Rumor: Sony developing PSP phone to challenge iPhone

"....gather up the marketing and engineering teams that developed the PSP Go, march them into an auditorium, and fire them all. "

More often that not, I am shocked at the callousness and casualness with which suggestions are made about "firing" people. These are real people with real families. Don't treat them like s*** like some corporates do!

Sony has dropped the ball in consumer electronics some time ago. The first taste of this for me personally was the lack of quality control some years ago, and it been down hill from there. And all their propriety formats and products didn't go down well with the people. Their top of the line stuff is still good though, but out of the reach for the average consumer. They can turn it around, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

now Sony will try to Ocean of Phone by PSP. Funny or Die ??? Oh Xcite
http://allappleipadtablet.blogspot.com

Even without two thumb sticks, the PSP still trounces the iPhone playing non-casual games. There's no way that software buttons can replace hardware ones. I have yet to see a implementation of a gamers' game on the iPhone; the ports of ancient gaming titles is hindered by lack of real buttons.

Sony has also upgraded their hardware for free, unlike Apple which charges for iPod Touch updates.

Piracy is rampant on the DS, more so than on the PSP. The best games on DS (most of the real games) are made by Nintendo. Sony has made available digital PSP games available before the PSP go; you're also able to download many PS1 Games, playable on both PSP and PS3.

Challenge the iPhone? Heck, Sony Ericsson cannot even release the X10 on time (with older Android to boot). Sounds like Sony has no vision whatsoever, just blindly mishmashing things together.

Hey!!! Don't be crapping on Sony, the PSP can PLAY games, good games.

Oh and it has flash player. XD

@Granger

Hey, don't get me wrong. I've got a PS3 sitting in my living room, and I love the thing. But ever since '06, Sony's taken every opportunity possible to shoot themselves in their own feet. They're standing on about one or two toes by now, which is a far cry from the industry dominance they enjoyed in the late 90s - early 00s.

"Personally, I'd love it if Sony could earn back a bit of the gaming credibility that they've lost over the past four years."

Wait, what? When did they lose gaming credibility? Your mention of the PSPgo's failure in the article is one thing, but over the past four years . . . c'mon, don't be like that . . .

The PSP is a case study in how not to build a portable device.

- Not only did it lack internal storage, expandable storage was provided by a less common, expensive, proprietary card format.
- Games and films for the device came on a proprietary disc format that increased load times while reducing battery life.
- The included web browser was clunky to use and had compatibility issues all over the place.
- No matter what Sony do, the piracy and homebrew scene continues to break the device wide open, no doubt putting off publishers.
- When they finally made a push to digital downloads with the PSPgo, they massively overpriced the device, and to date the software support is appalling. Major titles are delayed or still not available at all.

For these reasons and more, the device was useless against its competition in every category - the iPod and other MP3 players had the internal storage for photos, music and video; the DS had better battery life, minimal load times and better software support; and today's mobile phones are trouncing it in every department.

This is what happens when you own movie companies, music companies, and several other divisions that all have to have their say in a device. It was designed around what they wanted to sell and not how users would use the thing. The PS3 has similar problems to some extent - it is essentially a trojan horse for their Blu Ray format and the Cell chip that they hoped everyone would be putting in consumer electronics by now.

Not particularly, no. If they can make a PSP phone that doesn't suck, more power to them. Personally, I'd love it if Sony could earn back a bit of the gaming credibility that they've lost over the past four years.