Sony will add the Skype telephone service to its slim PlayStation Portable handheld console in Japan this month, enabling users to make free or low-cost telephone calls.
Sony Corp will start selling microphones for the PSP-2000 in the Japanese market on March 19 as part of its efforts to broaden the appeal of its video game consoles amid fierce competition with rival Nintendo Co.
After a system software update planned for March 18, PSP users will be able to chat for free to other Skype users and, for a charge, call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world, Sony's game unit said in a statement today.
The service was started for the PSP in Europe and the United States in January but Sony was forced to delay the launch in Japan because the microphones did not meet the Skype specifications.
Skype, which is owned by eBay, uses a peer-to-peer network to enable users to make free internet telephone calls to one another through their computers.
Skype calls to standard or mobile telephones can be made at low rates.
