BT, Sony to turn PSP into a phone And you thought Sony's PlayStation Portable was just a games machine? Tell that to BT - it wants to transmute the handheld console into an "advanced communcations" tool. Or, as we call them in the trade, a phone. Sony PSP handheld gaming... er... telephone Sony PSP handheld gaming... er... telephone The telco and Sony …
The problem with using the psp as a phone can be seen clearly in the articles photograph - ie. that you look like a nob when using it. I used to own an N-Gage (yep - who's the nob now) and ended up using it just to pass the time gaming; I had a seperate phone for calls.
I think that there's an untapped market here that hardware manufacturers are missing.
Baldies, and people who want a beard but can't grow one.
I'd like to see wigs and beards with integrated handsfree via bluetooth. That'd be great. No more holding a games console sideways to your face and looking like a nob. Instead, erm, wear a fake beard or a wig and look very, very cool. Bluetooth enabled hair-pieces.
This would also help for driving too.
And the beards could support branding and 'skins'. And could contain pouches for those essential items, like spare batteries and a stylus.
And I'm sober.
... and master of none.
So, what exactly do Sony want the PSP to be?:
* A fragile, overly specified handheld gaming console - with a lousy battery life?
* An over sized MP3 player - with a lousy battery life?
* An MP4 player with a large screen, but shocking motion blur?
* A low resolution digital camera, with no flash or optical zoom - and a lousy battery life?
...and now a outlandishly large mobile phone, with (you guessed it) a lousy battery life? Plus, when you make a phone call on one of these it will look like you are talking into a large sanitary towel (well, at-least with the white PSP anyway).
So Sony couldn't make it a success as a portable gaming device (outsold double by the Nintendo DS), or as a portable movie player (UMD movies flopped), so now they're trying to compete in the already hopelessly overcrowded phone market? Are they intending to take on the iPhone with this? It seems the PSP is turning into a Jack-of-all-trades, and a master of none.
The PSP will be developed with a touch-screen, stylus, and made to run Windows. Then we'll have the PSPalm!
With the convergence of all technologies into the hand-held mobile, consumers are losing the choice for quality. As was mentioned in the Opinion article about mobile manufacturers losing the plot, this is just another sign of the trend. How good is the "phone" aspect of the PSPhone going to be? Who wants to be seen walking around talking into a gaming brick? In a world where small is better, at what point is the PSPhone too small to deliver the "full gaming experience"?
This will be another gimmick, aimed at people who buy things like the N-Gage. A jack-of-all-trades, providing quality in nothing.
First the idea is sound, it is making use of hardware already there. Lets face it why carry round a console, phone, music player etc if it can be all done in one. As long as the price does not go up....... too much.
However, what will not be a good idea is for children to be walking down the street using their psp as a phone. It may look cool but its the same as putting a big neon sign above thier heads saying ROB ME!
Advantages: All in one wonder, a TV, MP3 player, Video Player, Games Consolse, Phone all in one (Yes many phones have that but not with that screen size.
Disadvantages: Could be expensive and dangerous for our young people.
But for now nice one Sony and BT
(and this comes from a Nintendo Fan.....;-)
If I recall correctly the PSP does not have a touch screen. If this is true then the user interface would be poor.
If have often said that the PSP would make a portable computer, if only Sony "opened" it up for developers. The ablity to view information on a PSP sized screen would make it great to use on the move.
Abdo
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the PSP. It's a fairly awesome portable gaming platform which I will happily use either on a plane, train, general gaming and not to mention it's a godsend while on the bog. Some games work better than others of course, but a bit of instant action on Ridge Racer, Ace Combat and TOCA is untouchable in these contexts.
Now while I can't see it being used as a phone (as depicted in the photo) for the reasons previously mentioned (you'll look like a fool), I can't see an issue with using it as a Skype-like device - which I think is the main point of this development. Given the technology is in the PSP and relatively untapped (wireless connectivity, decent screen and now a web-cam-type device), it makes absolute sense to enable it to use these together. The biggest issue with video calls in my mind is that you're pretty much confined to your PC (yes, I'm ignoring laptops for the sake of my argument). A bit of PSP <-> PSP or PSP <-> PC video calling while away from home would be fine by me.
Of course, I'd much rather just wait till someone develops Skype for it! It's also a blessing to see Sony divert all their time and resource from updating their firmware week in week out in a futile attempt to stop people developing their own apps for the machine.
... holding a PSP as a phone. I'd look like a freak. Then again, there could be a "hands-free" adapter, similar to the headphone thingy the PSP already got.
I prefer PSP over NintendoDS, but I feel Sony's been screwing up on the console. UMD movies cost like um.... the same as DVD's. A movie for a small screen (only readable in smallscreen) shouldn't cost the same as a DVD!!!!
The other thing that just doesn't appeal to me is Sony being hell-bent on breaking user-generated apps. Damn, I want to make my own apps, I'm a software developer!!! With most recent phones, I can do apps with Java MIDP; Sony won't let me run *anything* on its PSP but games. Until Sony changes that policy, I won't look at the PSP as something I'd use as a phone.
It looks like a solution in search of a problem. People (some people) say the iPhone is gimmicery. Well this PSPhone passes that up. Add video to the mix?
It used to be that people would say "I'm calling you from my car/the train/the game/the etc". Now it'll be "I'm calling you from my game console"
Next thing will be the Xbox 360 as a VoIP terminal. I give it about a year. With cordless extensions. It's all about convergence. Tony, keep track of this predicition. You heard it first on the Reg.
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