Excuse Me, My PSP Is Ringing

Sony and Skype bring VOIP to the portable.

Sony regularly reminds us that the PSP is a games system, albeit one that does a lot more than just play games. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the company expanded the portable's repertoire even further.

The company said it is planning a software update for the PSP, arriving in late January, that will add a new feature - the ability to make Skype calls.

Skype is an application that lets users make voice calls over the internet. Calls are free to and from the 246 million Skype users already out there, and by splashing out on some Skype credit, users can make calls to and receive calls from real phones too.

The service won't be open to all PSP users though as the service will only work with Sony's new slim PSP, released late in 2007.

In recent months Sony has been aggressively pushing the non-gaming features of the PSP.

In August the company announced Go!Messenger, a package that would allow PSP users to do instant messaging, text and voice chatting and video calls, and Go!Explore, software that allows users to get directions using the global positioning system. Sony is also working with media giant Sky to bring video downloads to the portable.

In the US, the PSP was Sony's most popular gaming device during the holidays, selling 1.4 million units between 23 November and the end of the year, putting it ahead of both the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3 over the Christmas period.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo