Sony Ericsson has confirmed the existence and impending announcement of the Xperia Play, a device that looks like a cross between a portable gaming unit like Sony’s PSP and a smartphone.
The company confirmed the phone via a post on its Facebook page and a subsequent television commercial that ran during the Super Bowl. On its Facebook page, Sony Ericsson promises a Feb. 13 announcement, at 18:00 GMT, presumably at next week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), in Barcelona, Spain.
The commercial features a man rushing through an urban setting at night to a hideout, where a green Google Android is awaiting the removal of bandages from its hands. The bandages are removed to reveal that the Android has had thumbs surgically attached to his hands.
The Xperia Play is a slide smartphone that opens to expose a PlayStation game control pad.
Sony recently unveiled its next-generation portable PlayStation device, codenamed NGP, which is embedded with 3G connectivity and will launch later this year. Sony also announced that it is facilitating integration between the NGP and Google’s Android Market.
