Original design for Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY had additional QWERTY slider

The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY was announced not too long after speculation started about a PlayStation phone. And while the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY did eventually get launched in the marketplace, the model might have looked much different had the Sony Ericsson joint venture decided to use a design for a PlayStation phone that was filled with the USPTO.

According to what was filed with the Patent office, the PlayStation phone was originally designed to be a Android 2.3 flagship model for Google with two sliders instead of one. One slider was the gamepad, which of course made the final cut, while the second slider was a physical QWERTY keyboard. This could have changed the demographic target of the phone those who want a game player that doubles as a smartphone to those who want a smartphone that doubles as a game player. The problem with the dual slider form factor is that consumers wouldn't want the extra bulk required just for game controls that they wouldn't necessarily need.

During the current Oracle vs. Google court battle, a slide revealed that Google originally considered the Sony Ericsson Zeus (as the phone was known as back then) to be the flagship Android 2.3 handset with stock Gingerbread aboard. While Verizon did launch the phone with stock Android, the job of being the Android 2.3 flagship model went to the Google Nexus S.

source: TheVerge via Phandroid