Playstation phone will run Android Gingerbread

INTERNET RUMOURS have it that Sony Ericsson is working on a Playstation smartphone that will run the Android 3.0 operating system codenamed "Gingerbread".

Engadget has spoken with trusted sources who said Sony Ericsson is working on Google's open source OS to develop a hybrid smartphone with handheld console graphics.

The device is described as a cross between a PSP Go and a Samsung Captivate. Apparently it will have a landscape slider with gaming controls instead of a QWERTY board. The mock up has a similar button layout to Sony's PSP with a four-way navi-pad and the Playstation's traditional triangle, circle, cross and square buttons. While there isn't a joystick, there is a "long touch pad" instead, so we'll probably get games designed for touchscreen playability.

The leak even has a list of alleged specifications. The screen will be 3.7 or 4.1-inches with WVGA resolution or higher. The smartphone will also be powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

It makes perfect sense. The Android OS has hardly been the place to go for portable gaming and Apple has somehow created a name for itself as a gaming provider with its Iphones. Sony needs to take back some of that space from Apple and Google wants Android to be taken seriously as an OS that can deliver any mobile scenario. Especially portable gaming which could coin lots of cash from punters downloading online games and apps.

We reported in May that Sony was beavering away on boosting its online games infrastructure and wanted to charge for premium services.

Sure enough, at E3 Sony announced the PSN Plus premium subscription service. The company needs new hardware to attract users into its extended gaming network and a Playstation phone might be just the ticket. µ