Sony Ericsson filed a new mobile phone patent on May 31st 2007 that looks a suspicious lot like the PSP, could this be the rumored “PSP mobile phone“?
The patent describes a cellphone device with a rotating display which switches into landscape mode automatically for gaming. The keys underneath the display change automatically from numeric keys into game controls when the screen is moved.
Sony Ericsson is already using Sony’s Walkman and Cyber-shot brands for its music and camera-based handsets, so using the PSP brand for a gaming mobile could be their next step to giving users more options.
CVG mentions this would put Sony Ericsson in direct competition with the the so-far unsuccessful Nokia N-Gage platform, which is about to be re-launched for Nokia S60 smartphones.
Update: Late August 2007 Sony Ericsson’s gaming boss, Peter Ahnegard, confirmed that a PlayStation-branded gaming phone would be coming by Christmas this or next year.