We’re not sure who found it first, but a patent has been issued in the US in the dying days of last month numbered 20070123309, which highlights just how Sony might allow the PlayStation Portable to become a cellular handset.
The news is all over gadget sites this week and is accompanied by the drawings below. In essence it is a simple way to rotate the insides of a handset so that it resembles a PSP, and can then be used as a portable handheld console.
The patent talks a lot about a case and a second case, and a rotary support mechanism. The ideas is to move certain keys to the sides just like a PSP, for that familiar game play feel. The patent was filed in November 2005 in Japan by Sony Ericsson, and has just been granted in the US, and it doesn’t mean that such a device has been, or ever will be, built
For our money the PSP is better extended into a handset using a portable speaking kit. And anyway, the deal between Sony and British Telecom last week, more or less positions the PSP as a VoIP handset, without any physical changes.