PSP Go!Messenger arrives Friday

Sony has confirmed that its PSP wireless communication package, Go!Messenger, will be released on the European PSP Store this Friday.

Go!Messenger, developed by Sony in collaboration with BT, lets you send voice, video and instant messages to other Go!Messenger users from any wireless Internet connection, and will work over wireless Internet - including that provided by the 2,500-plus BT Openzone hotspots around UK city centres.

To take advantage of the package, you'll need the PSP's Go!Cam, an attachable video camera and microphone, as well as access to a wireless network. Apart from any connection costs for the broadband, the service is free. After being downloaded, the Go!Messenger application will appear on the PSP's cross media bar.

Unlike Skype, which requires a PSP slim, Go!Messenger users can own either model PSP. However, users can only contact other Go!Messenger users, rather than real phones.

"Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the SCEE region to communicate with each other, through Video or Voice chat, truly confirms the always evolving nature and potential of PSP," said PSP European marketing manager Stephane Hareau.

BT's mobility and convergence group director, Warren Buckley, says he believes the service will "only help SCEE to attract even more customers for the PSP."