Skype support will be limited to PSP-2000

by Chris Powell on Jan 4th 2008 7:15PM

The rumors of Skype support coming to the PSP have now been confirmed by Japan's Nikkei Net news organization. Unfortunately for most PSP users, however, the news service stated that Skype support will be limited to the PSP-2000, but that it may come as soon as this month.

Skype service will be free for PSP-to-PSP and PSP-to-PC calls and vice versa. Additionally, users can register for a dedicated number for around $20 every three months for what should provide support for landline and cellphone calls. The software will more than likely be part of a future firmware update, and users will use an external microphone for communication.

At this point, we're not entirely sure why service is limited to the PSP-2000. Could there be some other hardware addition to the updated handheld that we didn't previously know about, or could this be a diabolical scheme to get us to upgrade our PSPs? Whatever the case may be, we know we certainly want to use this new technology that more or less answers the question whether Sony is interested in a PSPhone.

[Via Gamespot, Thanks for the tip, Jay!]

Source

Tags: phone, psp-2000, psp-phone, skype

Reader Comments (48)

i wish the skype worked for the fatter older psp!this sucks.

Maybe the Skype App requires the additional RAM.

Damn..this sucks ;(

glad i could help

i think it's gonna be a great feature well if you have a psp slim

Oh well.
You would also need to find a PSP headset.

Cool... not free... but cool.

I got all excited when I read this yesterday, so hearing this sucks. On the other hand, my current phone is unlimited so it doesn't really matter. Still wanted skype on my PSP, though...

Thumbs up from me! The only PSP owners I know have the Slim model. I'm getting more excited by this as the news gradually slips out.

Thanks Sony, it's nice to know that you really care about the early adapters who have been with the system during the hard times. I really hope that there is some technical issue that prevents psp-1000 users from using Skype.

I wouldn't say owning a PSP-1000 makes you an 'early adOpter'. Thing's been out for 3 years.

That said, it would be NICE if the older models handled Skype, but *shrug* I upgraded already, anyway.

Would be cool if they also added Skype to the PS3's chat system. With the PlayStation Eye you could do video conferencing.

Yes, Skype support for the PS3 is what I have been waiting for ever since I got the Eye camera. Especially my wife wants some better visual quality for her calls home to Japan than that from our lousy notebook webcam.

Ii's a good sign that Sony already has an agreement with Skype concerning the PSP; it shouldn't be impossible now to get that service into one of the coming PS3 firmware updates! Please do it, Sony!

thumbs to those that have slims

whats with sony abandoning early adopters! There is nothing on the specs that suggest that skype wont work for psp. Well hopefully homebrew gets this on the fat psps

The PSP homebrew and hacking scene is very impressive; I bet we'll see them 'fix' this soon after it comes out.

Just bought and flashed a PSP slim yesterday, and I'm very impressed with it so far.
I would have been disappointed were it not for all the nifty awesome things people have done for it... ie: CWCheat.

they even got the usb charge working...remember to be responsible when you go homebrew! Piracy ruins us all especially good developers

Unless they add a slide out keyboard to the PSP chatting on it doesnt really interest me...
Thats what a Cell phone/ PDA with WIFI and SIP is for.

dvfilmer

This is really disappointing me, though I almost feel like I should have seen this coming. TV-out and Skype support are things I would absolutely love, but my old PSP works just fine and I have absolutely no reason to go buy a new one, especially since I'm so short on cash.

Also, when the hell is the Go!Cam going to be released in America? PLEASE, Sony, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Though somewhat unrelated, I'm still waiting on a US release date for the DualShock 3.

Does Nikkie Net know what they are talking about ... I've read this as just their speculation that Skype is coming (even though the SONY site confirms it)...so their speculation that it is SLIM only is just that, speculation.

The SKYPE code has been in the PSP for a long time, why bother with it in the P1000 if it wasn't going to be used in the P1000?

Finally, some great PSP Slim exclusive news. Most accessories for PSP Fat are exclusive, and don't work with the Slim. Also, a lot of things still coming out are exclusive to the Slim. So, I have to say please shut up about early adopters. The fat gets everything. I got the slim, and it's about time it got some good updates.

"diabolical" hardly begins to describe it.

I sincerely hope that it is the additional RAM if sony does this to me :(

-The PSP slim is getting nicer and nicer, maybe I will become a sellout and buy one...eventually....when theres a custom firmware out for its latest firmware and I can run a 1.5 kernel on it....I can dream.

-actually I don't see myself personally using skype on the PSP but it for some indescribable reason feels great to have more great apps.

Maybe its just here in cali, but anyone else notice the surge in PSPs in schools and other public places? The DS is still frequently spotted in the wild, but in my school I didn't see one since the month of pokemon diamond/pearl craze...looks like sony is getting through to their target demographic. but seriously WHY do we not have a GO cam, or a GPS? [GPS maybe because of the formalities with courting a providerbut I would love to get some google mappege]
-rant over
o_O

Darn! I have a phat psp! Was llooking forward to having skype. :(

I noticed that the PSP-2000 has the stereo speakers on the front of the unit (not on the bottom as in the original model). Is it possible that one speaker is a speaker, while the other can operate as a mic? I.e. to hold it up to your head like a real phone???

Probably crazy idea, but it would be nice to not require buying and using the PSP Headset...

The good thing about this "limitation", is that Dark_Alex will make it available to original PSP owners should there be no actual technical reasons for withholding it.

Hah, good point. DAX made the PSP worth owning for me since the commercial Cave Story port was dropped.

Skype has been in the works for over a year...

If they were going to make it PSP2000 specific you thing they would have put in a built in mic for it.

while this is definitely very cool...it's useless to me for two reasons

1) I don't have nor want a PSP Slim

2) I don't know anyone that I don't already talk over cell phone with, not to mention anyone that has PSP and would use this.

Still, nice to see the PSP advancing in yet another technological direction.

That's how SONY says "thank you" to early adopters!

all i know is that sony better let all users have access to the gps unit if it comes out. what a bunch of idiots!!!. i got my psp 2 months before the slim came out i still agree with the people who are mad for not getting skype! what kind of crap is that. i pay my bills i upgrade when you ask me to upgrade, and this is the mofo thanks i get. jesus!!

if it werent for us older users buyin the psp fat there wouldnt be a psp slim. we give sony our hard earned cash and they repay us by giving others priviledges? not that they shouldnt have it, its just that sony should stop being a greedy little kid and share his toys (which we paid for).

Why is it that everything goes slim all of a sudden? PSP owners are PSP owners no matter which system they bought. If Sony really does make this a Slim only, I have quite a few friends who may give up on their PSP's altogether.

Homebrew is great, but for those of us trying to stick with the official firmware it's getting harder and harder. Maybe I should downgrade?

To the last 3 commentors:

When you bought your PSP was it in anticipation that you would someday get SKYPE.

Answer NO.

SONY has added more and more functionality to the PSP since day one with no $ ask for any of it.

Moving forward SOME of the new functions may be limited to the newest hardware iteration for technical reasons...that is not a reason to bitch at SONY for the awesome PSP1000 machine that you own and is still being supported even in the face of slack software sales due to piracy.

Well great news for some .... but I really dont care . I dont really use Skype , and by that I mean I dont use it at all ...

well i dont it either, actually i barely knew what it was, but it sounds like a great application

to kspraydad, your right, i love my psp and i owe it 2 sony for making this peice of heaven, im sorry kspraydad, im sorry sony, im sorry world. but i still think that both models should upgrade similiarily, they have so far, but today its skype, tommorrow its the world.

if people dont step up and speak, only psp slim will get extras, not compatible with psp fat, leaving us to sulk in the corner. id get a psp slim if i was old enough to work or got allowance in any form, im luky that iv got my psp

thanks for listening to my complaints, il shup up now :p

thats not going to happen because sony said thy dint want to leave older psp owners out

That's what I'm thinking. I think this news source didn't get their facts straight or something. It might take a while for the 'phat' PSP's to get it.

Remember how remote play was limited to 60GB PS3's? Well, didn't Sony deliver in the end? Now we got Remote Start for crying out loud! Lol.

Is this for the USA?

This Sucks! I am young and saving my money, and my parents had to be bugged for months before they bought me my psp! They would never buy me the slim just to use skype! Lets hope that this news site is unreliable.

omg every1 needs to stfu about how they wont be getting skype becuase they have a fat psp,,

1. half of the people (at the most) wouldnt use this feature
2. its a great move buy sony to bring out something like this for just the slim. Its sonys way of trying to get people to buy the psp slim.
3.And all of you so called "early adopters" the psp has only been out for about 3 years!

yes, but to the third point: the xbox was only out for 4 years, not that it matters in any way, but yeah just pointing out a fun(...or in the case of "early adopters''-not so fun) fact. still love my PSP skype or no skype, but is it STILL impossibe to run the 1.5 kernel on the slim? If it IS possible I'll get it for sure but still a bit hesitant right now. [Cuz you know its even MORE nostalgic to run old console emulators...on a TV]

@ Muhammad M

you can hack the slim, I havent done it, you need a PSP phat, and a couple other things, and you can't have updated the firmware on the slim yet.

google it, its all ther.

Skype for PSP2k is fine by me, heck my iPod has never gotten new features from firmware updates. My PSP on the other hand did, over the past three years it has become a lot more than what I was sold. To those of you that are upset, take a moment and consider how many new additional features Sony gave your system over the years and the fact that they did it at no cost to you.

lol. i just wanna argue. im sorry. i like to complain. i really dont care. whats skype without internet access anyways. im rarely at a hot spot and i like to eat glue. my movies, music and games are enough.

r u guys not insanely stoked bout this am i tha only one seeing how this alone will pay for ur psp2000 in saved phone bills. lets see tha facts psp to psp free psp to pc free also 20$ for 3 months of unlimited calls to cellphones an landlines. ok my cell cost me 50 a month an thats really good and this thing does everythin games radio software updates downloadable games i dont even own a psp or every have but i will in a week have tha darth psp2000 wit 8G mem people will b jelious justice the DS might b in for sum lag in its momentum

Dude, Chill.

And people, I own a Phat. No limitations were held to me. Wipeout Pulse demo came out only in europe, I found a way around it, logged into PSP Store EU/UK and got the demo.
All the homebrew stuff will bring us what we need, I never get the right chance to get homebrew, so I still suffice with what I have. Just think of the PSP-1000 as a Hard-core system. We got them when they first came out..well, most of us, and stuck with it. I dont think Sony will let us down. The PS2 IS STILL SUPPORTED! Microsoft dropped Xbox 180 like a hot pice of soldering iron!

for shame sony 4 shame ,well atleast this is only gunna b in europe so it really doesnt matter

As you know, Sony announced that the Skype IP phone service will be joining the growing list of PSP features.

Skype will be added soon to your PSP following a firmware update.

Unfortunately for most PSP owners, this ad has no meaning, since this functionality will only work in the new PSP model slim&light.

Last year, Sony as also launch the 1seg TV Tuner in Japan that also only works with the new PSP Slim. Now is Skype, tomorrow what will be?

What Sony is trying to do with this restriction we do not know for sure. What we know is that over 80% of the PSP userbase has the original PSP Model. Is this a new strategy by Sony in order to encourage the purchase of the new model by the old owners?

This petition is addressed to all PSP Owners, which invested much money in the purchase of the machine and its games, and we now feel disappointed with this discrimination. Through this petition we want Skype and any functionality in the future to be launched for all PSP Models.

We therefore to all PSP owners to sign this petition and make themselves heard. We are many and our protest will be heard.

Sign is free and no registration needed:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pspskype/index.html

Skype support will be limited to PSP-2000

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