Is the Sony Ericsson PSP phone back on the hook?

It’s not long since Sony drew a line under the rumours of a PSP phone, via its partnership with Swedish mobile manufacturer Ericsson.

So when news that the PSP2 (or the PSP Go!, as its title has been suggested) should be with us by Christmas, the rather delicious idea that a smartphone that leveraged the gaming power of the PSP could come along was pretty much put to bed.

Now, speaking to the Financial Times, Sony Ericsson president Kideki Komiyama has once again struck a flint of hope against the stone of rumour, when he said a PlayStation mobile “could happen”.

Actually, it probably couldn’t, so we’re not going to get too excited, though Komiyama was a careful choice for the head of Sony Ericsson due to his reputation for being able to turn a struggling business around, so his words carry weight.

Part of his underyling strategy for dragging Sony Ericsson out of the hole it’s dug itself into these last few years is making it a contender in the smartphone market – an increasingly vital aspect any modern mobile manufacturer must now address.

And its Idou handset does look amazing.

Still Komiyama's interest in leveraging Sony’s strength in gaming is well known, so hopefully his latest slip will soon prove to be true. After all, if Sony switches its gaming distribution toward a digital download service as is expected, there’s no reason at all that a variety of devices couldn’t access that particular gaming catalogue.