Sony's lifted the lid on the PlayStation Vita's multimedia functions, chatting about Flash and memory cards in a candid Japanese interview.

But while games such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss are stealing all the headlines, some of the PS Vita's lesser known features are getting brushed under the carpet.

In an interview with Impress Watch, a selection of Sony's hardware developers talked openly about the system's multimedia functions, touching on Flash support, custom soundtracks and even those venom inducing proprietary memory cards.

On the subject of Flash, software development gaffer Muneki Shimada said that Sony is currently in negotiations with Adobe in order to incorporate native Flash support to the PlayStation Vita's web browser. The problem is that Adobe recently ceased development of its Mobile Flash Player, but Sony apparently "has not given up" hope.

While the system won't support Flash video at launch, it will be capable of playing other video types. Playback will be limited to 720p at present, with 1080p support still up for discussion. Shimada explained that future updates could bring the functionality, but he noted that the PS Vita's vertical resolution is limited to 544 pixels, meaning video would be downscaled anyway.

Unlike the PlayStation 3, Sony's new handheld will support custom soundtracks out of the box. Custom music will be available in the Media Player application, with games able to intelligently layer sound effects on top of whatever music you decide to listen to.

Of course, in order to store music on your PlayStation Vita, you'll need to own a memory stick. The announcement of proprietary memory for the PlayStation Vita has caused a furore on message boards over the past couple of weeks, with potential purchasers disappointed about the cost of the cards. Sony said that it opted for a custom solution in order to offer an "equal condition for everyone" in addition to combating piracy.

Elsewhere, Sony said that the PS Vita's backwards compatibility was achieved using both software and hardware methods, though it didn't share any specific details. It promised that the system will have a high level of backwards compatibility at launch, with future firmware updates set to improve support in the future.

[source andriasang.com]