Mobile Gaming with Sony PlayStation Phone?

Sony is expected to unveil its PlayStation phone in February, according to international news agency Bloomberg, in a move that would provide new ground for the emerging mobile gaming market.

The Bloomberg report, which was published Wednesday, seemed to confirm the rumors about the PlayStation phone, predicting that it would be launched to the public at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 13.

Sony, the world's second-largest manufacturer of portable game players, was not available for comment. However, pictures and videos of the new device have already been circulating on the Internet.

According to rumors reported by several news agencies, the phone will be a Sony Ericsson touchscreen called the Xperia play, using a slide-out pad and buttons plus a touch-sensitive pad for gameplay. It will also reportedly run Android.

Once the phone is launched, it will no doubt be only a matter of time before online casinos, sports books and poker rooms rush to launch apps for the device, as they have for other major smartphones such as the iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Just last week leading online gaming software provider Microgaming launched its new Android casino games package for All Slots Mobile and other casinos running on its mobile software, making it the first company to make such an offering for that particular device.