Long-rumoured, not so long ago quashed, and now resurfacing: the idea that Sony will make a PlayStation-branded phone to compete with the likes of Apple's game-friendly iPhone and a growing slate of Android, Palm and Nokia phones getting more gaming action thanks to convenient and relatively low-cost mobile application stores. A report from Japan's Nikkei Daily indicates Sony is once again serious about the project, with plans to assemble a team in July and generate a PSP phone jointly with the Sony Ericsson mobile division.

In some ways it's inevitable — Sony can't really afford to sit on the sidelines as Apple and, to a lesser extent other mobile platforms, start to eat some of it and rival Nintendo's portable gaming industry lunch. In true Sony tradition they've priced the new PSP Go too high and will likely suffer in the marketplace with that device, so to come out with a blazing new mobile gaming success they'll need to work quickly and listen to sense and reason regarding pricing.

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