AfterDawn: News

PSP-based phone coming?

According to a new Marketing Week article, Sony is reviving talks of a PSP-based mobile phone and that it could possibly drop the Ericsson name, at least for that one model.

Citing multiple sources from Japan and Korea, the article says the phone would "include elements of the PSP gaming handheld and that the process would be relatively simple, as components such as Wi-Fi are already well-suited to the device."



There was no other specifics mentioned besides the Wi-Fi but the dropping of UMD is almost a given due to its bulkiness and low popularity. The phone could go commercial by the holiday season 2009.

Sony Ericsson currently has a gaming phone, the F305, but it does not include and PlayStation hardware or software.

More interestingly, the article spoke about how Sony and Ericsson are currently "frosty" towards each other and that the new phone could lead to a permanent break up. Sony allegedly wants to keep its own hardware, such as PlayStation and Walkman, all to itself.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Jun 2008 16:00

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• 22 comments

• 713tex

  This just won't die will it?

  26.6.2008 16:04 #1

• goodswipe

  Originally posted by 713tex: This just won't die will it?Hmm, you must be from Houston. ;)
  

  
  
  "I hope Newbies that come across your signature bar do not become intimated and decide this forum is for wisecracks and stick to other ones." -ofield

  26.6.2008 16:06 #2

• SProdigy

  Originally posted by 713tex: This just won't die will it?Yeah I know! It's either a PSP with phone capabilities or a phone with PSP capabilities. I think if this does appear, it will be in Japan only, where they are nuts over tech and Sony. Americans will ignore it. We're already broke from buying iPhones and scarred from the Nokia Taco Phone experiment.

  26.6.2008 16:24 #3

• Vr0cK

  I do love the fact that the PSP is multifuctional but this might cross the line. But we'll see.

  26.6.2008 16:37 #4

• chaos_zzz

  main issues here, size,weight ... and also. calling in a sunny day

  26.6.2008 17:21 #5

• SDF_GR

  i would love a PSP phone and Sony to break up with ericsson at last.

  26.6.2008 19:23 #6

• Rudeboi

  Quote:Originally posted by 713tex: This just won't die will it?
  Americans will ignore it. I doubt they will.
  American's love their little flashy toys, if it looks nice, they'll buy it.

  26.6.2008 19:55 #7

• tripplite

  ^^^LOL agreed....the psp has done great just like the PS2....i wouldn't be surprised if the next gen had a improved graphical processor.... on board memory AND a phone feature:D
  
  it truly has out-performed other hand held consoles:D
  
  
  
  
  -tripplite

  26.6.2008 22:06 #8

• rainofire

  ^^
  
  
  I like this design better, it's slimmer and much phone like.

  27.6.2008 04:33 #9

• 7thsinger

  Lol.
  
  Nice.

  27.6.2008 08:31 #10

• spydah

  I like the last post on the PSP phone it looks good. That would be something I would buy without thinking unless it had flaws.

  27.6.2008 09:19 #11

• SProdigy

  There's a few things I'm still up in the air about. Those pics look REALLY good and did the blueprints justice(the blueprints made it look too bulky to be a phone!)
  
  Anyhow, I'm wondering if this will be PSP 2, since it looks like UMD is out of the picture... also texting looks like it may be a pain....

  27.6.2008 09:58 #12

• Gnawnivek

  Wow, this is really cool... a PSP phone! W/o umd, there are a lot of room for improvements, nice!

  27.6.2008 11:27 #13

• gmontalc

  Originally posted by Gnawnivek: Wow, this is really cool... a PSP phone! W/o umd, there are a lot of room for improvements, nice!==================================================================
  Sorry, it'll be not a "improvement", simply it'll be a new device.
  
  The war has began PSP/Phone vs. iPhone
  
  

  28.6.2008 13:21 #14

• Gnawnivek

  Quote:Originally posted by Gnawnivek: Wow, this is really cool... a PSP phone! W/o umd, there are a lot of room for improvements, nice!==================================================================
  Sorry, it'll be not a "improvement", simply it'll be a new device. The war has began PSP/Phone vs. iPhone
  [img]http://publish.shaw.ca/gmontalc/PSP Phone.jpg[/img]ah, fine, whatever... it's still something i want anyway, a PSP phone, which beats any mobile gaming out there! The only concern i have is, battery life of course... i mean playing game and cellphone, i doubt i'll have enough juice when i actually need to use the cellphone part...

  28.6.2008 13:53 #15

• blueroad

  i wouldnt jump on it just yet..we all know that the psp doesnt do well already (even the slimmer) when it comes to battery life...and thats a reasom alot of true buisnessmen dont want to buy the iphone since its not reliable (3-4 hours or even 6 is nothing..now not forgetting the PSP is already bulky as it is and has a bulky battery and still doesnt deliver much use and needs chrage after every 7 hours of use and alot less if some features (i.e movies) are used)..so i find the bit about a PSP phone quite overwhelming and totally useless..i do see however making arrangments for an upgrade to the slim version to be able to act as a phone-much more usefull then the alternative..

  28.6.2008 15:52 #16

• dorkydork

  i think it will work if they do the following and even eclipse the iphone:
  
  - decent battery life (not hard to do, just turn off the gaming hardware if not in use)
  - touchscreen or slide out full qwerty keyboard
  - full psp game support
  - umd can be missing but a equivalent alternative needs to be in place such as downloadable games / movies
  - decent memory or hd
  - full browser with flash support
  - slim size
  - slim weight
  - small(er) form factor (equal to or smaller than iphone size devices
  - scroll wheel (i love these) take a hint from logitech revolution devices
  
  the xmb software is great imo. adding phone support would be easy

  29.6.2008 04:26 #17

• Gnawnivek

  Maybe solar charging cells? I don't know... it's samn hot over here and if the PSP Phone can absorb of of the heats and turn them into battery, that would be nice :)

  29.6.2008 13:41 #18

• gmontalc

  Originally posted by Gnawnivek: Maybe solar charging cells? I don't know... it's samn hot over here and if the PSP Phone can absorb of of the heats and turn them into battery, that would be nice :)
  
  
  Solar energy it will be the only way to go in the future, no doubt.
  
  As long as in this planet exist the greed of the Corporations conducts their way of making profits $$$. I won't see it happens, just because the businesses that manufacture batteries will lose billions of $$$.
  
  Same goes for the automotive manufactures, why they do not build 100% electric Solar rechargeable batteries for cars, trucks?, or using the solar power to heat our homes?... for the simple reason that the all-mighty Oil Industries will go broke by having no demand.

  30.6.2008 02:31 #19

• nettiger

  i have to say, the looks of that psp/phone are just killer but what the hell are they gonna use if they take UMD out of the picture? i mean, it's not every country that has fast internet connections to download games and not everyone has a credit card to pay for those games.. and i must say, i'm never bother to deposit cash to get a game.. and aside from that, cartriges just look outdated to me.. actually one of the main reasons why i bought a psp instead of a DS is because it had a proper disc (however stupid that might sound) and i don't see sony selling memory cards with games saved in them since that'd just make game sharing that much easier...
  
  there are a lot of things they're going to have to think about when making that psp/phone, and well, it's true that battery life is going to be a problem unless they disable the psp function when the battery can only handle 24h of service for the cellphone...
  
  in the end the simplest thing to do would be to make a phone enabled PSP like blueroad suggested.
  
  I also wonder if the m33 team will be issuing homebrew firmwares for the PSP/Phone lol that would be great, i actually think i'd buy it just because of that lol

  30.6.2008 05:52 #20

• Gnawnivek

  Using an on-line dictionary, i was able to "read" the kanji, hand machine, meaning cellphone? That picture says PS3 Cellphone or was it a typo?
  
  Yeah, i totally agree with $$$ corp theory. Personally, a lot of things could be better without corporation greed and politics. However, that's the world we live in... The North Pole is becoming the North Pool, i thought that's something the next generation should worry about, but looks like i'm wrong...

  30.6.2008 09:30 #21

• blueroad

  Originally posted by dorkydork: i think it will work if they do the following and even eclipse the iphone:
  
  - decent battery life (not hard to do, just turn off the gaming hardware if not in use)
  - touchscreen or slide out full qwerty keyboard
  - full psp game support
  - umd can be missing but a equivalent alternative needs to be in place such as downloadable games / movies
  - decent memory or hd
  - full browser with flash support
  - slim size
  - slim weight
  - small(er) form factor (equal to or smaller than iphone size devices
  - scroll wheel (i love these) take a hint from logitech revolution devices
  
  the xmb software is great imo. adding phone support would be easyi agree with everything you said.if all the precautions you stated would be taken then this phone would F the iphone a whole 360 -but only if they wont go demanding service plan for this phone-if they do it would suck just like the iphone and another problem is of cource designing and making it possible in a price that the average consumer could afford (after apple cut the iphone price its gotta be something very attractive if the price will be higher) if sony takes all this into mind this would be a sure thing

  1.7.2008 08:17 #22