Once again rumors of a PlayStation smartphone are finding their way around the tangled corridors of the Internet. This time the whispers come from Tokyo, where Nikkei business daily has reported that the Sony Corporation is once again thinking about developing a “cellphone-game gear hybrid”.

Nikkei says that Sony is planning to establish a project team in July to begin development on the new smartphone. This new mobile would basically be a cross between the PSP and one of Ericsson's smartphones. Sony recognizes that both the mobile gaming market and the smartphone market are in a period of great growth. They want their own share of that pie before Apple goes and gobbles it all up.

Sony has yet to give any comment on the rumors. I'd love for this to be true, and for Sony to finally get off its ass and make us a killer gaming smartphone, but I've heard this rumor bandied around too many times to trust it. Until Sony gives an official announcement you should take this news with a big heaping grain of salt.