PSP Overhauled, Gets Sky, GPS, Messaging

Watch TV, find your way around and chat to your friends - oh, and play games.

The PSP is two years old in September and Sony is celebrating by giving the popular portable an overhaul. This week the company also announced several new features rolling out over the next few months.

The new model PSP Slim and Lite includes a video-out port for displaying PSP content on TVs and is a third lighter than the previous model and a fifth thinner. It will be out across Europe on 5 September and will cost €169 on the continent. It will be available in several colours right from the start, including white, black and silver.

Sony is also planning two limited edition models. The first is based on everyone's favourite web crawler, Spider-Man, and includes a black-and-red PSP, a copy of the Spider-Man 3 game by Activision and the Spider-Man 3 movie on UMD.

The other limited edition is all about The Simpsons. It comes in a Simpsons yellow hue and includes a copy of EA's Simpsons game for the PSP. Both bundles will cost €199.

The interaction with Hollywood and movie and TV entertainment goes beyond the superficial. Sony is introducing a new piece of hardware called PlayTV that lets PS3 owners record over-the-air digital TV. You'll be able to get at this content on your PSP too. And there's more.

Sony said this week that it is teaming up with UK TV broadcaster BSkyB for a new video download service.

Set to launch sometime in early 2008 in the UK and Ireland, the service, which is being spearheaded by Sky, will let you pay to download all manner of movies, TV shows and sports coverage from not only Sky but other unnamed partners too. You'll be able to download content straight to your PSP or download it to your PC and transfer it over.

The Sky service will come under Sony's new Go! banner, which also includes two new services: Go!Messenger and Go!Explore.

Go!Messenger is a communication tool developed by Sony and BT that will let you keep in touch with people around the world. At its most basic, it's an instant messaging client, but add a headset and the Go!Cam PSP camera and you'll be able to make voice calls over the internet and even do video messaging.

More adventurous is Go!Explore, a new GPS add-on for the PSP that will let you use the global positioning satellite system to get you from point A to point B.

Working this time with TeleAtlas and NavNGo, Sony's new service will let you pop in one of seven UMDs with the maps you're most likely to use and smoothly navigate your way around using 3D maps and (some) 3D landmarks.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo