Sony Ericsson shows off PlayStation phone in Super Bowl ad

Sony Ericsson finally confirmed the pending release of its much-rumored PlayStation gaming smartphone, airing a television advertisement spotlighting the device during Sunday's Super Bowl XLV broadcast. Officially dubbed the Xperia Play and running Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android mobile operating system, the device integrates a slide-out game controller--according to the ad voiceover, it is "The smartphone with everything you need and the one thing you want." Sony Ericsson's Facebook page states the firm will officially unveil the Xperia Play on Feb. 13.

Late last month, Sony Ericsson parent Sony Computer Entertainment introduced PlayStation Suite, an initiative bringing PlayStation gaming experiences to Android devices. Citing the rapid growth of consumers playing videogames on smartphones and tablet units, Sony said it will introduce Android 2.3-optimized editions of signature PlayStation properties throughout 2011, beginning with titles dating back to the 1994 release of the PS1 console--Sony said it will make PlayStation Store content directly available to Android devices, but did not supply additional marketing and distribution details.

In tandem with the PlayStation Suite launch, Sony will provide a new game development environment to accelerate the creation of new PS Suite content, promising programmers and publishers opportunities to further expand their efforts across a host of portable devices. In addition, Sony will roll out a PlayStation Certified license program for hardware manufacturers, promising software development support and logo licensing to guarantee quality gameplay experiences across the Android device ecosystem.

Sony's current console, PlayStation 3, has sold over 41.6 million units worldwide as of September 2010--sales of its handheld counterpart the PlayStation Portable topped 60 million units worldwide in March 2010.

For more:
- watch the ad
- read this Wall Street Journal article

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