Sony Ericsson confirms PlayStation phone
Ready to Play?
Sony Ericsson has confirmed the imminent launch of the Xperia Play, promising a full revelation set for 13 February, just ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC).
The Sony Ericsson Facebook page, states "Android is ready to play" and shows a familiar image of the PlayStation phone, along with that eerie commercial we were acquainted with last week.
The all-important PlayStation Certification stamp is present too, which verifies what we all knew already: the Xperia Play is not only a phone, but a games console too, almost certainly tapping into the PlayStation Suite gaming platform for Android that Sony announced last month.
Anyone watching the Superbowl last night will have also seen the news after it broadcast the one-minute advert, in a slot that is believed to have cost Sony Ericsson $6m to snag.
The company says the launch event can be seen through Facebook, and anyone interested should tune in this Sunday at 6pm GMT to "witness a new era in the world of smartphones", apparently. ®
COMMENTS
One wonders if..
6 months after launch... they decide to stop supporting it! Just like the Vivaz and Xperia X10!!!
If only...
I wasn't just 8 months into my 2 year bloody phone contract. Whatever happened to the 12 month contracts of yesteryear?
<sigh>
Not quite
Amazon's reader app (Kindle) hasn't been bounced from the App store - it's still there.
What has happened is that Apple have decided they want all apps to allow content purchase from within the app (thereby giving Apple a cut) if they also allow purchases outside the app store - which is what the Amazon approach is at the moment.
From a user experience perspective this makes perfect sense, and from an Apple point of view ($$$) it's a complete no-brainer, but it remains to be seen what Amazon will do - will they let Apple get a cut of their sales, or will they call Apple's bluff?
It's more than just a PlayStation phone, it's PlayStation Suite.
The thing is that this announcement is way more significant than just a new phone. Sony announced PlayStation suite that means that any android device that meets the minimum specification to run PlayStation Site will be able to play PS1 games and any new ones created within the PlayStation Suite framework.
Considering the crap and disorganized way in which gaming is handled on the Android market place, I think this is a stroke of genius. Sony goes multi-playform (intentional typo) and extends the PlayStation brand. So your Galaxy may well be able to participate in all of this. Certainly most new Android phones will. Though the Sony one has the advantage of the physical controls.
What's going to be interesting is Apple. Apple recently bounced Sony and Amazon's e-book readers from the App store because both Amazon and Sony wanted to sell content directly to users of their application. the way I understand PlayStation Suite is that you have an account (PlayStation Network no doubt) and can purchase PSS content through that, not the Android market place. So if PlayStation Suite(PSS) was going to the iPhones and/or iPads, Apple will have to give ground. Don't anyone hold their breath on that one. Sony are more likely to restore OtherOS functionality in the PS3 than Apple are to backtrack.
uhhmmmm....
Difficult. I somewhat married to the iPhone although must be said like the idea of this phone.
I know its Apple and Sony, but I cant help myself, I like their stuff......
@bunker - I suspect Sony going to try hard on this one. Its going to be a survival move getting the PSP on phones due to the drop in sales both Sony and Ninetendo have recently experienced.
