In the last 24 hours Japan's Asahi News stirred things up by stoking the rumor surrounding an imminent Sony PlayStation phone. While the report is 99 percent speculation mostly echoing earlier reports, the one nugget of actual news the paper lays claim to is an alleged release date.

The paper ties the Spring 2011 release date claim to an unnamed source, but when contacted, Sony spokesperson Ayano Higuchi said, "The report isn't based on anything that we have announced. We do not comment on rumor or speculation." Since the report gives them until June to be proven right or wrong, the real news here is how excited the tech industry is for the once mighty Sony to step up and meet the challenge of competing against rivals like Apple, and Korea's Samsung in the smartphone space.

The excitement around a possible Sony phone is also probably linked to the widely expected exit of Howard Stringer who has presided over the company's decline in tech innovation influence as CEO since 2005. Historically, we could be looking at Sony's "bet the company" moment--so if a PlayStation phone isn't on the menu, they might do well to put it there. In case you missed it before, below is the latest video of the alleged PlayStation phone in action.

Via Asahi News