Sony assembling PSP phone team - Report

Japanese daily Nikkei says product-development team from gaming, mobile phone arms of electronics firm may begin work on new device as early as July.

In early 2008, Sony Computer Entertainment announced a deal with voice-over-IP service provider Skype that would introduce a mobile-phone component to all models of the PSP past its original iteration. The move by and large quelled rampant speculation that Sony was prepping a redesign of the handheld that would include native mobile-phone functionality.

No sidetalkin' for the PSP Go.

This weekend, though, saw a resurgence of that speculation. On Saturday, Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported that Sony plans to assemble a product-development team tasked with combining the PSP's game-playing functionality with Sony Ericsson's mobile phone technology, Reuters reports. According to the report, the development team may be assembled as early as July.

Nikkei notes that Sony's move is an attempt by the electronics giant to better compete against Apple's increasingly ubiquitous iPhone. According to marketing analytics site Mob Clix, the iPhone's App Store currently offers more than 50,000 applications, 12,000 of which fall into the gaming category. The iPhone's App Store also enjoys support from high-profile publishers hailing form both the East and West, ranging from Electronic Arts to Square Enix.

As part of its 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, Sony unveiled the PSP Go, which is due for release on October 1. Taking on mobile-phone-like proportions, the device is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the current PSP-3000, and it packs a sliding screen, 16GB of flash memory, and integrated Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth and Memory Stick Micro support.

Last week, the publisher confirmed that one reason for lowering the cost of the PSP development toolset by 80 percent--a move announced during E3--was to attract a wider range of potential developers. "The goal with that is to enable all sorts of developers to be able to develop content for the PSP," a Sony representative told GameSpot sister site CNET. "It will mostly be games, but there's certainly an opportunity to look at some non-gaming applications."

106 Comments

  • neoand12

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 2:17 pm PT

    @cloud_ix_26

    I agree its dumb that they just don't add a damn Simcard slot for the PSPgo how damn hard can it be. what on go green earth is stopping them in the first place. Then Sony is so uptight why not make the PSP go set its GFX chips with Nvidas new mobile chip that's coming out? but you know what Sony won't go alone with this plan they will fail. its going to be nothing but a Sony Ericsson with more 3D power and still will not have the right mobile support with those cheap ass java games. I have a PSP and a iPhone 3G and guess what the NFS: undercover is better then the one for PSP which is shocking and damn even the iphone/ipod touch have support from ID software where the PSP doesn't. I'm sorry but I can't take anymore of Sony stupidity.

  • wahyudil

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 5:55 am PT

    hmmm .... I would rather buy iPhone for Handphone and DS for game .... PSP is half game, half MP3 player ... and now half HP

  • BooBakerBrown

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:16 pm PT

    You stamp a PSP with the Sony/Erickson logo the only people that buy it are the PS faithful. Check out how Nintendo marketed the Wii. Then, look @ how Sony marketed both the PS3 & PSP. Nintendo didn't alienate anyone. It was all inclusive. Not Sony! Then, the price point was so high, no one wanted to buy the PS3. Relevance? Same can be said about the new PSPGo. $250 for 16gb of internal memory... Sliding portable game system. Think of how much a CELL PHONE that does the exact same thing would cost. Sony has even gone on record saying the higher price for the PSPGo was set for those "early adopters." Translation: All those tech freak sheep who can't wait 6 months for the price to depreciate because the "new smell" has worn off. It's the same complaint that 1st Gen iPhone buyers have with the new 3rd Gen iPhone. "I paid $600 for my 8gb phone, now you can get a new one with 3x's the memory capacity for half the price. Or, "I just bought my 16gb 2nd Gen iPhone for the same price as the new 32gb 3rd Gen. How about this arguement? I paid $600 for my 8gn 1st Gen iPhone but, you can get an 8gb 2nd Gen iPhone for less than $100 bucks. With only 2 full years under their belt as cell phone makers, Apple can get away with it. With nearly 15 years in the video game console market & Sony's recent shaky history... I don't think they can. dannyatkinson got it right with what he wrote. Sony's vision is not the consumer's vision. FYI... I own 3 PSPs, 3 PS2s, 2 PS1s, a PS3, & 3 Sony t.v.'s. Not to mention a plethora of other Sony products. I'm a Sony fanboy but, They have they're heads up their aspercreme

  • BooBakerBrown

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:16 pm PT

    @ fiskefyren

    Oh Contrare! Innovating is not the issue @ hand. Jump the bandwagon is or being a "Johnny Come Lately" is. As well as your product creating a sink-hole. It's not evolution by creating a device that's doomed to fail. That's de-evolution. De-evolving from #1 to #3 in a 3 horse race & steadily on the decline. So now, there's talk that the PS3 Slim will be dropping in July or "in production." That makes sense... They did it with both the PS1 & PS2. Having a fourth PSP in as many years doesn't. It would make more sense for Sony Erickson to develope a phone that plays games than to develope a PSP that plays games. Symantics, yes, I know. Cell phones are already capable of playing games, albeit, flashbased. But, games none-the-less. & who do you market a Gaming device that makes phone calls? The 14-34 year old males? You don't create a game system that makes calls, you develope a phone that plays games. It's more cost affordable for both developer & consumer. & it will appeal to a broader audience especially with the success of Apple's iPhone & App store. You brand a Sony/Erickson cell phone with the PS logo you just opened the market up to other demographics & age groups.

  • dannyatkinson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:25 am PT

    What is it with Sony. They will give us everything in the world EXCEPT WHAT WE WANT.
    Everyone knows that what we want is a second analog stick and better / more games.
    My My. Whatever happened to Sony.
    They just don't care what their gamers want at all.

  • ibuystuffny

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:16 am PT

    The one feature that would absolutely sell me: SIM CARD SLOT!

  • leeko_link

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:00 pm PT

    Wow the PSP Go! (2009) haven't even arrive on store shelves yet and Sony is already beefing on the next PSP upgrade (as a cellphone in 2010). So what next after that, a PSP alarm clock in 2011, a PSP compass in 2012, a PSP calculator in 2013, etc.?

  • cloud_ix_26

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:53 pm PT

    why even make the psp go just go straight to the go phone.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:41 pm PT

    This might be a good idea the iphone and N-Gage were nothing more then phones but with a few things added to make them play games but we already know that the PSP is a good game console so if it works like a phone but youd have to use a head set.

  • fiskefyren

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 1:06 pm PT

    @ mjc0961
    what are you talking about?
    have you forgotten about their ingenius n-gage? xD

    @ NBA_Jammer
    trying out new stuff is good, so quit whining about it.
    but yes, it will be harder to make right, but not impossible.

    @ BooBakerBrown
    poor unknowning child, you know in a market where nothing change is a market going down hill, its like human evolution, if you never change you hit a dead end and when that dead end is hitten you will slowly perish.
    as they say, the weak will perish and so will the ones afried of the new.
    while on the other hand "the new" could mean the end of the world... oh well, we had to try it out... maybe someone could learn something from it... or not... as the world died while we tried xD

  • svaubel

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:21 am PT

    I already have a PSP, and already have a cell phone.... Why do I need to buy something that combines both, and probably wont be as good as either or both separately.

  • axtenren

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:53 am PT

    Yahoo! PSP sub-par cellphone. I'm waiting for this. Pleae make it as an open line (no contracts), sim card ready, support GSM any bandwindth. scenario: playing gamess....ring, ring,ring.....pause game.....hello?....nice!
    OR playing game while talking in a phone with bluetooth headset. sweet!

  • dreadnought666

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:23 am PT

    @Nugtoka

    does the world really need another crappy Nugtoka post?

    *fixed

    What crappy hardware devices has Sony ever produced? Please idulge me.

  • mpchitown

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:01 am PT

    I have bought and sold my psp twice, once because I was broke and needed the money and again because I wasn't really using it. Swore I would never by another one, but I can honestly say that I am having second thoughts. I think it looks cool and like the dropping of the umd and the ability to download games directly to the unit.

  • PStringa

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:35 am PT

    This sounds sooooo coool!

  • BtmnHatesRbn

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:35 am PT

    Oh, for the record, you uninformed morons better get with the facts: Apple's iPhone is #1, everybody else is a distant second. And Apple's iPhone is also #1 is software sales for a phone, be it apps or games. Why else are all of the companies like EA and such at the conventions and promoting the iPhone version of the games.

    Sorry, I forgot this GameSpot, which is like Wikipedia: an Internet bathroom stall.

  • falloutguy318

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:34 am PT

    I hope the service will not cost as much as the IPHONE

  • BtmnHatesRbn

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:33 am PT

    Too little too late. That's $ony in the 21st century.

  • Battlehead90

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:09 am PT

    please add a phone and i will say good bye to my iphone

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:04 am PT

    As I thought. An iPhone clone.

  • mjc0961

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:44 am PT

    Oh goodie. First Apple tries and fails miserable to make their sub-par phone function as a gaming machine. Now Sony wants to fail at making their gaming machine into a sub-par phone?

    Enough already. Phones are phones, game systems are game systems. The two don't mix, right Nokia?

  • Nugtoka posted Jun 30, 2009 8:40 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Nugtoka

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:40 am PT (hide)

    does the world really need another crappy Sony device?

  • onthe_dl

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:31 am PT

    terrible idea. blackberry owns the phone business along with apple in near 2nd. you're looking at a 16-25 year old target market when talking psp. good luck getting this age group to buy this product over the now affordable iphone or blackberry.

    anyone older with disposable income won't want to look like a goof with a gaming system as a phone.

  • zaiwen

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:05 am PT

    PlayStation Cybershot Phone featuring PS apps

  • jakass13

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:00 am PT

    use verizon

  • jakass13

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:59 am PT

    They should add a camera

  • Burning_Typhoon

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:54 am PT

    I think the only thing they should have to worry about it battery life. They need to have the ultimate battery in that thing, and have it charge on it's own like that one phone does (it takes energy from the air, or something like that, I don't remember how it does it).

  • NBA_Jammer

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:20 am PT

    iPhone-wannabe?

    As admirable as Sony is, this is an upward climb. Transitioning from gaming into phones is much more difficult than phones into gaming.

    People buy the iPhone for a number of reasons, and games are an added perk. No one buys an iPhone to play its games!

    On the otherhand with a PSP, gaming is top priority. To say it may have some issues with the phone capabilities at release is an understatement. Not to say that the phone won't be good, it's just that they're going to have to focus on both the phone and gaming instead of just focusing on the gaming. As it is now, I'm sure someone just hits pause when someone calls and just answers their cell phone.

    I think they really should just focus on the gaming, but what do I know? Good luck with this!

  • Scryer999

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:17 am PT

    HA HA HA! dont beat around the bush, cuz we all know how gaming phones turn out. You look ridiculous when using them out in public and they are ridiculously priced

  • Elite_Baller

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:00 am PT

    It would also be a real iPhone killer if we didn't have to pay for a damn 30$ data package!

  • Elite_Baller

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:58 am PT

    psp mobile phone? cool. I think it would be cool if it was avaliable for all phone service providers! (At&T, Verizion, Sprint, metro pcs etc.)

  • BooBakerBrown

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:54 am PT

    Let it go Sony. I'm not a Sony hater. But, they need to stick with what they know & stop this infernal cross-divisional pairings. Let the Sony Erickson people do the phones & SCE do the video games. Nokia tried it with the Nokia NGage & look where it got them. There was talk about this 5 or 6 years ago when the original PSP was being developed. Should have done it then Sony. Not after the iPhone has locked it down for the past couple of years. Sony will charge $300+ for the system & then charge a further $40+ dollars for the games. Then they'll try to introduce different SKUs with different on board memory for different prices. In a feeble attempt to have tiered pricing. They'll lose $100 on every unit they sell in the hopes that software sells will make up the difference (ala PS3). Sony need to stick with the games right now. Making games that will move more PSPs & PS3s. They have too many eggs in their basket & need to focus more on the now & not the later. Besides that, Sony has a Hannah Montanah Lilac PSP-3000 coming out in August & then they're dropping the PSPGo in October. Stupid... Just Stupid. Who, in their right mind (tween girls not included) are going to buy the older model when they can get the new one for $50 more two months later (unless they're just a big fan of lilac)? Get a grip Sony & stop f'ing everything up!

  • Fusion_Master

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:26 am PT

    the psp go is a terrible idea. the massive redesign does nothing for the fact the handheld is less successful than the ds... and they left out the umd slot? if anything they should have left it dead in the water and brought out a new piece of hardware by which i mean a psp2... to correct the errors (... one analog stick?)

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:14 am PT

    steve jobs is taking over the world

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:13 am PT

    nearly everyone i know owns a Sony Ericsson's

  • player_leo

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:49 am PT

    Sony listen to fans, thats a good one. Maybe they need to leave the handheld business. If they are talking about a PSP phone, who would want to buy the over-priced PSP GO? Sony is flailing in the water.

  • gamekingsz

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:36 am PT

    and its launching 28th september

  • gamekingsz

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:35 am PT

    for you ppl who don't know nothing about the psp phone the psp phone name is Sony Ericsson Aino its anounced 29 may in uk and its a slide phone and touch so its multi it has a 3 inch screen more info check on google *sony ericsson aino* many thanks but the team of sony ericsson

  • robinkurosaki

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:27 am PT

    personally out of this whole article the bit i like most is 'lowering the cost of the PSP development toolset by 80 percent' that would explain why there is now a constant flow of games coming and hopefully far more too.

    personally i dont think sony should bother to compete with the iphone, afterall the iphone is just a gimmick, serious gamers play games on a psp not a useless touchscreen

  • ottumatic

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:23 am PT

    Oh god please focus on your PSP and PS3 first! And iPhone is rubbish for anything else other than self entertainment; I get more things done with HTC diamond.

  • kemar7856

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:43 am PT

    maybe be a good decision lets wait and see if they actually will have phone features unlike the iphone

  • ninjarat

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:33 am PT

    Nice one sony!

  • Excedra

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:01 am PT

    second best news i heard all year

  • robbieeeeee

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:00 am PT

    iPhone killer?

  • PSGamerforlife

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:44 am PT

    Would like.

  • AlphaCommando

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:35 am PT

    Do want.

  • BloodEagle2142

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:29 am PT

    No offense to Sony but if their actual intentions are truly to overtake Apple and the iPhone on a competitive front it would probably be best if that's what they actual did...just make a phone to compete with it and leave it to updating it and improving not taking a hand held system and making it a phone and a gaming system. Maybe that's just me and others want this, kudos to you guys!

  • residude

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:20 am PT

    @CharlierFubar, hes not saying it sucked, just that it flopped in terms of sales which is true.

    In terms of this article again I think Sony are making a mistake, they are trying to take on too much, how about concentrating on what you have atm Sony. I love the PSP, but I can admit it has sold terribly, mainly because Sony have not backed it at all. There needs to be regular games being released, I think the last decent game released was Resistance Retribution. Sony should also listen to fans, all we wanted was a second thumb stick, but instead they create that travesty... Ah well as much as I love my PS3 and PSP, I feel Sony will only learn of their mistakes when they are approaching bankruptcy.

  • krelmmaster posted Jun 30, 2009 1:23 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    krelmmaster

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 1:23 am PT (hide)

    You are a bit late Sony. If you think you have any chance whatsoever of the PSP competing with the iPhone, well, take a look at your PS3 vs 360/Wii, PSP vs DS. All Sony can do is copy other ideas and come out with their own watered down, ridiculously overpriced version of their own, a year too late. Sony you fail once more. Please go bankrupt and disappear. Thank you.

  • CharlieFubar

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 1:18 am PT

    and screw a phone... why cant we get AIM or ICQ or some crap on your handheld gaming device... that would make more sence anyway.... since talking while playing a game is pretty annoying imo...

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