It looks like Sony Ericsson is gearing up to heavily be involved with the Android platform in the future as word has it Sony Ericsson is in the stages of developing a new Smartphone that will sport Android 3.0 and also developing an brand spanking new Android gaming platform.

According to Joshua Topolsky of Engadget, word has come via “a trusted source” that Sony Ericsson is currently developing a mobile device, ecosystem and new gaming platform which may or may not be alongside Google, and are apparently already in the “late stages” of planning.

The word on the new smartphone is described as a cross between a PSP Go and the Samsung Captivate, so basically a landscape slider device which loses the QWERTY and replaces it with game controls, and rather than a small joystick it has a “long touch pad” for analogue controls and also standard PSP buttons.

The new device will apparently sport a WVGA display somewhere between 3.7 inches and 4.1 inches, powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a 5 megapixel camera although that could get better. Word also has it the device is branded XPERIA and may sport PlayStation branding too.

The new Sony Ericsson gamer will apparently run the Android 3.0 Gingerbread operating system, possibly with a device specific skin. Apparently there will also be a new area in the Android Market just for the games which will initially only be available to this new device but may be available later on to other Android devices depending on button layout and specifications.

The games for the handset will bring ture 3D gaming to Android with a graphical rage of PSP or PSX games with current titles being shown as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Gods of War and possibly LittleBigPlanet, and apparently future plans for games that feature augmented reality.

Release wise, word is the new smartphone could possibly make an appearance as early as October, but of course that hasn’t been in any way confirmed.