While the North America and Europe launches are still set for after the new year, PlayStation Vita will arrive in Japan just before Christmas on December 17th, with pre-orders starting October 15th. Service plans for the ¥29,980 3G model (about $389.80 in US currency, as of this writing — but $299 when it does launch stateside) will be provided by NTT Docomo, with pre-paid options of ¥980 for 20 hours of use and ¥4,980 for 100 hours. (Speeds are about 128kbps down / 64kbps up, if we're understanding correctly.) The first 500,000 Vita units in Japan will get a free pre-paid 100 hours. We'll let you know if we hear any new international launch details tonight, but we wouldn't suggest losing sleep over it.

Source: Game Life, Kotaku, Joystiq