Sony Ericsson rumoured to be creating PlayStation branded Android phone
Live in Your World, Phone in Ours
Engadget is reporting that Sony Ericsson is hard at work on a device that has the capability to make massive waves in the mobile gaming space, bringing PlayStation brand games to a brand new Android 3.0 phone.
The new device, described by the anonymous sources as a cross between the Samsung Captivate Android phone and the PSPgo console, will feature a landscape slide-out panel, but it'll be furnished with game controls like a D-pad, buttons, and shoulder bumpers instead of a traditional keyboard.
It’ll also sport a chunky screen (between 3.7 and 4.1 inches), with WVGA resolution (800×480) or higher. Around the back is a 5-megapixel camera (for augmented reality), and under the hood is Android’s beefy 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. The current prototype is supposedly painted black and silver, and carries PlayStation branding.
But more interesting than a new device, is the gaming ecosystem planned and the wealth of experience that the PlayStation brand could bring to the Android space.
The phone will feature a new section in the Market specifically for games, and while these titles will be initially exclusive to this phone, they might be available to other Android devices if they have the specs and buttons for the task.
The source describes the game’s graphics as on par with PSX and PSP games, and apparently games in the God of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and LittleBigPlanet series are “possibly on tap”, writes Engadget.
If the device is legitimate, it could be a massive boon in both Sony and Google’s arsenals when fighting against iPhone, which has scuppered both companies in terms of mobile gaming.
The rumour comes just a few weeks after Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo revealed that it had been in talks with 'various players' in the portable gaming hardware market about adding 3G functionality to their consoles.
Would you buy a PlayStation branded Android phone dedicated to portable gaming?
