Sony has taken the wraps off its long awaited update to the PlayStation Portable.

The company launched its next generation handheld, PlayStation Vita at the E3 video games show in LA.

Jack Tretton, the boss of Sony’s US gaming division used the opportunity to apologise to for the recent attack on the PlayStation Network.

Around 77 million user accounts were compromised when hackers gained access to the service earlier this year.

Speaking at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, Mr Tretton said he recognised the need to address the issue.

“This is not the first time I’ve come to the stage at E3 with an elephant in the room,” he told the audience.

He apologised to software publishers, retailers and gamers whose data may have been stolen.

“I want to apologise personally and on behalf of the company for any anxiety that we have caused.

“It is you that causes us to be both humble and amazed at the amount of dedication and support you continue to give to the PlayStation brand.”

Mr Tretton said that PlayStation network activity had been restored to 90% of pre-outage levels.