The rumors about the Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone with Android 2.3 Gingerbread have steadily been flowing out and the latest ones pegs the release date in March 2011.
According to ITProPortal, the PlayStation Phone will launch in March after being officially debuted in February at the Mobile World Congress show. This does seem to make some sense, as that trade show would be a nice coming-out party for this gaming device.
There are still plenty of unknowns about this device but it’s clear this is a real device. The PlayStation Phone is expected to have a 3.7-inch WVGA screen, 1 GHz processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a slide-out gamepad.
A leaked video shows that there will be a PlayStation icon on this device and this would presumably lead to Sony’s online service to download custom games. The handset will also likely be able to download other games and apps from the Android Market too.
The PlayStation Phone could be a major shot in the arm for Sony Ericsson, which has been struggling lately. This would likely be its flagship handset for a while and it could attract many of the gamers who have been downloading iPhone games like Rage HD but long for some real gaming controls.
Digging through the Android 2.3 Gingerbread SDK also shows some signs that the platform is gearing up to be a gaming beast, as it includes gaming controls which fit nicely with a PlayStation Phone. This could make the little, green robot a much more attractive platform for game developers.
There are still some questions about what the future of the PlayStation Phone means for Sony and its mobile gaming ambitions? Can we look forward to a new one every year or so in order to keep up with the smartphone competition or will it try and milk this single device years and years like it did with the PSP?
We’ll find out shortly enough.
[Via ITProPortal]