Recently, phones and gaming have started to go hand and hand, especially with the the iPhone's growing popular culture relevance. For a couple of years now, Apple’s devices and those running Android have done battle, but it looks like come next year, if the rumor is to be believed, a new challenger will be entering the fray: the PlayStation Phone.

When Game Rant brought gamers the first supposed screens for a long time rumored PlayStation Phone many believed that the device shown was merely an early prototype, but, as more video began to leak, the veracity of the leaks seemed more and more likely. Andriasang has the story, discussing how the Asahi Shimbun newspaper put together a collection of reports that indicate a PlayStation Phone based of the PSPGo tech would be releasing as early as this coming Spring. The site itself notes that the newspaper article could simply be a collection of known facts about the PlayStation Phone rather than substantiated evidence that points towards a release date, but the news should certainly get a few gamers talking.

While sooner is probably better with this phone, Sony has a ton of factors to take into consideration, if this release date rumor is to be believed. Not only would the PlayStation Phone be going head to head with Nintendo’s 3DS, but will also probably be releasing amidst another iPhone announcement. It's going to be tough to get gamers interested in an entirely new product, especially with two established giants putting out their latest and greatest.

If Sony wants to go about it the best way, they should first focus on getting their PSP successor off the ground and then think about a PlayStation Phone. With the iPhone and Android holding down the phone market, it’s best if Sony stick to an area where they at least have some brand awareness.

Will we see a PlayStation Phone sometime next year? Probably not. Sony, like any other company, likes to unveil their products in large scale presentations in order to see how the market reacts before actually rolling them out. Will we see some new gaming tech from Sony next year? Now that seems more likely.

With the 3DS most likely releasing in Spring of next year, do you think that Sony is going to roll out a PlayStation Phone at the same time? When do you see a PlayStation Phone making the biggest splash in the phone market?

Source: andriasang