If Engadget is anything to go by, then yes, yes it has. The gadget-based website has received a “legit” mockup of the Sony PlayStation Phone and has gone about doing the investigative dirty work in order to detail some of the specifics of the device. Apparently, the PS Phone has been something rumored around the water cooler since August, only this is the first time shots have surfaced. You would think this thing was a god damn unicorn!
Engadget suspects the PlayStation Phone will boast Android 3.0 (also known as Gingerbread) and will support a custom Sony marketplace for purchasing games designed for the platform. The PS Phone is said to have a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 chip (one similar to the T-Mobile G2, only 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and a screen ranging from 3.7 to 4.1 inches. The device sports the patented PlayStation shoulder buttons, but is missing the PSP analog nubs that have no doubt caused countless cases of Carpal Tunnel syndrome. The center of the PlayStation Phone is said to be a touch pad with multi-touch functionality. Finally, the phone does not have a slot for a Memory Stick, but does support microSD cards.
Sony is, of course, denying the legitimacy of this thing up and down. But Engadget was quick to response with an open letter stating their case and why they feel the PlayStation Phone is very much real and what we’re seeing here is very much the early prototype of the device.
“This is a device which has been confirmed through multiple, trusted sources,’ says Engadget in a blog post on their site. “And we’re not just talking good tipsters — some of our information comes from people much more closely connected to the project. Even since last night we’ve received more info about the phone — learning that its codename is ‘Zeus’, and it was last seen running Android 2.X (not 3.0, which we suspect will be the shipping version).
“Prior to last night, we had never seen an actual image of the phone. It should also be obvious that the device pictured in those photos is a prototype running early software (which would explain the A / B button mention in the photo above) with hardware that was likely hand-built, or at the very least created in a very small batch.
“Based on what we've heard about the secrecy of this plan, it makes sense that even Sony's own employees wouldn't be privy to information on the phone, the marketplace, and the collaboration with Google. The alleged Sony response to the device makes that somewhat clear -- reports state that an employee originally told a publication that the images were fake, only to backtrack and deliver the standard corporate line that the company "doesn't respond to rumor and speculation." It's possible that whomever was originally questioned either didn't know of the device's existence, was lying about its existence, or simply had their response taken out of context. And that brings us to our point -- while there will be plenty of speculation on whether or not what we've shown you is real, we would never run the images or the information without a healthy sense that we were bringing you fact, and not fiction.”
Engadget also drives the point home by stating that they were one of the first sites to reveal the iPad, Nexus One, Dell Venue Pro, MacBook Air and iPhone 4, further proving their point that these guys are master gadget gumshoes. So what do you think, is the PlayStation Phone for real, and even more important, do you want one?
