Japan will be getting yet another model of the PSP Slim&Lite. With the Mint Green PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite> Sony has added yet another fresh color to the PSP. The Mint Green PSP Slimline will cost ¥19,800, which is about $180. Sony will probably keep this a Japan-only since mint green isn’t exactly the most popular color.
Sony has announced that they’ll be releasing the PSP Slim&Lite GPS pack with the GPS accessory and the software this Spring in Europe. This awesome pack carries the name Go! Explore and has been available in Japan for quite some time now. The base pack of Go! Explore will cost €119, this set contains the GPS receiver and the software, but the more fancy pack costs €299 and comes with a PSP Slim&Lite, a handy car stand and recharger for your PSP.
Sony has announced that it’s working on a small keyboard for the PlayStation Portable. PSP users will be able to write their messages and surf the web a lot faster thanks to this PSP keyboard. Sony’s designers are still looking into a few designs for the keyboard, and as for as we know this piece of hardware will be coming out mid 2009. The PSP GPS accessory should be coming out in 2008.
This week Sony officially announced Skype for PSP Slim&Lite, but when we first heard the news there was no word on why the PSP-1000 wasn’t getting a Skype update. Sony announced that the original PlayStation Portable can’t run Skype because it only has 32 MB internal memory, while the new PSP Slim and Lite has 64 MB. Thanks to this memory Sony was able to make Skype run smoothly on the sexy PSP Slimline.
At CES 2008 in Las Vegas Sony has unveiled the new 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. That’s a whole lot of space for savefiles of games and other content such as movies, pictures, music and other stuff. This 16GB monster will be released in the US in March for 300 USD, a European date will be announced soon. This new Memory Stick PRO Duo is a must-have for camera fans, because this storage stick can store up to 110 minutes of high-definition video recorded in 1920 mode, almost 6 hours of HD video when shooting in 1440 LP mode, and more than 4000 still pictures in 10 Megapixel resolution. The biggest Memory Stick PRO Duo that’s available now is the 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo from Sony for $154.90.
Pro Duo Memory Sticks that fit in the PSP Slim&Lite are getting cheaper by the day. For only $34.99 you can get a 4GB PSP Slim and Lite Memory Stick at FRYS. It’s a third-party accessory from Lexar but it does the same job like the official ones from Sony. If you want to go for some real memory capacity you should consider buying the Sony Pro Duo 8GB Memory Stick for $ 154.90.
This week there were rumors that Sony would announce a Skype feature for PSP Slim&Lite at CES 2008 and today Japan’s Nikkei Net news organization has confirmed the news that we’ll be able to make phone calls with our PSP’s in the near future. This Skype feature will only be available for PSP Slim&Lite users, owners of a phatty PSP will have to upgrade to PSP-2000 to get Skype on their PSP.
Skype will be free for PSP-to-PSP and PSP-to-PC calls and vice versa, but users will also be able to register a dedicated number for about $20 every quarter. This additional feature provides support for landline and cellphone calls. All calls with Skype will have to be made with an external microphone, but at this moment it’s still unclear whether Sony will release additional hardware or accessories for this or not. There’s also no news on why the old PSP-1000 can’t use the Skype feature, but it could be something in the hardware. It looks like PSP Slim and Lite users will have to download a Firmware Update to get the Skype feature. Sony will release more details on its upcoming Skype feature for PSP during CES 2008.
Capdase has released a cool Crystal Clear Case for the PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite. This PSP case will protect your PSP Slim from dust, dirt and scratches withouth you will even notice that there’s a case around your handheld! It also comes with a foldable stand which can be handy when watching a UMD movie and they throw in a unbreakable anti-scratch PSP screen cover and a hand strap for free. This awesome PSP Slim&Lite pack costs only $9,90 at Play-Asia.
On its CES 2008 site Sony has announced that they will be bringing out a Skype feature for the PSP Slim and Lite:
“Call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system.”
Skype is a very popular online internet phone service that allows you to call for free or for a very low price to anywhere. This could be a very neat feature for the PlayStation Portable, we’ll find out more about this at CES next week.
We’ve composed a list with all of our favorite PSP Slim&Lite accessories of the moment. There’s some stuff that every PSP and PSP Slim&Lite owner needs, here’s our list of must have PSP peripherals and gadgets:
