Unreleased PSP Accessory From Sony Would Have Added A Touch Screen And Cell Phone Service

Sony’s NGP and PSPgo style Xperia Play tout touchscreens and cellular antennas as new features. Did you know Sony was developing an accessory to add both features to the PSP?

Around the same time Sony was working on a PSP camera accessory and GPS receiver that plugged into the USB port Sony also planned this.

It’s a diagram from a patent application filed by Sony Computer Entertainment that details a touch panel accessory. Users would plug the device in the PSP’s USB slot and flip the touch screen on top of the PSP. A stylus could be used to tap an onscreen keyboard to input characters or play games that worked with the hardware.

Sony also planned to release the touch panel with a cellular radio, which would turn the PSP into a portable phone. The difference between the two devices is the portable phone accessory would have numeric keys drawn on the touch screen to make the PSP feel like a regular telephone.

Plans for both accessories along with the camera and GPS receiver were drafted in 2004, according to a Japanese patent. While the touch screen was scrapped, Sony finalized the camera (released in 2006) and GPS receiver (2007).