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Sony Announces Skype For PSP, Homebrewers Respond
Croakyvoice writes "Sony has finally officially
announced that Skype is coming soon to the PSP. The VoIP service is slated to hit the company's handheld at the end of January. The application will be available via a firmware update and is
only compatible with PSP Slim & Lite Consoles. After the announcement
the PSP homebrew scene released a new application called Furikup which will allow you to make phone calls with your PSP and is compatible with the original phat PSPs."
There's a PSP Slim and a PSP Lite??
This confused me for a minute, so I had to ask my younger brother about. Same thing, no official name, evidently. It's night for you guys, but it's morning in Asia - don't do this to me before I've had my coffee slashdot!
+1 Confusing.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Sony: An idea you say? Internet phone on a PSP? Why I do say old chap, that is a good idea! Let us put it in testing and quality assurance and then announce it's release a little before we put it out. Let us also make it available only on our latest devices, to encourage purchasing.
Hackers: Internet phone on a PSP? Good Idea! I'll have a quick-build later tonight, should be able to get this done in a couple of days...hey look, the original's compatible too! That'll save a few bucks...
There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
I think the best news for the PSP people, is that an official sony product will work on any PSP. So you don't needs any homebrew hardware (flashcart,custom firmware, etc)
So where does one get a PSP microphone? Or is it built in?
Just like MSN, AIM, ICQ etc.. they all lock you and your friends into using the software. Skype is no different, it's not interoperable with anything else.
How many times have you reluctantly had to sign up for some proprietary messaging system, then got forced into using a advert laden badly made piece of software, or less than optimal alternative (hear that Microsoft MSN Messanger and Gaim?) when there are tried, tested and IMO superior alternatives.
Me? I use SIP and have a number of hardware & software phones that work with it at home and in the office... for messaging I use IRC and always have done.
If only Sony would adopt homebrew applications like Furikup instead of tying themselfs in with Skype or some other proprietary vendor.
Now that both PSP homebrew and DS homebrew have SIP, PSP homebrew users will be able to talk to DS homebrew users over the Internet. What other gaming systems have cross-platform voice chat?
As I've told many people the PSP isn't really worth owning unless you load custom firmware and your own applications on it. The functionality is immense, for instance I can read books, stream video from my PC to my PSP, play homebrew games, backup my games to SD, rip my PS games and play them, SSH, and quite a bit more. I actually think that I would hate the device if I couldn't load custom software on it. Anyway, back to actually working.
"Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
Furikup is a beta quality SIP client for the PSP. It's always nice to see the increasing number of devices supporting SIP. Without the luxury of having a PSP to play with Furikup, but having another SIP device (Nokia E61) I can give some recommendations to new users Voice-over-IP (VoIP).
There are a number of free incoming number DID providers. A few examples:
SipNumber provides Iowa State numbers.
IPKall provides Washington State Numbers.
OrbTalk provides London geographic numbers.
Google's Recent acquisition of GrandCentral is a very tempting prospect even though it is not a true SIP provider. You can get a phone number in almost any locale with GrandCentral and forward the number to the above two US-based providers. You may almost register for a Gizmo account and forward directly to it through GrandCentral. Once the Gizmo SIP account is registered to your device it'll ring when called from a regular landline.
The problem with having this many accounts is finding a service which can aggregate your numbers in one place so you don't have dozens of SIP accounts to register in your device. Voxalot is a nice service but they charge $15/year. Another one is PBXES.org but I would stay away from them. They have a notorious reputation of locking accounts and demanding a 50 Euro ransom to regain access. My personal favorite is MySipSwitch. It's free, does SIP aggregation, and allows simple dial-plans to maximize cheap calling over SIP. It's also an open-source project and the developers directly answer questions from the community in the forums.
Coupling this with services like PhoneGnome, it's possible receive calls from all over the world with some very simple guides (link #1, link #2) out there. Go ahead and give it a try. A big congrats to the coders that are bringing SIP functionality to the PSP.
i think the parent was refferring to this: http://bash.org/?5775
stuff
Any chance to get a port of a Linux SIP application for the DS??? (can be console based!)
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
The voice and video chat features on the PS3 are great but to be restricted to communication with only PSN members limits us too much.
They need to put skype support on the PS3.
HDTV+PS3+Skype+video_chat=Cool_as_Hell
SvSIP
Skype for iPod
is that Furikup as in drinking from?
Why not just put cell/mobile phone functionality into the PSP?
My sony mylo has had this for over a year... what took them so long?
"The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
'... phat PSPs'
Freaks
With me carrying their device in my pocket with me, Sony has a 480x272 window in my life. This is where the sale of the memory sticks, cybershots whatnot other Sony products starts. They should really fullfill this small device with usefull oficial application like bookreader, iPode like sync with a PC and songs rating, Skype, IM, DVD copy for the device. Better even open the plattform altogether. Then they may hope I will be using a year later it and buy more products from Sony. Because the danger is, in a year Nokia will be able to do everything of that and play games too. Where will be Sony with its PSP?
And, BTW their Cybershot camera DSC-T70 is crap, just looks good.
Now SONY needs to get Skype onto the PS3 and compatible with their eyetoy accessory. If this comes out you can be those cameras will start selling like hotcakes. It will make the PS3 video communication device bringing Skype to the casual (non-PC/Mac) users....ie: my mother.
How about a DECENT Skype application for Linux (and a 64 bit version at that). Surely PSP's have an even lower usage rate then Linux, and yet Linux gets a pretty crapified feature-less 32 bit version compared to the Windows one.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Really, sip client would do me better, since I already have a voip service, that allows me to bring my own devices. I have x-lite on all my machines at home and my work machine. I can receive phone calls where ever I am.
Don't Vote for Norm Dicks! http://www.nodicks2008.com Another nutless dirtbag that voted for the FISA bill!
I think this is good news. I couldn't care less about Skype on the PSP (although better to have the option than not have it), but this means that Sony are on good terms with the team behind Skype and VoIP will eventually be available on the PS3 as well, which is what I have been waiting for since I got the Playstation Eye. It just seems natural, and finally, our video calls to Japan might get through with better quality than now.
This post might have nothing to do with the parent post, but I'm with him concerning Itoh Misaki (I have to say, Ryoko Shinohara rules big time, though).
A World in a Grain of Sand / Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Infinity in the Palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.