Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone
Sony's answer to the iPhone: the PSP?
The iPod is the 21st century Walkman and it seems that Sony isn't content to let Apple potentially dominant the internet communication market with the iPhone. They have teamed up with BT (that's British Telecom to you) to offer a number of new features on the PSP. The new features include video and voice calls, though all the features depend on being connected to the internet in order to function. Might this make the PSP into an iPhone competitor? Considering that 28 million of these little things are out there, it just might.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Slevin said 10:21PM on 5-23-2007
I doubt it will, the PSP is primarily a gaming device and most adults who are in the market for a cell phone won't turn to the PSP for that feature; some will howeve turn to the iPhone. I would say over 50% of PSPs are in the hands of individuals under 18 so a competitor it is not
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starwxrwx said 10:56PM on 5-23-2007
That means you'd have to be in Wifi range... and given one of the stories on slashdot this morning that you can be arrested for using open wireless points 'without permission' you might be hesitant to even use that feature
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shaz said 11:06PM on 5-23-2007
can wait til this hits, i hear its coming to the UK soon. and im there great.
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joe said 1:43AM on 5-24-2007
Sony already has plenty of phones, under the Sony Ericsson partnership. I think this is just a way to squeeze more out of the PSP rather than an "answer to the iphone". Newsflash, not every business decision made by a major corporation is a response to something Apple does.
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Michael said 2:45AM on 5-24-2007
"Might this make the PSP into an iPhone competitor?"
No. Not only would you need to be connected to the net to make your calls; it's also too large to carry in your pocket. Note also that you're not getting the advanced interface with touch controls, and that you'd also lose the ability to sync with iTunes. I'd say it's not a viable replacment for any phone let alone the iPhone.
One might as well say, "BT has suggested people carry around sundials and offered a set of wheels to each customer to do that. Could this be a competitor to a wristwatch?"
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Patrick Walker said 6:50AM on 5-24-2007
The PSP can fit in your pocket? What are you, a munchkin?
It really easy to use as a music and video player. Mostly drag and drop although the videos have to be encoded to a specific format to run. At least Sony got rid of that lame naming scheme for videos a while back.
Hardly an iPhone equivalent though. It would be at best a competitor to the widescreen iPod at best with a little Internet functionality added in.
I own a PSP btw.
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luciano said 7:13AM on 5-24-2007
I do not think is going to work...PS is to play!
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mrtotes said 11:30AM on 5-24-2007
I think the PSP and 6G iPod will be at odds. Both play music, videos and games (obviously the emphasis is different). The PSP of course takes a MS Duo which is fine if you're signed up to that kind of card but there's not HDD and I can't see UMD lasting too long.
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Doc said 1:47PM on 5-24-2007
sony "HAD" an opportunity to kill the ipod, think about it you had a web browser,it played games, wide screen, had a mp3 player and video player, but they (being sony) killed the whole thing from day one. By wanting to sell memory sticks and not including a HDD sony put the nail in the coffin for the psp. Sony has many movie titles,music, and games to boot, this is a library that is good enough to get the ball rolling and not to mention the fact that brand loyalty is big in japan where if sony had a ipod type of device they would choose it by default. Sony tired to introduce a new format(again) and of course due to cost it died.. if sony comes out with another psp model that is a cell phone with all the other features and of course for a reasonable price they could compete there is just a lot of ground to make up though. I don't understand companies like sony by including a HDD and having content to sell your basically giving yourself a license to print money..
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