Everyone has witnessed the growing trend of using your internet connection to make telephone calls. Sony has decided to take note of this trend and partner up with Skype to deliver full blown Skype Internet calling in its next firmware update. The firmware update is scheduled to be released later this month, but will it be enough to leverage new PSP sales or will the Nintendo DS continue to dominate the sales game.
Personally I have owned the PSP with the original firmware and hacking capability via homebrew. The system was very impressive for a portable gaming device since I had not even thought about the idea since being a kid and owning a gameboy and gamegear (I never took the leap into the Atari Lynx system). The PSP screen and gameplay is impressive, but in comparison to the Nintendo DS it seems as though the next generation console war is very similar to the portable gaming war.
The Nintendo DS is more revolutionary in its split screen design with touchscreen capabilities while the PSP is focused on graphics. As we have seen in the next generation console war the graphics do not always dictate sales, especially when you challenge nintendo and the wii. With expectations to hit over 20 million in Wii sales soon, the Sony Playstation 3 has learned its lesson when challenging Nintendo. They will continue to learn this lesson when battling the Nintendo DS even after Skype is enabled on their next firmware update. I do give Sony credit for taking some initiative and turning the PSP into a Voip device, but I do not see it bringing additional sales to the Sony kingdom.