According to the UK’s leading games industry publication, MCV, Sony’s PSP2 is set for a reveal at the end of this month and will apparently boast some quite astounding specs.

Due for release at the end of this year, possibly as early as October, MCV expects Sony’s next-generation hand-held gaming system to include a full HD screen and twin joysticks, and be powered by hardware that Sony insiders have claimed is as powerful as a PS3. That certainly raised an eyebrow or two at GamePro Towers, although we’d love our cynical asses to be proved wrong.

The system is expected to hook into the PSN for downloading media and apps, and might also include a phone function. “Might” doesn’t sound like the right word to be associated with a mobile system and telephonic functionality these days, and we’d be incredibly surprised to discover that PSP2 didn’t have phone capability. Indeed, we’d go so far to say that if it didn’t, PSP2’s appeal would be what would charitably be called “specialized.”

But the big question is – is this new piece of hardware the much-talked-about PSP Phone, or is this PSP2 a completely new thing? Keep watching this space – we’ll let you know as soon as we do.