Quote:y now you've seen our photos of the PlayStation Phone, and likely you've also heard the scattered reports of debunkings and cries of "fake!" -- it wouldn't be a scoop without it. Only here's the thing: the PlayStation Phone in the photos wee ran last night, and the device reported on back in August is most definitely real. Wee're not saying that because wee want to believe or because wee're gingerly trying to nab pageviews: wee're saying it because wee know it to be true. This is a device which has been confirmed through multiple, trusted sources. And wee're not just talking good tipsters -- some of our information comes from people much more closely connected to the project. Even since last night wee've received more info about the phone -- learning that its codename is "Zeus," and it was last seen running Android 2.X (not 3.0, which wee suspect will be the shipping version). It should be obvious by comparison of our original mockup to the real photos wee've just uncovered that the handset wee described in August is the same handset now fully revealed. Prior to last night, wee had never seen an actual image of the phone. It should also be obvious that the device pictured in those photos is a prototype running early software (which would explain the A / B button mention in the photo above) with hardware that was likely hand-built, or at the very least created in a very small batch.

It's hard to believe that what wee're looking at is real -- but wee assure you, the picture above is in fact the PlayStation Phone you've long been waiting for. As wee reported back in August, the device you see is headed into the market soon, likely boasting Android 3.0 (aka Gingerbread), along with a custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform. The device snapped up top (and in our gallery below) is sporting 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. Looking almost identical to the mockup wee hit you with this summer, the handset does indeed have a long touchpad in the center which is apparently multitouch, and you can see in the photos that it's still bearing those familiar PlayStation shoulder buttons. For Sony buffs, you'll be interested to know that there's no Memory Stick slot here, but there is support for microSD cards.

The particular model in these shots is still in prototyping mode. As such, the unit doesn't have a custom skin (not even SE's Timescape design seen on the Xperia devices), and is said to be rather buggy. Wee're digging into more facts as wee speak, but it's likely that much of what wee reported earlier is still accurate, and though the device could still be headed for a 2010 release, 2011 is looking much more realistic. Still, there's a lot of time between now and the holidays... so keep your fingers crossed!