PSP to go online in Korea at May 2nd launch

Sony's PlayStation Portable will feature web browsing capabilities out of the box when it launches in South Korea in early May, thanks to a new deal with the country's largest internet provider, Korea Telecommunications.

The PSP bundle which will ship to Korean consumers will feature an additional UMD disc not found in the US or Japanese packs, providing web browsing and support for video on demand and music on demand services operated by KT.

The console is set to be launched in South Korea, considered to be one of the world's most "connected" countries thanks to the widespread adoption of broadband services, on May 2nd, having been delayed from its planned Q1 date in order to ensure supply for the North American launch last week.

No plans have yet been officially announced to add similar functions to the PlayStation Portable outside Korea, but it's widely expected that a future software update will add web browsing and possibly some basic productivity tools to the console.

Several companies have keyboards for the system on the way, and already, some PSP owners in the United States have discovered that it's possible to browse websites using a browser built into WipEout Pure and some wireless networking trickery.

Earlier this year, a leaked firmware update for the PSP was shown to contain references to a number of new applications for the device, including office tools such as word processing and spreadsheet programs and communications tools like a web browser and email client, although Sony has yet to officially confirm which of these are on their way.