What the PSP Phone Could Mean for the PSP 2

Technology oriented blog Engadget managed to get photos of a new device coming from Sony Ericsson that they have dubbed the PlayStation Phone, apparently under serious prototyping at the company and set to be released late in 2011, with a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 chip, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM and a screen ranging from 9.39 centimeters to 10.4.

The device will apparently use Android version 3.0 and will also have a special designed Sony Marketplace from where it can get both applications and video games that were created for the PSX and the original PSP.

The PSP Phone has a touchpad but also shoulder buttons and all the other input options of a classic PSP.

The big question is what relation, if any, does this device, which Sony has denied even exists, have to the also under development and rumored PlayStation Portable 2, which should also be arriving at some point in 2011.

Could it be that Sony and Sony Ericsson, two different companies, are working together to deliver a product which can conquer both the mobile and the telephone market, pulling together resources but also risking to design a device that cannot appeal enough to either target crowd?

Or is the PSP Phone just a belated attempt to capture the same market which the iPhone and its App Store currently lord over, delivering a big enough number of games to make sure that those who like to game on the go have where to choose from?

It seems pretty clear, from statements made by video game developer, that the PSP 2 is an entirely separate device which packs more of a punch that the rumored PSP Phone.

But if that is the matter then Sony might actually be better off by launching the PSP 2, seeing how it does and then adding the telephone parts to it, rather than releasing this Engadged revealed device, which seems destined to go the way of the PSP Go (around 1,000 units sold weekly in Japan).