Rumors are circulating that Sony is planning to develop a combo gaming and cell phone device. Japanese Business daily Nikkei reported that Sony is putting together skunkworks team to develop this gadget that will marry the PlayStation Portable gaming consoles with the Sony-Ericsson mobile phone handsets.

O RLY? Can Sony take on the iPhone? Neither their Walkman or Sony Ericsson phones do that well at all in the US market. Personally, I’d like to see more Ericsson phones in the US market, I’ve had an Ericsson phone and I was really happy with it. But the general attitude towards Ericssons are “meh” at best. What could help this phone is if it gets the same all access to the PlayStation gaming network like their other handheld gaming systems. They also have to go up against the big wall of iTunes.

However, this isn’t the first time that Sony’s had designs on this kind of hybrid device. From Businessweek:

“Rumors that Sony was working on a PlayStation cell phone first cropped up two years ago when Sony’s engineers filed a patent describing such a gizmo. The Internet rumor mill went into overdrive again in April, after Kazuo Hirai, who had led Sony’s video game division, was named as the head of a broader portfolio of networked products and services. The PlayStation Network is Sony’s biggest success story in online services. Under Hirai, the PlayStation group has rolled out online downloads of music, movies, TV shows, games and created a content platform for developers to create applications and games, sell videos, and post trailers and sneak previews. It’s clearly the model that Sony wants other divisions to emulate.”

With some phones such as the LG Versa trying to capture the gamers with it’s gamepad module, we see that companies are hoping to catch gamers’ attention.

[via businessweek]

Sony Ericsson adds Yari and Aino to its multimedia line

I’m generally not a fan of Sony Products, but the Ericsson stuff is so sexxy. Check on these two mulitmedia devices that are coming out …somewhere else other than the States – from Engadget mobile:

he Yari slider (pictured left) is being billed as a gaming device, featuring gesture-controlled actions in the same vein as the Wii (and for the record, that’s Sony Ericsson’s comparison as much as it is ours). It features a 2.4-inch display, GPS, and support for the company’s PlayNow services; it’ll be available in the fourth quarter for about €400 ($558) unlocked. Next up, the Aino takes some cues from the Satio with a relatively large 3-inch touchscreen — but also tosses in a numeric slider for good measure. It’s got an 8.1 megapixel cam, Sony Remote Play support, GPS, HSPA, and a scratch-resistant mineral glass display; it’ll be ready to rock in the same timeframe as the Yari in black and white, though we don’t have pricing stats just yet — needless to say, it’ll be more than the Yari.

Happy Earth Day. There’s lots going on, especially in Canada – Best Buy has pretty phat trade in incentives to get you to e-cycle your electronics and get new gear! These are in-store only, obviously – as it is a trade in deal. So if you are in the Canada, you get some lucky breaks.
US Best Buys have some recycling services, Energy Star rated appliances, and tech-trade in options here.

Here are the Deets for the Best Buy Canada trade-in deals:

Trade in your old tube tv and get $300 off a Panasonic 46″ 1080p plasma tv, or $50 off any 40″ or larger Sony flat panel HDTV.

Trade in your old laptop for $50 off a Toshiba laptop.

Trade in your old VCR, DVD player or portable DVD player and get $25 off Samsung 1600 Blu-Ray or Toshiba 7″ Portable DVD player.

Trade in your old camera or camcorder for these Canon incentives:
$30 off purchase under $298
$50 off purchase $299-$599
$100 off purchase over $599

Trade in your old mobile phone and get $25 off a new handset, or $25 towards accessories if you choose a free phone. Read the terms and conditions here.

Trade in your old MP3 player for $50 off a 16GB Zune.

Trade in your old remote – I know you have a million of them lying around – and get $50 off a rechargeable Harmony remote.

Trade in your old AM/FM radio and get $60 off a Sirius Sportster satellite radio receiver. LizMoney loves her some Sirius programming!

Bring in your old digital picture frame, 5″ or bigger, and get $25 off any new Samsung Digiframe. (no cracked frames are eligible for trade in though)

Bring in your home phone and get $30 off a Panasonic multi-handset cordless phone.

Deets from Best Buy here. They are running this till the 23rd.

So celebrate Earth Day – Reuse, Recycle, Re-stimulate the Economy.