Sony Ericsson is to release the PlayStation Phone which will hit stores in March 2011, reports ITProPortal quoting an anonymous source in the company. So far, no other source has confirmed this information.
Sony Ericsson’s new development, under a code name of Zeus Z1, is a hybrid of Sony Ericsson’s Android based smartphone and a the portable game console PSP Go. It is expected that the official presentation of the PlayStation Phone will take place in February 2011 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The telephone will be designed as a slider; a four way navigation button will appear under the top sensor panel in place of a QWERTY keyboard. The smartphone’s back panel will have shift-buttons characteristic of all Sony’s game devices.

As reported previously, the device is likely to have a 3,7-inch screen, ARM-processor, with a clock speed of 1 GHz, 512 megabytes of RAM and a 5-megapixel camera. Digital versions of PSP-games will be able to be can be downloaded by means of a special PlayStation app.

The rumors of Sony Ericsson preparing a hybrid of a portable PSP console and a telephone appeared in spring 2008. Any further developments remained secret until the appearance on the Internet of numerous photos and video clips featuring the “new” device. Sony Ericsson hasn’t yet officially confirmed the development of the smartphone.

Apple is introducing the first iAd format advertisement created specifically for the iPad, according to reports published on Advertising Age’s website.

The advertisement for “Throne: Legacy”, which was released by the Disney studio and lasts 10 minutes, is soon to appear in special apps for the iPad and will contain a video and screenshots from the movie, names of movie theatres and showing times. In addition, the ad will also feature an extract from the soundtrack which can later be purchased via iTunes.

The iAd format advertisement for the iPad is planned to be launched in 2011. Initially, it will be promoted in the US.

The creation of the iAd advertising system was announced this April. The first ad for the iPhone and iPad was introduced in July. The iAd format was particularly developed for iOS based devices (the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch).

The movie “Throne: Legacy” is a sci-fi movie, a reproduction of the original “Throne” of 1982. The world premiere took place in London on December 5, 2010.

The iPad tablet with an embedded SIM-Card which can be activated remotely is to hit stores either before Christmas or at the very beginning of 2011, The Sunday Telegraph reports, quoting the renowned European mobile operators.

Previously, Apple planned on implementing embedded SIM-cards in the iPhone, yet negotiations with major European operators made the company give up this intention,  according to an article published in The Sunday Telegraph. Operators warned they would stop subsidizing the iPhone which could negatively affect further sales of the device. According to Bernstein’s analyst Robin Binenstock, this step could potentially lead to an overall 12% drop in iPhone sales

Selling the iPhone through their networks, many operators currently subsidize part of the phone’s cost; i.e. they sell it for a lower price together with a long-term contract in exchange for future income from voice and data transmission services. While applying ordinary SIM-cards, mobile operators can firmly “tie” the subsidized devices to their mobile network. The embedded SIM-card makes it possible to choose an operator after purchasing the device. Operators, therefore, regard this as a possible threat to their business.

Apple believes that the use of the embedded SIM-card will allow the company to rely more on direct sales of the iPhone to consumers and exclude any third parties represented by mobile operators from the process. Opposition toward this move by mobile operators , as reported by the Financial Times, forcedApple to review its plans and implement embedded SIM-cards firstly in iPads which are often sold through retail networks without the participation of operators.

GSMA also announced their plans concerning the formulation of  a single industrial standard for embedded SIM-cards last week. It is still unclear how Apple will respond to this initiative, which potentially will impinge on the iPad manufacturer’s own plans..

Apart from the possibility of a remote selection of the operator, the use of embedded SIM-cards will allow for the access to GSM networks not only for mobile phones, netbooks and tablet computers, but also for cameras, MP 3 players, navigators and other digital equipment.