 production in August and make at least 16 million units available during launch.

Speculations around the release date of Sony PlayStation 4 have been doing the rounds but no official statement has come from the Japanese tech giant till date.

Here are specifications of Sony PS4:

CPU: single-chip custom processor, x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" 8 Cores

GPU: 18 "compute units" capable of cranking out 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next generation Radeon based graphics engine

Memory: 8GB GDDR5 RAM capable of 176GB/sec of bandwidth

Connectivity: 802.11n WiFi, USB 3.0, Bluetooth 2.1, Auxillary ports, Analog AV, and digital optical outputs and HDMI

It is reported that Sony PS4 DualShock 4 controller has been remodeled and cloud gaming technology would be introduced. It is expected to be priced between $400 and $500 upon release.