On February 20th you may be hearing a lot about the next generation Sony PlayStation console and much of what you've heard so far will be similar, but one thing you may not have heard of yet is what Sony is planning for a next generation controller. 

In a recent patent Sony received, a touch sensitive LCD controller was featured.  The LCD can be configured for various configurations, dual-analog, left-right conversion, face buttons and a d-pad, etc.  Users would simply apply pressure to the "analog stick" or "face buttons" to activate them.  The design allows for the remaining LCD to be used to provide visual feedback or additional space for buttons. 

In addition to acting as a controller, the unit itself can be turned in a portrait position to provide a "Gameboy" style hand-held experience.  So not only could the device act as a controller for a home console, but it could also function as a small hand-held.  Not sure the latter would be a realistic use of the device, since it only offers limited screen space, but with small form factor games it may offer a retro experience. 

http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220130031515%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20130031515&RS=DN/20130031515

interesting. I think the next hardware revision of the VITA will be a tablet that can play VITA games.

i'm not sure about sonys new controller.

I think you meant to post this in the "what could sony do on Feb 20th to troll us" thread.

Not sure if that's what Sony has in mind or not.  It's possible this may be a solution for integrating smartphones, but the device described is extremely limited, which the Vita isn't.  It'll be interesting what Sony has planned with this.  Whether this is one of their patents they do nothing with or if they actually decide to feature this in a product or as a service to an existing product.

I don't think that's Sony's intention at all.  I think they're serious, but whether it's a feature for smartphones (see Xperia) to integrate with the PS4/3, or a competing device for the Wii tablet, not 100% sure. 

In terms of gaming tablets, maybe... but Sony still don't have a windows 8 tablet anywhere in sight, which is rather sad. I think they are the only pc manufacturer that isn't making at least one. So I'm not sure what tablet game they are upping...