Sony toys with the idea of Vita OS-based smartphones and tablets

We know about Sony’s plans to convert their entire line-up of phones to smartphones and till now, Android seemed the best way to go about it. Sony’s soon-to-be President and CEO, Kazuo Hirai is apparently toying with the idea of Vita OS-based mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets. AVWatch (a Japanese site) reported that in a Q&A session with reporters on Friday, Hirai said that we should not forget the Vita OS as platform for mobile devices, in general and not just gaming. "if you’re asking if we’ve made it in a way that’s expandable, so that it’s possible to apply to smartphones and tablets on top of achieving the high responsiveness we need for gaming devices — it is possible. That doesn’t mean that we’re applying it to smartphones and tablets at this point in time, but it’s been designed with expandability in mind", he said.

What's next?

The company has only just started pumping in budget Android phones and have still a long way to go, before they catch up with the likes of Samsung. They haven’t been doing so well financially as well as they posted a loss of €247 million (about $325 million). Sony tried developing a PlayStation-based smartphone, the Xperia Play, but that didn’t work out too well for them. This time they are going the other route, by creating a smartphone based on the Vita’s OS. The most obvious roadblock for the new OS would be the lack of apps and when Sony’s Deputy President, Kunimasa Suzuki was quizzed about this, he said, “That’s exactly why we’re going to be putting energy into building up PlayStation Suite this year." What do you think, does it make sense for Sony to invest in a new platform or simply work on a tried and tested one like Android?