Sony Ericsson to brand PlayStation phone 'Xperia Play'?

It'll be mad if it does

Will the PlayStation phone be called the PlayStation Phone? A search of Sony trademarks suggests it might not.

According to fansite Pocket Now, Sony Ericsson has registered "Xperia Play" as a trademark in Europe. The name has also been registered as a web address.

The flaw in any suggestion that Xperia Play will be the handset's preferred moniker fails because PlayStation is so much a stronger, better known name that Sony Ericsson would be plain crazy to use an alternative.

If it does, it's going to have a job to persuade punters that their Xperia Play has anything at all to do with the PS3. You'd have though it had learned its lesson after calling a PS3-connectable phone Aino.

Assuming Sony Ericsson isn't bonkers, the alternative name suggests one of two possibilities: Xperia Play relates to some separate service that's not necessarily anything to do with the PlayStation phone - or that there's no such thing as the PlayStation phone and that the company is simply preparing an Xperia for gaming that has nothing to do with the games console.

Meanwhile, Pocket-Lint claims to have been told the handset will be out in April after a late-February - think Mobile World Congress in Barcelona - announcement. ®