Sony to announce 'new PSP product' when 'the timing is right,' VP says

Is the PSP Phone real? Sony isn't directly commenting on it right now, but a recent earnings call reveals one of the strangest non-denials we've ever seen. "As for the new PSP product, as mentioned, I know that you are not asking me to tell you when we will be coming out with a new product, but there is a gaming market based on [the] cellphones," a Sony VP (presumably CFO Masaru Kato) stated during the call. "It's not that we are not looking into those markets as well. We will look into those markets in trying to develop strategy for the future." Essentially, Sony isn't not making a gaming phone.

Although the Sony representative repeats that he cannot talk about specific products in development, he does note that the planning and development of the "new product ... we are making right now" would come from under a single Sony "umbrella" that combines various branches of the company -- like Ericsson and SCE. But when will we find out more about this mysterious device? "When the timing is right we can probably announce [to] you about the new product that we have."

For Sony's sake, we hope the "timing" is before Engadget gets another scoop on this not not in development phone.