Playstation phone may be 'Xperia Play,' reportedly will hit stores in April 2011

Here's the latest speculation and rumor control on the not-so-mythical Sony Ericsson Playstation phone:

First up, SE was granted a European trademark on "Xperia Play" on Dec. 1. At the same time, Swedish PR firm Jung Relations has scooped up XperiaPlay.com, XperiaPlay.net and XperiaPlay.org. So there's a pretty good bet that'll end up being a big part of the branding somehow.

Then add on an unsourced rumor from Pocket-Lint, which says the PSP/Xperia/Play/Phone/thingy will be announced at Mobile World Congress in February (no great surprise there) and will hit stores in April in the UK.

Safe bets, all. Does that mean any of it'll actually happen? There's a better than average chance. Stay tuned, folks. This spring is gonna be a doozy. [OHIM, Xperia10.net, Pocketnow, Pocket-Lint]

Phil Nickinson