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pspphone posts

Sony Ericsson Aino's PS3 Remote Play capabilities get detailed -- no games, just media playback

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 2nd 2009 at 7:46AM

Sony's got a lot of housekeeping to do before it can quell the infighting long enough to produce a proper PlayStation phone, but the upcoming Aino's PS3 Remote Play features sound like a tentative first step. According to a Q&A posted on the Euro PlayStation blog, the upcoming slider handset will be able to use Remote Play to connect and control a PS3's XMB through the internet, but you won't be able to play PS1 games like you can on the PSP -- you'll be limited to media playback, browsing the PlayStation Store, and chatting on PSN. Yeah, it's kind of a missed opportunity, but at least we can hope future handsets will expand on the capability a little, just like the PSP had remote PS1 game playback added in after the fact. We'll find out when the first Ainos ship in the UK in October.

[Via Joystiq]

Sony investigating PSP phone?

by Paul Miller posted Jun 28th 2009 at 4:03AM

As recently as May Sony has itself stated that a PSP phone "could happen," and now a report from Nikkei business daily states that Sony is planning on putting together a team as early as next month to build product that would act as a combination of a PSP and a Sony Ericsson handset. It makes plenty of sense, both as a differentiation from Nintendo and as a confrontation of the looming iPhone threat -- and hey, it might also act as a decent salve over the lukewarm reception of the pricey PSPgo. Unfortunately, if Sony is just about to get started on this, we likely wouldn't be looking at any resulting product for a while to come. Sony declined comment according to Reuters, which doesn't mean a whole lot, but it's worth keeping in mind that we've been hearing this sort of rumoring since back when the N-Gage (as a product) was still almost relevant.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Sony Ericsson president: PlayStation phone "could happen"

by Joseph L. Flatley posted May 8th 2009 at 4:32PM

Well, this is certainly one rumor that just won't die -- nor is it likely to, not as long as the company has its hands in both manufacturing handsets and game consoles. According to an article in the Financial Times, Sony Ericsson president Hideki "Handsome Dick" Komiyama discusses his struggle to reposition the company as one the world's top three phone makers. Among bright ideas and desperate measures mulled over, the man in charge lets slip that no plan is too crazy or far-fetched to consider. Even a PlayStation-branded phone? "Could happen," he is quoted as saying. And there you have it! Begin warrantless speculation: now.

[Via Unwired View]

Sony refuses PlayStation brand for PSP Phone?

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 16th 2009 at 5:48AM

We've been following PSP Phone rumors since 2006, forever on a tech timeline. A plausible device given the natural evolution of mobile gaming and Sony's proven desire to cross-license its Bravia and Cyber-shot brands for use on other Sony Ericsson phones. Not so fast buster. Mobile Today (citing "several sources close to the matter") is reporting that Sony Ericsson has been refused the use of the PlayStation brand by Sony Corp. after pitching the business case in December. A spokesperson for Sony Ericsson wouldn't comment directly on the matter but did say, "In the past, we have been keen that our product proposition lives up to brand promise, and we feel at the moment the technical specs are not high enough to put such a prestigious brand on a phone." With Sony Ericsson posting a massive $346 million dollar loss today compared to the $95 million expected, well, maybe Sony's wisdom shouldn't be questioned. Then again, Sony's not doing much better.

[Thanks, Matthew A.]

Read -- Sony refuses to license PlayStation brand
Read -- Sony Ericsson slips into the red

PSP phone mod is really exactly what we were waiting for

by Paul Miller posted Aug 8th 2008 at 9:24AM

Call it off Sony, no need to throw any precious man hours into making your perennially #2 handheld into some sort of amazing featurephone hybrid, some hacker has already done it for you. Through the amazing wonders of modern thinphone technology, soldering irons and probably a bit of glue, some hacker has managed the slap a Haier touchscreen phone onto the back of his PSP -- killing the UMD drive in the process, but we'd say it was well worth it.

Sony Ericsson working on a PSP phone, minus the Ericsson?

by Paul Miller posted Jun 27th 2008 at 10:11AM

Look, we've heard our fair share of PSP phone rumors, and there's really no reason to trust this one any further than your average baseless musings, but if Marketing Week's "sources in Japan and Korea" can be trusted, Sony's PSP phone could be hitting shelves as soon as Christmas 2009. What does seem clear to these shady sources is that Sony won't be forking over the PlayStation branding to its Sony Ericsson partnership, and instead will build its PSP phone all by its lonesome. Other "details" from "analysts" are slightly less legit-sounding, with some stating it would be "relatively easy" to work phone features into the PSP since it already includes WiFi. Um, ok. Still, reasonable or not, this is clearly a rumor that will never die -- until Sony builds the dang thing, in which case we can start talking up a sequel.

[Thanks, Alex]

Sony Ericsson files patent on haptic gaming device, doesn't call it PSPhone

by Joshua Topolsky posted Mar 7th 2008 at 9:57AM

It's nice to know that Sony Ericsson is plugging away on making our crazy, dare-to-dream fantasies a reality. The latest proof that someone up there (and by up there, we mean Japan) likes us comes in the form of a new patent for a touchscreen handheld that forgoes physical buttons for a haptic-feedback scheme. The design mandates that the phone / game device would be free of the pesky clutter of regular buttons, and would instead by configurable to any number of forms (PSP, phone, MP3 player, digital camera) by arrangement of on-screen controls. The device would vibrate in accordance with button-presses, though it's unclear whether this will just be a standard vibration, or a more advanced, location-specific feedback system. Even with a little buzz, we're not quite sure you can replicate the feeling real gaming controls provide -- and that could seriously interfere with our typical success in games.

[Via Unwired View]

PSP Phone reference spotted in Sony Magazine

by Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 15th 2008 at 9:58AM

Now obviously, before proceeding here you're going to want to find the largest grain of salt you can locate and keep it nearby. According to SEfanatics, a page in an issue of Sony Magazine (an office favorite over here) makes passing mention of a "PSP-Style phone" which is supposedly in development, then casually suggests the device could be "in shops as early as February." Of course, we've been hearing hushed conversations about this topic for some time now, though it does strike us as slightly odd that it's referenced in what is essentially a multi-page Sony advertisement. Sure, it's possible that something like that patent we recently saw could be headed our way -- obviously the company is still capable of throwing a few curve-balls in our direction, though we're going to need to little more evidence than this to start cracking open our piggy banks.

[Thanks, Teemu]

Sony rekindles rumors of PSP phone

by Darren Murph posted Nov 22nd 2007 at 7:02AM

It's been a hot minute since we've heard any marginally believable chatter surrounding the so-called PSP phone, but the idea of such a device has been given new life thanks to Sony Computer Entertainment co-chief operating officer Jim Ryan. Apparently, Mr. Ryan told the India Times that the "PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson," and that "convergence with the two arms working together is definitely plausible." Granted, he did note that it could be quite some time before such a device would see the market, and that if indeed it did, it would likely resemble a handheld gaming system with a phone blended in and not vice-versa. So yeah, we're not really any closer to knowing whether this thing truly is somewhere in the pipeline, but here's to hoping that we don't have to wait another year or so to find out more.

[Via Stuff]