Before Phil Harrison left Sony to work for Atari, he cleaned out his desk. But before that, he was inventing stuff. What kind of stuff? Futuristic stuff. A new Sony patent has surfaced for a handheld gizmo that features a touchscreen and "pressure pads" running around its edges. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, it's a "handheld device with touchscreen and digital tactile pixels" that can also be used to control the touchscreen. There's no specific mention of the PlayStation Portable, but the patent does mention potential uses in phones, gaming devices and portable media players. What's more, it does sound suspiciously like what we heard last year about the rumored PSP2... Hit the jump for images of the patent.
Screw cloning Harrison, if only we could patent or trademark that shiny noggin of his! Then we'd own him. Phil Harrison®, All Rights Reserved.
HAND-HELD WITH TOUCHSCREEN [US Patent & Trademark Office via Register Hardware]