Sony Ericsson chose an ad break in last night's US Super Bowl final, to officially announce its PlayStation-branded Xperia smartphone. Named the Xperia Play, the handset is based on the Google Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' OS. It will be the first mobile device to comply with the PlayStation Suite certification, a programme set up by Sony to mark out handsets capable of running its forthcoming conversions of classic PlayStation games.

Sony has said that it will reveal more about the phone's capabilities (and launch date details) on 13 February. For now, the Super Bowl ad showed that the handset's games controller slides out from beneath the screen. In its hands-on preview of the device last month, Engadget reported that the Xperia Play has a 4-inch multitouch 854 x 480 LCD, driven by Sony's Bravia screen technology. The site also claimed to have been tipped off that it features a single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU.

But why a PlayStation smartphone, and why the big announcement now, so soon after revealing the Sony NGP portable gaming system?

It's clear, Sony has spotted the rise of the powerful smartphone as threat to its games hardware business. The latest mobile devices from Apple, Samsung, LG and so on are more than capable of playing quality casual games with plenty of connected features. And with handsets now featuring dual- and even quad-core processors and advanced graphics processing hardware, we're seeing 3D gaming experiences that rival those on Sony's PSP handheld console.

The company's plan is to engage with hardcore/traditional gamers via the NGP, while also grabbing a slice of the casual gaming market via the Xperia Play and its PlayStation Suite certification programme.

But there are two potential problems here. One is brand dilution. PlayStation has always been a pretty straighforward proposition for the consumer: there was a home console and a mobile platform, and these were discreet but also 100% compatble. Introducing an extra smartphone into this equation may well confuse customers who don't immediately get the differences between the NGP and the Xperia Play. This is not even Sony's first PlayStation phone – 2009's Sony Ericcson Aino featured PlayStation 3 compatibility, but it was complicated to initiate and the functionality was limited.

It was this sort of fragmentation that effectively destroyed Sega's console business. After the successful lauch of the Mega Drive console in 1990 (1988 in Japan), the company sought to follow up with a range of devices to meet all potential consumer needs, including the Mega CD and 32x add-ons for the Mega Drive, and the Sega Saturn, a whole new generation of hardware. Instead, the company split its market, allowing Sony to clean up with its original PlayStation.

There is also the problem of intense competition within the smartphone marketplace. Xperia Play looks fine, but already this week, LG has announced its new Optimus 3D smartphone, complete with a glasses-free 3D display. The handset, which will be revealed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, allows users to run 3D applications as well as take 3D photographs and movies. LG is also introducing a tablet-style device, currently codenamed the G-Slate, at the event, which is also expected to have a 3D display.

The Optimus 3D uses the same "parallax barrier" technology as the Nintendo 3DS console to provide stereoscopic 3D viewing. Other handsets are also employing this tech – Sharp and HTC have similar devices – but it could well be the first to get a full global launch. As for specifications, the Optimus is set to feature a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor (more info here), a stunningly powerful chipset. Quite a compelling prospect for gamers, then.

The PlayStation name has previously existed in the relatively leisurely five-year console cycle – but everything moves a lot faster in the smartphone space, and if the Xperia Play is rapidly eclipsed by its competitors, will that have consequences for the brand? It will be interesting to see what else Sony has to say about the handset next week. Perhaps we currently know only a fraction of the phone's capabilities.