We may have our first glimpse of the Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone as soon as early next month, and fresh rumours suggest it could have a screen comparable to the retina display on the iPhone 4.
The image above is an invite to a Sony Ericsson press event held by Pierre Perron, the chief executive of the company’s French branch, published by frog blog Nowhereelse. The “most anticipated presentation of the last 10 years” will happen on 9 December, and the meaning of those PlayStation buttons and phone symbol couldn’t be clearer.
But it’s “nowhere near ready” and will probably still launch in February at Mobile World Congress, according to Mobile Crunch, citing a “much-trusted tipster”. It confirmed the phone is most definitely real, and the display could be on a par with the iPhone 4’s retina display, thanks to Sony Bravia technology.
A SIM-free price for the phone is being mooted at around $500 (£320), which would include five free games. These probably won’t be downloadable PSP games, which would require too much power to emulate. It looks as though a whole new line-up of cheaper, more casual games are being prepared, which is why it’s likely to be branded as an Xperia rather than PSP phone. Games would be priced as on other mobile platforms, generally less than £5.
It’s unclear whether games will be distributed through the Android Market or through its own app, although Google may well be working with Sony Ericsson to give it an exclusive section. Mobile Crunch’s tipster said it was “the best gaming [they’ve] ever had on a mobile device”.
Likely specs for the PlayStation phone include a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor, 512MB of RAM and 1GB of storage, expandable with a microSD card. It should be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, although with Sony Ericsson’s track record we wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t so up to date.
Image credit: Nowhereelse