Sony to turn PSP into iPhone killer?
New patents filed point to force feedback touchscreen-based technology

Forget the DS, Sony appears more interested in outsmarting the iPhone with its future hardware creations. A couple of newly filed US patent applications suggest the company is exploring the possibility of advanced touchscreen-based technology, reports EETimes.com.
One of the patents is based around a handheld touch-enabled device that accepts both direct and gesture-based inputs, while also employing 'tactile pixels' – essentially a form of physical feedback that would see areas of the display 'lift' to simulate button presses.
Potential uses listed in the patent for tactile pixels as an alternative control method include a handheld, mobile, portable media player and email-based devices.
The other patent, under the name of former Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil 'Mr PlayStation' Harrison, details a force feedback-based screen in the form of providing a "mechanical output" to the user. This wouldn't be limited to a single screen and potential applications listed include "a gaming device, a phone, a portable media player, an email device, web browser device, or navigation device".
That the next version of the PSP is to feature touchscreen-based input is hardly the revelation of the decade. It's almost a given, along with other technologies such as motion-sensing. Nevertheless, these patents – while not quite in Star Trek territory – do point to a stage beyond what is currently doing the rounds in commercially available electronic consumer goods. Clearly that's normally the case with patents, but the potential hinted at here in terms of gaming – whether PSP- or mobile-based – is certainly interesting.