Rumoured PSP Phone -Engadget
“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, and there are many changes that are being seen [with] Nintendo, as well as ourselves, in the field of the product for the gamers. And there are smart phones and others or even cellphones gaming markets are very popular here in Japan. So the market itself is very... expanding.” said Masaru Kato through an interpretor.
The news became big when Engadget posted an alleged photo of a smart phone with Playstation-style buttons. Engadget speculated that the phone would run on Google's Android operating system together with a custom Sony Marketplace.
If that were to be true, how would original PSP games be compatible with a totally new Android operating system? Additionally, running Sony technology on the open source Android OS might open Sony up to attacks on its proprietary software, something which happened recently when the Sony PS3 was hacked.
The rumour of a Playstation phone is nothing new. It has been speculated since 2007 when Sony filed a patent application for a gaming device with phone capabilities.