PSP to a PSPhone
Posted by 
January 8, 2008 •
Sony has confirmed what many of the PSP gurus have been expecting, that Skype is coming to the PSP Slim. Though there’s still no official word on what features it will contain, many speculate a full version of the program that runs all of Skype’s PC/Mac features will soon run on your PSP Slims turning it to a cellphone (so long as you’re still on a Wifi connection)
Sounds enticing doesn’t it? I’ve been using Skype for quite sometime now (chat with friends and family) and mobile access is quite simply, a dream come true.
Sony has set Skype for the PSP to be enabled via the next firmware update at the end of January. Once installed, you’ll see the Skype icon (as above) on your XMB.
What can you do with Skype?
- Free Skype to Skype voice calls
- Contact management (a phonebook literally)
- SkypeOutâ„¢ to call landlines and cellphones anywhere in the world (not Free)
- A SkypeInâ„¢ (Optional) number that allows you to receive calls on Skype from landlines and mobiles anywhere in the world (not free)
- View and modify Skype settings and account details (including username creation, SkypeOut settings, voicemail settings and call forwarding)
Note that the Skype feature will be limited only to PSP-2000s (Slim and Lite).
Phasing out Phat users? Not likely. The reason for the Slim only support is that the new model has double the RAM of the PSP-1000s.
According to Nick Sharples from SCEE, the additional memory onboard the new PSP is crucial for running the VoIP application. He told Pocket Gamer: “We had studied the possibility of supporting Skype with PSP-1000 but had to give it up because of the smaller size of main memory on PSP-1000 series.”
Also note that people on CFW (Custom Firmware) will have to wait until one of the many groups releases their version of the next update and it’ll be quite a while. The wait will probably take us long enough until this comes out:
Yes, it’s a 16GB PSP/PS3 compatible Memory stick Duo to carry all that music, videos and games. It’s set to come out this March with a starting price of $300 (wow). Like every avid PSP owner this is a must have for me.
Tags: Cellphones, Gaming, Playstation Portable
That does look interesting Sylv, but how can you talk on your PSP? I’ve been actually planning to buy one since last year but I’m having second thoughts. The Nintendo DS-Lite has great games too.
err. .sorry your comment was marked SPAM by akismet so I didn’t really notice till now. There’s a special headseat (more bucks *sigh*) for this and it will be released together with the service.
Personally I’d recommend a PSP all the way. You get more in depth games and multimedia capabilities. Being able to access the Net with a browser and an RSS reader on the PSP is a blessing too!