Word on the business street is that Sony is cosying up nice and snug with Google, in a strategy that could eventually see the search engine company write applications for the PlayStation 3.

BusinessWeek writes of Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer's recent reshuffle of the company's top brass, and how keen the new blood are on integrating with open source technology.

Kenji Hall gives some examples of the growing relationship Sony are growing with Google; "It's the first PC maker to sell machines pre-loaded with the search giant's Chrome Web browser; the Sony Reader will be able to download e-books in a format backed by Google; and Sony Ericsson cell phones will use Google's Android operating system."

Hall muses that because of the tie-ups Sony are keen to introduce, Google may reciprocate with particular integrations and other offerings, with executives being invited to Sony's Tokyo pad for discussions on a closer relationship. One of the things being talked about is to "let Google and others create applications for its PlayStation 3 game console".

It could give the PS3 another interesting bullet point, if such applications are made to benefit the system rather than tacked on PC-style plugins. Such things could also give users some of the open-source edge that was lost in the PS3 Slim, when the ability to install Linux was removed.