Playing the long game
Sony Ericsson has finally confirmed it is planning on releasing a PlayStation-branded handset.
While leaks have lifted the lid on various details of the Xperia Play handset, Sony Ericsson has now unveiled an official picture on its Facebook page.
However, the company has confirmed that as suspected, the full reveal will take place on the first evening of Mobile World Congress and the event, which kicks off at 6pm on 13 February, has the tagline "Android is ready to play".
While Engadget's hands-on with the phone was a good indication that the long-fabled handset was real, the closest Sony Eriksson had come to an official announcement before, was in November when its CEO, Bert Nordberg had reportedly said: "There's a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere. Sony has an extremely strong offering in the gaming market, and that's very interesting."
Sony recently revealed that classic PlayStation games will launch on Android devices later this year, and Sony will also open up access to the PlayStation Store allowing users to download other content directly onto their portables.
Here is an Image and the first official video ad for the Xperia Play.