Rumors are circulating that Sony is hot to combine the world of telephony with the world of gaming sometime in the future. As IGN reports, though, this may take a variety of shapes—it could be something that turns your PSP into a cell phone,  or allows your PSP to connect via VoIP (e.g. via Skype). Or it could be something completely different (Sony Mylo anyone??).

This recent revelation comes to us courtesy of an interview between Japan’s Nikkei BP andd Sony’s Izumi Kawanishi, translated by IGN:

“The PSP started off clearly with the position of a portable game machine. However, looking long term, there’s the thought that it ought to become a portable network device. At that time, if there’s demand for an information terminal, it is possible to take it in that direction.”

Then speaking about the possibility of the PSP replacing a cell phone:

“There is a possibility. I won’t deny it. Personally, I’m interested in it. Of course, it’s not the case that you can connect to wireless LAN everywhere, so you can’t call it a permanent connection. But cell phones are permanently connected. Cell phones get more interesting as their data transfer rate increases, and I think it would be extremely interesting to try something like that.”

If I were to play corporate strategist for a moment, I’d say Sony’s put itself in a tight spot. If Sony plans on adding phone-like functionality to the PSP, they run the risk of either failing to create a truly useful communication device (i.e. N-Gage 2.0), or of succeeding and possibly taking business away from their Sony-Ericsson phone division or their recently-announced Mylo, linked above. If instead, they decide to create a phone with some sort of Playstation functionality (i.e. the PS Phone) as Gamedaily Biz suggests, then they risk diluting the Playstation brand or even worse confusing the market as to whether they should purchase a PSP or a PS Phone.