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."

What's that?

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...

Nintendo DS

So how long till there's a DS port? The console has a full development suite and wifi is accessible, has a microphone. So start the clock :)

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)

Re:Nintendo DS

It exists. SvSIP allows to to send and receive calls with SIP on your Nintendo DS. You can download it at http://svsip.free.fr/spip.php?rubrique9 [svsip.free.fr]. There are also a couple free places you can use with it to make free calls on your DS that you can find by looking at the accompanying gbadev forum thread at http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=14121 [gbadev.org].

It's pretty cool, though, the out-going quality is sort of bad (it could just be the free service I was using), while the incoming sound to your DS sound just fine.

So, take that PSP :-P

PSP Microphone?

So where does one get a PSP microphone? Or is it built in?

Skype annoys the hell out of me

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.

Re:Skype annoys the hell out of me

Skype is no different, it's not interoperable with anything else.

Except the worldwide telephone network and most any/all cell carriers. If it has a phone number you can reach it via Skype.

They'll be able to talk to DS users

Now that both PSP homebrew and DS homebrew [gbadev.org] 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?

This is cool

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.

Re:This is cool

Since we're on the subject - could you direct new PSP owners such as myself to good sites discussing homebrew on the PSP? I tried Googling for a while, but didn't find very good sites on the subject. Got myself one of the new slim PSPs in Beijing last month, and they fixed me up with custom firmware and everything, but still not finding many good homebrew apps to use...

Re:This is cool

I recommend: http://www.psp-hacks.com/ [psp-hacks.com] and http://pspupdates.qj.net/ [qj.net] for the most part, as well as their respective forums at: http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/ [psp-hacks.com] and http://forums.qj.net/f-psp-development-hacks-and-homebrew-13.html/ [qj.net] Lots of cool stuff there and you can always ask for help or advice. Personally, I have Bookr, PSPSSH, PSPIRC, and IRSHELL on mine. All very useful tools imo

Re:This is cool

I got old (fat) PSP for Christmas so I spent some time modding it out and here's what I've found.

4gb memory sticks can be found for $60 online and are a great investment.

You can use this program [kde-apps.org] to backup your UMD disks and then compress them, put them on the memory stick, and tada.

iR Shell [irshell.org] is awesome, it provides a the ability to control IR devices, nice skinnable shell, good file browser, lets you switch out of games (think alt-tab), play MP3s while you're playing a game and mute game music, toggle CPU speed, do adhoc wifi transfers between PSPs, take screenshots and much more, you can find a larger list of features (and the un-official forum) here [irshell.org].

PSP Vault [psp-vault.com] has a very nice downloads section, tons of guides and very active forums.
Psp-homebrew [psp-homebrew.eu] has a great list of homebrew you can sort by firmware version. compatibility
QJ.net [qj.net] is another good resource.

PSP Radio [blogspot.com] lets you stream internet radio on your PSP.

There are [about.com] NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA, Sega Genesis, Neo-Geo, N64, Atari 2600, C64 and probably others.

Wifisniffer [jylam.info] is a great probably that does just what it says.

PSP Weather [dcemu.co.uk] is another good one.

PSP HTTPD [qj.net] lets you use your psp as a webserver.

Portable VNC [dcemu.co.uk] lets you control your PC with your PSP and there is software that will let you use your PSP as your gamepad for your PC.

PSP XTI [zx81.free.fr] is a TI-92 (Graphing calculator) emulator for the PSP. GPS is soon coming to the PSP (USA only), it will be available as a UMD but no release date or price has been set.

There are many others, just browse the file collections and forums.

If you have a PSP with the factory firmware and wish to downgrade it can be an annoying process, it depends on what version firmware you're running.
This forum post as has the information you need [qj.net].

Used PSPs can be had for less than $100 in stores near me, including a 1gb pro-duo stick, I think I've squeezed $100 worth of features out of it.
Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes

SIP client for the PSP!

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 [sipnumber.com] provides Iowa State numbers.
IPKall [ipkall.com] provides Washington State Numbers.
OrbTalk [orbtalk.co.uk] 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 [gizmoproject.com] 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 [voxalot.com] is a nice service but they charge $15/year. Another one is PBXES.org [pbxes.org] but I would stay away from them. They have a notorious reputation of locking accounts [voxilla.com] and demanding a 50 Euro ransom to regain access. My personal favorite is MySipSwitch [mysipswitch.com]. It's free, does SIP aggregation, and allows simple dial-plans to maximize cheap calling over SIP. It's also an open-source project [codeplex.com] and the developers directly answer questions from the community in the forums [mysipswitch.com].

Coupling this with services like PhoneGnome [phonegnome.com], it's possible receive calls from all over the world with some very simple guides (link #1 [scopezoom.com], link #2 [scopezoom.com]) out there. Go ahead and give it a try. A big congrats to the coders that are bringing SIP functionality to the PSP.

SIP+linux+Nintendo ds

Any chance to get a port of a Linux SIP application for the DS??? (can be console based!)

Skyp for PSP?, I want

Skype for iPod

umm

is that Furikup as in drinking from?

Mylo?

My sony mylo has had this for over a year... what took them so long?

PSP Camera?

Will Skype on the PSP work with the Chotto Shot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!Cam [wikipedia.org] ? Free video calls from your PSP from any wireless hotspot in the world = fantastic.

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.

For PSP's but what about Linux

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.

How about just a sip client?

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.

Re:Huh?

No it is called the PSP slim and light not 2 separate consoles.

Re:Sony needs to put skype on the PS3

You are aware that you'll have some trouble finding a webcam that can feed that HDTV a high resolution signal, right? (not to mention actually streaming it in real time at a decent frame rate)

Good news at last!

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 [jdorama.com] rules big time, though).