PSP2, PSP Phone Speculation Mounts Ahead Of Sony Event

Many industry watchers in game development and the international business press expect that Sony will announce a successor to its PSP handheld at an upcoming January 27 press event. Bloomberg is the latest publication to report on the anticipated "PSP2" announcement, citing inside sources to add that the updated handheld will be unveiled simultaneously to an equally buzzed-about -- and equally unconfirmed -- gaming-ready Ericsson phone. According to the report, Sony's expected to map out its portable entertainment strategy, incorporating numerous portable and home devices as access points. The company has long aimed to position itself as a leader in the living room, through TV and media equipment and its PlayStation 3, oriented toward multimedia perhaps before the market expected or sought such functionality from a gaming console. Now, however, investors and industry watchers are waiting to see how Sony, whose PSP has increasingly fallen behind in the rapidly-evolving portable market, addresses an environment increasingly dominated by smartphones, downloadable app markets and touchscreen interfaces. The theoretical PSP2 looks like it may incorporate both button and touch inputs, as implied by comments from PlayStation business head Kaz Hirai who suggested a combination of both would be ideal for a portable game system. Sony hasn't commented on any speculation surrounding its mobile strategy or its upcoming Tokyo press event.