[scotsboyuk]

Sony Ericsson has managed to cram just about every Sony brand name onto a phone over the past few years. We've seen Cybershot branded cameraphones and Walkman branded music phones, in Japan they've even had Bravia branded handsets. One brand has been missing from the portfolio though and it's the one that most people desperately want to see ... PlayStation. According to information obtained by Engadget that may become a reality sooner than we think. Sony Ericsson are apparently working on a new gaming platform for Android that could redefine Android gaming. The work involves developing not only the platform itself, but an entire ecosystem to support it as well as a gaming device that is said to be in the late planning stages and receiving input from Google themselves. In terms of the handset it's been described as a mixture of Samsung's Captivate and Sony's PSP Go. What that means is that it's a slider phone (in landscape mode), but instead of a keyboard sliding out it's game controls the user will see i.e. a d-pad, a 'long touch pad', the familiar PSP buttons, and shoulder buttons. The display is described as being large, somewhere between 3.7" and 4.1" and will be WVGA or better. The onboard camera is a 5 MP effort, which is pretty much the industry standard these days, but which could be beefed up further before the final design. In terms of the processor it looks like Sony Ericsson is going with the tried and tested option of a 1 GHz Snapdragon. The aesthetics of the handset are also covered and help paint a picture of what it actually looks like in place of an actual picture of the device. It's mostly black with silver highlighting, but the slide out game control area is white and silver. The device is tentatively being branded as an Xperia device, but it should carry the PlayStation branding too. Engadget quote those who have seen the device as describing it as "pretty damn sexy". Ok so that's the hardware side of things, let's now turn to the software. In sharp contrast to the X10 range of handsets this new device will be running Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) making it one of the most advanced Android handsets out in the market. There will be, as you may have already suspected, a custom UI skin from Sony Ericsson. Interestingly there will be a new section added to the Android Market to house the games for the new platform this handset will usher in. The games contained within this new section wil only be available for this new Sony Ericsson handset, at least to begin with. Other Android handsets should have access to them too if they meet the necessary hardware specifications and button configuration requirements. The games themselves are said to be in the same bracket as PSX and PSP games in terms of graphics. In other words Android is getting full blown 3D gaming. The current range of games being touted for inclusion in this new Market section are predictably older titles, but there are some new ones in there too. The titles include God of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and LittleBigPlanet (Ixalon's favourite!). There are also apparently plans afoot for game titles that incorporate augmented reality. The big question at this point is of course 'when'? Well that is, as ever, a difficult question to answer. Engadget are citing October as a possible release window for this handset, but they do stress that this is unconfirmed and as we all know Sony Ericsson are not renowned for getting products to market on time. [Engadget]

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n...tation-handset/

[najodleglejszy]

sorry, but I've heard about so many fake PSP phones that I'm a little bit sceptical about this...

[scotsboyuk]

Remain skeptical no more! This thing is on!

[Krazy D]

[Manny]

Am I dreaming??? I don't know what to write this is fantastic news!!! cant wait to hear more on this

[mr.megi]

this sound realy awesome

[maxidimov]

Let's just hope that it's out before Android 4.6 is released

[mr.megi]

or 5.0

[Kaosblade]

I have a small opinion on this new phone SE are working on.

Sony are trying out some interesting tactics here. If you look at the portable gaming market. Initially it was all about PlayStation Portable due to the dominating graphics and power of the console. But sales of teh Nintendo handheld system, the Nintendo DS has beaten it tenfold. After the E3 this year (gaming conference) nintendo announced their new portable system which was the Nintendo 3DS. This is the first gaming system that uses stereoscopic 3D technology without the need of glasses. So far the public interest is driven in Nintendo's direction because of that. I know I'm buying the 3DS.

At E3 Sony hadabsolutely nothing to announce for the PSP except for new games. I think this is just a way to promote the sales of PSP games while also hitting the Sony Ericsson side too. I'm not sure about anyone else, but IMO sony should drop this ASAP. Nokia tried to do the same thing with their N-Gage system which was pretty much unseen after a few months. They might be able to pull it off. But who knows. The titles rumoured to come out on this phone are top games.

[witchking]

Wow!!!

Will definitely get it when it comes

[anaksim]

it is a good move indeed by se attempting to be the first ones to introduce the gingerbread (if they ever make it in time). but really, wudnt the game controls actually be one of its weak point?
I dont think all people wud want a gaming slider when they wont be making use of them much anyway. and to think that the games arent actual psp games, wud there be enough games released to really make someone buy this and replace both their previous phone and psp? I hope this thing wont end up being just a half gaming console and half a phone.

It will be amazing tho if they really cud promote the device properly and make it a worth having gaming console.

not that i dont like it, ill definitely want to have it for its android 3.0

This post has been edited by anaksim: 13 August 2010 - 02:49 AM

[syanide]

Mods, How come I still can't leave a comment on the front page? I put one on yesterday and it hasn't appeared - even though it had registered that I was logged on!

What I was saying was - does this give us massive hope that Gingerbread might not be that far away for us X10 users?

Syanide

[maxidimov]

Kaosblade, on 12 August 2010 - 08:14 PM, said:

Nokia tried to do the same thing with their N-Gage system which was pretty much unseen after a few months.

N- What?

[Shifter]

maxidimov, on 13 August 2010 - 01:35 PM, said:

N- What?

Haven't you heard about it?

[Kaosblade]

maxidimov, on 13 August 2010 - 09:05 AM, said:

N- What?

Shifter, on 13 August 2010 - 09:15 AM, said:

Haven't you heard about it?

Exactly.

[scotsboyuk]

@syanide It probably got caught in the spam filter. Happens to me too.

[crazysharath]

I'm sure game addicts will surely buy this phone.

[Krazy D]

Not just that but the fact that they are working with Google makes you think they are heading in the right direction.

[Shifter]

Krazy D, on 13 August 2010 - 07:16 PM, said:

Not just that but the fact that they are working with Google makes you think they are heading in the right direction.

Agree. SE's collaboration with google is a good sign.

[shanky88]

i think its gona more atractive if se makes it fully touch as phone and as gaming its 2 sided slider and als ist ever phone with double slide in market for better gaming control as psp (slide from both top and bottom side) rather then there design as shown in image...

Anyway thatz my opinion! Wel Wait an watch what se make when they launch this one..

This post has been edited by shanky88: 13 August 2010 - 07:30 PM