By Jeff Reeves, editor of InvestorPlace.com

Apple (AAPL) and Sony (SNE) have a lot in common. Both redefined music with portable players -- Apple with its recent iPod, and Sony with its Walkman, which debuted in 1979.

Both companies have redefined gaming, too -- Apple with its emerging App Store and convergence devices that are both useful and fun, and Sony with its groundbreaking PlayStation 2 system, which remains the best-selling video game console in history.

So what would happen if the creative minds at both companies joined forces to create a new generation of gadgets? Shares of Sony rose in premarket trading Tuesday amid speculation that the Japanese electronics maker could be acquired by Apple.

The source of the buzz was a column by Eric Savitz posted at Barron's over the weeked in which Savitz noted comments from chief executive Steve Jobs suggesting Apple could "use its cash to make a strategic acquisition or two" -- such as Abobe (ADBE), Sony or even Disney (DIS). Adobe is a more digestible $14 billion company, while Disney is almost twice the size of Sony at a whopping $67 billion.

"But," Savitz writes today, "that was pure speculation."

Apple is cash-rich, with $23 billion in loose change and about twice that in short-term securities that could become liquid in a hurry. Sony's market value is a bit shy of $34 billion, a huge chunk of change but certainly not outside Apple's reach. Post continues after video:

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But neither company is talking, and a number of analysts have been skeptical of such a deal, suggesting that any move by Apple would likely be a hostile takeover. And despite lots of love for Apple in the states, such a bid would have a hard time succeeding in Japan.

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So how likely is a deal? Well, there's no doubt Jobs and company would love to get a piece of Sony's established gaming operations. The potential of a marriage between Sony's portable PSP console and the iPhone and iPad is obvious. Besides, though Apple is getting a cut from games sold in its App Store, it is taking a cut of only about a third from sales. Gaming hardware generates much bigger margins.

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But any consumer who has prowled the electronics section of a big-box store knows that Sony is an octopus of a company that makes televisions, car stereos and digital cameras -- not to mention manages movies and software studios on top of managing a catalog of music.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to any deal is that weak consumer spending and a downward spiral of computer and HDTV prices have slashed the margins on many Sony products. Judging by anemic profits recently, including quarterly losses in two of the past four periods, it doesn't appear that trend will end anytime soon.

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But if anyone can turn around Sony and put a premium price tag back on its products, it would be Apple. Consumers and investors will have to wait and see, but in the intervening days it sure will be fun to read about any potential products such a partnership would create.

iPlayStation, here we come!

Jeff Reeves is editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/J​effReevesIP.

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