May a PhD be more practical than theoretical? I'm thinking about pursue my studies and doing a PhD in information technology. 
My problem is that I would like to create something new (== write code), and focus my thesis on how this new technology works (each component and global interactions), what it can do, and how it can evolves / be improved.
I'm not against doing research, reading books and work on theory - but I want to be more practical than theoretical.

I'm starting to think that a PhD is not a valid option if my goal is to develop something new instead of conducting pure research. Am I wrong ?

About my cursus: I will receive my master degree soon (~= 3 months). I come from a highly technical background, with 5 years of programming and project management.



Edit &amp; more information
My university doesn't offers PhD courses, thus my supervisor don't care about   my choices. Another consequence is that I have no other choices than to go to another university.
To be awarded a Phd, you can't just build something: there has to be some sort of novel research component. PhD's are all about asking (and answering!) questions, not just engineering solutions to a problem.

However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating something new as a part of your PhD, so long as it helps you answer a research question. For example:


Does this algorithm improve the speed/reliability/accuracy with which this data can be proccessed compared to existing techniques?
Does this new collaborative learning tool improve a student's ability to learn a language compared to working individually?
Does this new system for visualising a data structure affect the way in which users perceive/engage with it?


Note that these are far too broad to be used in practice, but they might give you an idea of the types of questions that can be asked.