PSP Phone For Real This Time?
Kicking to the curb one-time sweetheart Ericsson, word has it that Sony are going it alone with a full-on PSP phone. Much more of a concerted effort than the gaming centred but simple F305, Marketing Week reports that this new PSPhone could hit as soon as Xmas 2009!
Sources say that work is underway, with Japanese and Korean devs sawing off the PSP’s legs and stuffing it inside a mobile phone. Apparently, the wi-fi capabilities and graphical hardware could be fairly easily integrated to a more compact device.
With the PSP brand successful yet somewhat stagnant, analysts think this could be the shot in the arm that Sony needs. After admitting that developing the PS3 tech cost them over £2 billion, they need all the money-spinning ideas they can get.
So why no PSPhone already? Industry execs say that Sony really regretted the ’strategic error’ of relinquishing control of their Walkman name, with Sony Ericsson attaching it to a line of underwhelming phones, and as a consequence will not do the same with their strong Playstation brand. Apparently the joint venture of Sony and Ericsson has become strained of late, with attempts to regain ground in the mobile phone industry having varied degrees of success.
Perhaps the Sony phone could mark a turnaround for the troubled Japanese manufacturer…
