Japan’s Nikkei Business Daily has reported that Sony is currently thinking about combining its PlayStation Portable tech with all the functions of a Sony Ericsson mobile phone...

Yep, we’ve been here before. Indeed fanboy-fed rumours of a ‘PlayStation Phone’ have been doing the rounds ever since the iPhone rose to prominence. The big difference this time is the fact that the Nikkei is reporting it – the publication doesn’t actually name the source of its story, but it’s not exactly in the business of making this sort of stuff up either.

Anyway, Sony’s response to all this is, as you might expect, to say precisely nowt:

"We don't comment on plans for next-generation consoles. The report is mere speculation," a Sony spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

So, there you go. Doubtless this won’t be the last we’ll hear of such rumours – ditto Sony’s tired old rejoinder. But as time marches on, and Apple marches off with vast swathes of both the handheld and mobile markets, a PlayStation-equipped phone seems more and more inevitable. Well, doesn’t it?