Sony Ericsson this evening unveiled the much-expected Xperia Play – aka the “PlayStation phone” – ahead of its launch next month in selected European and Asian markets. A CDMA version of the new handset will go on sale in the US with Verizon Wireless in the spring, a major boost for Sony Ericsson in the States.

The details of the Android-based Xperia Play, which have been much leaked in the run up to this week’s show, include: a slideout gaming keyboard featuring a digital D pad, a second pad featuring the distinctive PlayStation buttons, as well as two analogue touch pads and two shoulder buttons. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor has been optimised for gaming on the new handset, which also features a four-inch screen.

The vendor also announced two other Android handsets: the Xperia pro, which features a Qwerty keyboard, and the Xperia neo, a more mid-range smartphone than the high-end Xperia arc, which the company announced last month and showed off yesterday. All new handsets, including the Xperia Play, are based on version 2.3 of the Android OS, also known as Gingerbread.

Less expected than the announcement of the Xperia Play was the news that the first operator to sell the handset in the US will be Verizon Wireless. As one of the country’s two leading operators, along with AT&T Wireless, getting Verizon Wireless’ support should give sales of the Xperia Play a big lift in the States. It will be the first Sony Ericsson handset sold by Verizon Wireless for some years.  The vendor did not reveal the names of the handset’s launch operators in Europe and Asia.

The vendor needs to offer a library of games to support the launch of the Xperia Play.  There will be 50 titles available, mostly in the Android Market, for its appearance next month. About 15 developers are working on games, including Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu Mobile. One game from Sony will be available for free on the new handset, plus 5-6 from other developers.

The Xperia Play is the first PlayStation-certified handset. Sony announced its certification programme for Android handset vendors last month which means other vendors can compete against Sony Ericsson with PlayStation-certified devices. .