Sony Files DS and Wii-like Handheld Patents

Sony's follow-up to the PSP may feature a touch screen and motion-sensing capabilities, going by a pair of Sony Computer Entertainment America patent applications.

Filed on January 21 and published June 26, the two portable-centric applications were uncovered by NeoGAF Sony hardware expert Panajev2001a.

The first patent details a touch screen with multiple "tactile pixels" that would "vibrate in response to the change in state of the touch screen." The touch screen found in Nintendo's current DS hardware only supports a single-touch input, with vibration support only available through a rarely used add-on.

The second application discusses Wii-like motion-recognition capabilities. Though Sony recently debuted a game-focused motion-sensitive phone with PlayStation styling, that device hails from Sony Ericsson, not Sony Computer Entertainment.

The patents also reveal that the proposed portable could function as a "game device, phone, portable media player, email device, web browser device or navigation device."

Nearly all of those functions are available in the current PSP hardware, which allows users to make phone calls via Skype, watch movies, play music, browse the web, and even use GPS navigation through an add-on.

That second patent could also apply to the rumored PS3 motion controller, which is said to use hand or feet sensors to control in-game movements on a 1:1 scale.