Sony Answering The Call for a PSP Phone
The notion of being able to make and receive phone calls on a fully featured, Sony branded PSP has been nothing more than a prisoner in the imagination of gamers across the world over. The implementation of Remote Play on the latest Sony Ericsson handsets and Skype’s debut of their VoIP software on the PSP inched such a device closer to reality, however both features fail to outweigh their limitations. Now before you go and abandon all hope of carrying a PSP phone in your pockets, check out what the Wall Street Journal has to say about Sony’s intention to answer the call.
Word on Wall St. is that Sony is planning to introduce a few sleek new handheld devices conjured up specifically to head an offense against the ever expanding Apple empire. According to the ubiquitous “people familiar with the matter”, said devices include “a smart phone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games” along with a multifuctional powerhouse which they promise “blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable.”
This development seems to come as a result of the recent restructuring Sony has undergone in an effort to improve the PlayStation Network and ultimately expand the service to other devices. Doing so would create an ecosystem not unlike what Apple enjoys today.
When you consider Sony’s current position in the portable gaming, handset, e-reader, and netbook market, along with the current industry trend of persistent convergence and pressure from increasingly innovative competition, in addition to the positive reaction received by the download-only PSPgo, it’s only logical that a PlayStation integrated phone would be part of a plan to not only maintain, but also build upon the premium image Sony has enjoyed for so long.
While hardware is historically an area in which Sony excels, it can only get you so far. With the exception of the Xross Media Bar, software has never been Sony’s strong point. And therein lies the rub. If Sony is to succeed in this endeavor, a pleasant and unique user experience resulting from a harmonious relationship between the hardware and software is imperative. Such a bond is the reason the competition has risen to the top and ultimately what consumers have come to expect.
As of now, Sony faces an uphill battle, one that we genuinely hope becomes less steep with every passing day.
[Source]
15 Responses to “Sony Answering The Call for a PSP Phone”
Maybe E-3 or TGS will clarify this issue. If they bring a device out like the iPhone to compete with Apple then they will have a lot of homework to do. It is a tall bar to hurdle. But Sony can do it if the fire on all cylinders on this project.
If this turns out to be true, I’ll ditch my Droid Eris and pick this bad boy up.
They’ve been working on this since 2007. There was an article last night on IGN as well. If it really comes out this year Id consider it. Plan pricing is probably insane
I’d get one
I would love to have a PS Phone, but given the price of the PSP Go (which someone at Sony should have been shot over because of the sheer stupidity of pricing a hand held device 50 dollars cheaper than your flagship console) I will probably have to pass on that fact that it will be astromonical in price.
I won’t be pickin it up cause I detest Cell Phones because I can’t stand the idea of people being able to call me at any point, even taking a dump isn’t save, lol. but there are positives. Those being hopefully a slight increase of development of titles that everyone else might find interesting. We all know that the minis haven’t caught on because of prices and who wants to spend 5 bucks on a unknown when you have MGS or Spyro sitting right there that you know are good and you can just relive memories even if the graphics and controls are frustrattion it’s better then gambling. So let step the Mini’s quality and sale 3 million of this phones that play PSP games and just increase the fanbase and hype up these developers to put out some fire ass games.
ummm…Natiej85, it’s called turning your phone off! It’s also why all cell phones have caller ID on them too so that you can screen all incoming calls. If you don’t want to answer it, then don’t.
@Natiej85
yeah man that was a weird statement of yours. I know it’s your opinion and all, but Cell phones fit in our time so perfectly that I start to take with me to the bathroom at home, so that I don’t miss an important call or text, or I can continue to carry a conversation over text.
This new “PS phone” is very crazy, because the US is not like the rest of the world, phones are tied down to phone companies here. Unlike the rest of the world where every phone is unlocked. So the question is with what carrier will Sony sign with? Being since AT&T has the iPhone, I’m sure Verizon will try to get this. I don’t care for Verizon, so with this move Sony will only alienate their potential costumers. I doubt this will be the first ever, official, legit unlocked phone to be used with any carrier here in the US. So I don’t think something like this could really work.
Another thing, if SONY really wants to stay on top, like the article stated they need a killer software. But with Apple so far ahead, SONY has no choice but to partner up with another company for the software. SONY took big risk with building their online network from scratch to compete against microsoft, and what did that cost them? TIME. It took years for SONY to get their online up to par, with features, and it hurt them in comparisons against XboxLive. SONY can’t risk that again if they want to compete with Apple. They need to get it right and get it right NOW. From the get go, or else it would be a failure. People won’t be cutting SONY any slack if their phone sucks, Apple will just dominate and that will be that with SONY and any “PS phones”
OMG this would be great. I have been thinking SONY should do this. I would buy this if is released.
It looks pretty much AWESOME.
If they just did that you could earn trophies on it, i would have played every single game on that phone and enjoyed it every day until it’s death.
This rumor is not just awesome, but it’s buyable. I WILL BUY IT
Gotta back Natiej85 up on this one. Got rid of mine and I don’t miss it.
It’s funny how hostile some people can get over not owning a cell phone. Makes you feel like the kid in the old movies that didn’t have a TV…..but EVERYONE has one!!
I love how everyone is “plugged in” and still yet fully disconnected.
If this ever does happen, I’ll be getting mine day one. Hopefully they’d be on Sprint, I don’t want to change networks. I might be willing to get a second # from another provider, just for this…and still keep my Sprint line.
it probably won’t come to Canada anyway , like most good playstation features on psp and ps3 ( comics reader – video store downloads , hell even contests aren’t available to Canadians )
I like the idea but it’ll be something I won’t be able to use most likely because they’ll licence it to verizon or another big u.s. provider and anyone else will be s.o.l.
there’s also an iPad/e-book thing coming out at the same time
Full PSN support (trophies) and it’s a done deal.