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New comm features on the way for Sony PSP
23.08.2007
PlayStation Portable (PSP) users will be able to use their consoles for instant messaging, video-chat and making phone calls when the product is released in January, Sony has revealed.
Using a wireless communications package called Go! Messenger, PSP users will be able to keep in touch with each other for free from any wireless internet connection.
As part of a future firmware upgrade, Go! Messenger places a small application on PSP's XMB™ (XrossMediaBar), which can be downloaded separately from the web and installed to the Memory Stick. PSP owners will also be able to instant message (IM) each other when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, using a new onscreen keyboard.
Users can add a headset to partake in voice chat and voice messaging and by connecting Go!Cam, an attachable video camera for PSP, users can make video calls to their friends and record video messages.
Go!Messenger was developed in partnership with BT. It will initially be available only to European customers.
"With Go!Messenger, PSP is pushing new boundaries, adding unique communication functionalities to all the existing multimedia experiences," said Stephane Hareau, PSP European marketing manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). "Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the SCEE region to communicate with each other, through Video or Voice chat, truly confirms the always evolving nature and potential of PSP.''
By Niall Byrne
As part of a future firmware upgrade, Go! Messenger places a small application on PSP's XMB™ (XrossMediaBar), which can be downloaded separately from the web and installed to the Memory Stick. PSP owners will also be able to instant message (IM) each other when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, using a new onscreen keyboard.
Users can add a headset to partake in voice chat and voice messaging and by connecting Go!Cam, an attachable video camera for PSP, users can make video calls to their friends and record video messages.
Go!Messenger was developed in partnership with BT. It will initially be available only to European customers.
"With Go!Messenger, PSP is pushing new boundaries, adding unique communication functionalities to all the existing multimedia experiences," said Stephane Hareau, PSP European marketing manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). "Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the SCEE region to communicate with each other, through Video or Voice chat, truly confirms the always evolving nature and potential of PSP.''
By Niall Byrne