PSP VoIP on the horizon?
by Rafael Espiritu 
{ Jan 19th 2006 at 8:00AM }
Will we see a phone
feature appear on the PSP soon? Tom Keating of the VoIP and Gadgets
blog seems to think it will. In fact, he considers this more an inevitability than mere speculation. He also
suggests that companies like Google are in line to come up with some sort of VoIP service for PSP considering that
intergration of IM applications like Google Talk are already headed for handheld devices. And since Google Talk, like
the even more widely used Yahoo! Instant Messenger, already has voice built in, it's only natural to expect that a
microphone peripheral (say the SOCOM headset) will take advantage of that avenue and allow for phone-like capabilities
on Sony's prized portable.Having a phone attachment on the PSP, especially a free one, is such a neat idea it makes me feel like donating to charity. Of course, several issues need to be addressed. One, the phone attachment needs to be reasonably sized so as not to make the PSP unmanageable. Two, power usage needs to be improved since the PSP's WiFi feature is notorious for its energy suckage. Also, if this development gets pushed back a a year or two, there's always the chance that Sony will do a redesign and integrate these enhancements. Come what may, we're just oh-so-happy that even if Sony isn't maxing out the PSP's abilities, other people are at least trying to on their own.
[photo via iceteks.com]
