Sony has finally done it. They've mated a Sony Ericsson cell phone with a PSP, spawning this... the PlayStation Phone. Don't call it the PSP2, please. That's something else entirely.
Engadget has first pics of the PlayStation Phone prototype, hopefully just its ugly duckling stage, with the gadget blog saying it's "headed into the market soon." As noted in previous reports, the PlayStation Phone is rumored to be based on Google's Android 3.0 platform and sport a "custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform."
The Sony Ericsson phone is also reported to pack in 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and a screen "in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches."
What it doesn't have is an analog nub like the PSP and PSPgo. Instead, it appears that a touch-sensitive track pad on the slide-out controls will replicate the function of the PSP's analog controls. (UMD and Memory Sticks appear to be eliminated as well.)
That touch pad technology sounds similar to the tech featured in the genuine successor the PSP, which we're told has a touch pad on the back of the device as well as dual analog nubs for control. The PSP2, which Sony has not yet officially announced, is said to be due fall 2011.
The PlayStation Phone [Engadget]