Coming Soon – PSP Phone?

With the iPhone now in its third generation, the rest of the cell phone industry is struggling to introduce a first-generation phone that can compete with the supreme awesomeness of the Apple’s touchscreen dream.

Fresh off the rumor mill is a revived speculation of Sony’s interest in making a PSP phone. News from the Japanese newspaper Nikkei (as translated and re-reported by Reuters) indicates that Sony is forming a dedicated team to develop a “cell phone-game gear hybrid.”

Finally, a cell phone with early-90s SEGA Game Gear technology!

No, scratch that. More likely, the team will be playing around with the more CURRENT (and relevant) in-house technology of the Sony PSP. According to reports, the team could be assembled and working on the new phone as early as July.

If you’re excited about the prospect of a PSP phone, don’t hold your breath (or do, what do I care). Rumors about a PSP phone have been circling for the past couple of years (as early as 2007). And recently, Sony purportedly refused to offer up the rights of the PlayStation brand to the Sony Ericsson arm of the company.

Still, Sony has expressed concern over Apple’s growing monopoly in the industry of next-generation phones. And as game companies begin designing games specifically for the Apple iPhone, many are worried that handheld gaming consoles could soon be a thing of the past. If such is the case, then Sony certainly needs to get off their asses and start playing catch up. A PSP phone could be the way to do it.

To see what a PSP phone might look like check out the gallery below: