Whether or not Sony is capable of their own OS is not in question. Its about interoperablity and support of a network/market they are definitely launching on ALL of their other devices. It simply makes the most sense.

It increases the lifespan of the now profitable PS3. It increases its multimedia value. It allows a Google TV experience that Sony already has its hand in for other devices. It allows the best possiblity for seamless transition of your PSN/PlayStation Suite products from your phone, NGP, etc to the home tv. Its just a win-win scenario all around.

The only way this won't happen in the manner I am predicting is if a PS4 is coming out in 2012/13. While I think that is a possibility, I think Sony will want the PS3 to stick around longer afterwards to be a lower priced option and as such will want to still perform this UI/OS change in the PS3.

None of this actually looks at all that great personally. I think you've missed out some important factors.

1. Growth of Android is centred around the cheaper devices. Apple completely dominates the high end market for phones. That means Android 2.3 adoption won't be that big in 2011. Furthermore huge sites like Amazon are getting into the market too so theres no assurance there and Amazon is device agnostic and they are only just behind Apple in digital distribution, Sony is nothing by comparison.

2. See above.

3. For a supposedly entry level product I suspect it'll be very expensive and niche. Since it only supports PSP1 its going to be a lame duck as a game device.

4. Android apps work on analogue sticks? Google TV maybe, Android apps no.

5. Sony has never really gotten the synergies to work between devices, why are they suddenly going to get that right now?

So the NGP isa phone also, not just a PSP2?

No, it has no phone capabilities.

The biggest problem with android is piracy. I don't know how much Sony can do about it since Google is in the driver seat. I suppose they could devise some system to try to prevent piracy, but the android hackers seem to be very good. There is some risk when you put your software into the android marketplace. I'm not saying that can't be overcome, but so far nothing I've seen changes the status quo.

2011 and 2012 android 2.3 _will_ see wider adoption. 1.5, 1.6, and 2.1 devices are nearing their end of contract. Those people are going to want 2.3 at the very least.

1) The Amazon store and Playstation Suite are just Store Apps. They will be able to sit beside the basic Market Store as well as eachother. If you want the full android experience with all the apps you will need all of these stores.

2) See above.

3) Very expensive? On contract it will probably be no more expensive than the last phone you bought, unless you got a crap phone. It will play ps1 games, psp1 games, minis, movies, etc.

4) Playstation Suite games will work on analogue sticks. Normal android apps will not be downloadable onto the PS3. Just because android might be on the PS3, doesn't mean it will have support for default android market place.

5) They've done no worse than nintendo in this area, and in fact have done just fine imo. I can play PS1 classics on my ps3 and PSP right now, which I do all the time. Once they get a cloud service up where save games can seamlessly transfer from the two devices I can just go from one to the other in minutes. Remote play works. ETC.

1. You really are confusing chic/popularity with high end devices. Android phones all launching mid/late this year with LTE and dual-cores etc, all have 2.3. The demos seen in CES and what not all mostly showed 2.2 because 2.3 was not fully released by Google yet. However, they all stated 2.3 would launch with the phone later in the year. Additionally, with the exception of Samsung, all other companies are quick at upgrading their phones to the next step, so Moto/HTC/LG/etc will have upgrades to 2.3 for phones up to a year, maybe more, old by the holidays when all this Sony stuff launches. As for Amazon and other market places, meh. This is just extensions of what you already have by using their apps to buy from their stores. Really not a big deal. Sony is a huge company in music and movies and as such will push that content and its base will help Google create that media type store front in its own market out side of Sony as well.

2. ...

3. All smartphones start off around $200 w/ contracts. That's expected. Android phones are not locked in price and have a wide variance of specials and deals, which is how I scored two Fascinates for free from Best Buy this year. So people wanting cheaper gaming and a smart phone will pick this and get far more than only psp1 games. Sony just stated last night that the playstation one (not just psp) will be emulated and available. Also expect a much larger push of other Android games and far more PSN games.. minis, etc. That's really a lot along with the other smart phone pieces that make up the Android offerings.

4. Android apps are flexible and the PS3 version will be modifed (based on 3.0) to utilize more than just touch. Don't be so narrow sighted.

5. Look at what they did here with NGP. No stupid propietary Sony Memory Stick, using DS style SD carts and a regular SD reader. Android vs Sony built OS. All this points to Sony learing at least one lesson. Utilizing open/standard components creates a better product, a more desirable product to consumers and developers. The whole point behind their conference was about allowing Sony PlayStation to exist accross the entirity of a market, not just their two platforms. Why do you think they created Suite and specifically stated PSN will be on all Android devices 2.3 or greater? Why do you think they said Suite will be on PS3? It all has to do with creating an environment that plays well with eachother and promotes each other. Making that collaboration with Google and Android was the first step in this.

A year ago when the Google/Sony connection was first detailed, I said this going to happen. I said Sony would not just have Android phones, but would allow PSN to exist on Android devices and promote Sony 1st party stuff accross these devices. I was called crazy as they would do it, well I was right. PlayStation Suite is exactly what I was predicting. Sony is going for the biggest potential investment which is to put its software on a great number of devices that don't directly compete with its primary hardware. Thus, you won't see it on rival gaming consoles, but, smart phones and tablets are not a direct competitor and will only help Sony sell software and indirectly their higher end specific hardware like the NGP and PS3.

Adding to that, slimebeast, I never said it was a phone. It has 3G just like tablets. Granted with Google Voice or Skype it could be used a phone, with a bluetooth headset, but not too many people would do that.

Ok, cool, it's not a phone (I don't want it to have phone cabapilities since I don't want it to become too successful lol).

Your analysis though, I think it makes sense. Sony tries to please all the different markets segments.

By piracy are you referring to rooting/roms or actually copying/utilizing normally paid for apps for free, like pirating a DVD or something?

While I've seen plenty of the former, I haven't seen to many of the latter. Granted, I did only have to buy one copy of my LauncherPro plus and have used it on both of my Fascinates. But, the nature of constantly revolving phones (every 2 years max) that utilize the same base OS, I don't see how you can negate that rollover. Additionally, this is possible on iOS with your iTunes account anyways. No difference, just the nature of mobile.