We have been speculating about the possibility of a PSP phone for a while now, mostly because we desperately want one. But given the announcement of Sony's new deal with BT to turn the original hardware into a telecommunications device, our hopes of ever seeing some sort of PSP branded Sony Ericsson had all but faded.

A recently-unearthed patent however seems to indicate that Sony-Ericsson has at the very least been thinking about releasing a more gaming centric phone.

It's unlikely that this device is directly compatible with PSP software, as even though it has clearly been designed with a focus on making mobile games easier to control, it certainly doesn't have the sort of set-up that would accommodate PSP games. Having said that, the rotating screen does bear a remarkable resemblance to the PSP's, and if the device ever does see the light of day it is conceivable that it will be branded with the PSP logo.

As we pointed out in our in-depth PSP phone article linked to above, Sony has converged its other brands with Sony Ericsson mobile handsets before – most notably with the Walkman branded mobiles, but also with the Cybershot branded camera phones and the Japanese-only Bravia branded mobile TV phone.

We're going out on a limb here, but we're thinking that a PSP branded mobile would likely command a development platform of its own. With Sony announcing just yesterday that it's setting up a first-party development initiative for mobile games, we smell a coincidence. Then again, perhaps that's just because we want it so badly. More on this story as soon as we have it.

__________________