Go!Messenger joins Skype on PlayStation Portable

by Stevie Smith - Feb 28 2008, 17:19

UK telecommunications giant BT has this week unveiled its Go!Messenger service, which will be hosted from tomorrow by the PlayStation Portable, Sony’s popular handheld videogame and multimedia console.

Originally announced in the summer of 2007 and also due to arrive on PC systems, Go!Messenger on the PSP will enable users to make free voice and video calls to other users anywhere in the world via Wi-Fi hotspots.

Notably, BT has said that it is planning a special ‘call out’ feature for the PSP version of its free Go!Messenger software, which will not initially be available for PC users.

“We are hoping that the 11 million PSP owners will want to talk to each other via video using the console,” a BT spokesperson said in a Pocket Lint report.

In order to utilise the video call element of Go!Messenger, PSP users will first need to invest in the console’s diminutive webcam, which costs around $70 USD (35 GBP) and attaches snugly above the console’s sexy widescreen display.

Go!Messenger arrives on the PlayStation Portable hot on the heels of Skype, the popular Internet telephony service that launched on the handheld earlier this month and also enables free Skype-to-Skype calls as well as charged “Skype In” and “Skype Out” calls to and from regular phones.

The placement of Skype and Go!Messenger on the PSP helps define Sony’s handheld device as a hugely versatile mobile option that incorporates a wealth of multimedia attributes including PS2-standard videogames, digital music and DVD standard video playback, PlayStation 3 connectivity, and now free audio and video communication.

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