Sony to release handhelds to challenge Apple, iPad

Sony is aiming to challenge the iPad.

We are still weeks away from the launch of Apple’s iPad and the buzz is getting out of hand. Here in San Francisco there are already people lining up outside our local Apple Stores with tents and barbeques.
That last part is a lie, but it could happen right?
Don’t be surprised if you turn on the TV in late March and see bloody people walking aimlessly around Union Square clutching iPad’s whispering, “the horror, the horror.”
Moving on.
Remember way back in the days of black and white when Sony’s SFO Nobuyuki Oneda said that his company wanted to enter the tablet market? Well, it appears that he wasn’t kidding around. If the rumors are true, Sony is swinging for the fences.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Sony aims to bring a brand new lineup of handheld devices to stores this year. From the report:
Threatened by Apple Inc.'s growing stable of portable devices, Sony Corp. is developing a new lineup of handheld products, including a smart phone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Japanese electronics giant also has a project under way to develop a portable device that blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable, or PSP. The device is designed to compete against multifunction products such as Apple's coming iPad tablet, these people said.
Uh, that sounds pretty awesome doesn’t it?
Of course there were no specific release dates or pricing mentioned so that’s left to your imagination San Francisco.