Despite rampant rumors pointing to a new PlayStation handheld is in the works, Sony remains mum on the matter. At their recent earnings call today in Tokyo, the Japanese electronics giant said that they will only announce a new PSP product “when the timing is right”.

As transcribed by tech site Engadget, a curious insider asked Sony’s executive VP/CFO Masaru Kato "if such a product would come out of Sony or of Sony Ericsson (referring to the leaked PlayStation phone)," the exec simply shrug off the question, instead preferring to tell investors that they “will look into those markets in trying to develop strategy for the future”. Here are the rest of excerpts from Sony's conference call:

"As for the new PSP product, as mentioned, I know that you are not asking me to tell you when we will be coming out with a new product, but there is a gaming market based on [the] cellphones, and there are many changes that are being seen [with] Nintendo, as well as ourselves, in the field of the product for the gamers. And there are smartphones and others or even cellphones gaming markets are very popular here in japan. So the market itself is very... expanding."

"It's not that we are not looking into those markets as well. We will look into those markets in trying to develop strategy for the future. Of course, we can't talk about specific products, but smartphones and tablets... it is difficult to tell you how we can put the games on them, but they are not going to be planned in different parts of our company. When we organized ourselves last April, we introduced network services, and within that umbrella, network services, all of these products are handled. Therefore, the planning and the prototypes for various content [are] all carried out within this... one umbrellas. So we are trying to figure out what we can do as Sony in this market. I think this is as far as I can tell you regarding these products at market."

"There [are] so many different elements. There is Sony Ericsson and there is SCE. They moved from Aoyama, the design and headquarters had to come to Sony City. Of course this contributes to savings on rent on an office... but they are [also] closer to the planning and engineering group of Sony, and I think we can better incorporate all of these capabilities better... so when the timing is right we can probably announce [to] you about the new product that we have."

It's a mind-numbing corporate thing, I know. They're just going to deny until everything brokes loose. Last time we heard, Sony is even "deliberately spreading misinformation about the new device in order to identify where leaks are emerging."

Via [Engadget]

Total_Noob has posted a new update about the progress of his long awaited 6.20 homebrew enabler for the PSP. According to his latest blog post, the project is going along smoothly as planned with almost 92% of homebrews now run using his HEN, including PSPDisp, CSPSP Online, FUSA and LightMp3, among others.

Developer's note:

Now the HEN supports 92% of the homebrews. With the NID Translator (30% done, veeery boring),  I can run homebrews with prx, like: PSPDisp, CSPSP Online, FUSA, LightMp3, PMPPlayer, Go!Tube, PRXDecrypter, Psardumper and etc. Some VLF homebrews crashes, I'll resolve this problem;)

I'll release the HEN before Christmas on PSPGEN.COM, and you can follow all updates there!

P.S. PSPGo isn't arrived yet, it has been delayed :(

Via [Total_Noob's Blog]

http://www.qj.net/qjnet/psp/the-playstation-phone-is-here.html

Yes folks, the long rumored PlayStation Phone has finally landed and we got the first shots of Sony's upcoming Android-powered gaming device, down below.

=> 긴 루머끝에  소니 에릭슨에서 안드로이드를 탑재한 PS폰을 출시했다고 하네요.

According to Engadget, the upcoming PlayStation Phone will likely run on Android OS 3.0 aka Gingerbread and will feature a custom Sony Marketplace which will allow users to purchase and download games designed for the upcom. The device will included "a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the G2, but 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and the screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches." The landscape slider will also feature a multi-touch touchpad in the center that replaces the analog stick with the usual array of PSP buttons. Engadget also added "that there's no Memory Stick slot in the device, but there is support for microSD cards."

Though the phone is still on it's early stage of development, Engadget believes that the handset could still be unveiled this year and will be available on the market in 2011.

Big thanks to Bikram S. and narutosaiyan for the tips!

Via [Engadget]