In May 2006, Skype officially announced that all “Skype Out” calls to any landline phone in the United States would be free. To offer users another bonus, Skype will offer free international calls for three consecutive weekends. Starting this weekend, any Skype user located in the United States or Canada can call phone in the United Kingdom for free. The calls will be free on weekends as follows: U.K. on July 15-16, Mexico on July 22-23 and Japan on July 29-30. No action on your part is required, just login to Skype on the days mentioned above and make a call!

“This free international calling offer is yet another way Skype is making it easy and affordable for people in the U.S. and Canada to try Skype and discover the benefits … ” – Don Albert, General Manager

Skype, which is now a part of eBay, has become one of the most successful VoIP services. The free application is now available around the world in 27 languages and is constantly gaining more new features. Skype will run on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and some Mobile OSs. By offering incentives to customers such as free “Skype Out” days, Skype has successfully attracted millions of users. Lets just hope Skype remains free of cost and advertising. And be sure to try this offer when it become available.

Links: Offical Skype Announcement | Get Skype
Related: Skype Out Calls Now Free (USA)

On March 15, 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) held two press conferences. The first announcement came from Tokyo, Japan revealing the launch date for the PlayStation 3 (PS3). The second announcement came from Foster City, CA revealing their future plans for the 1-year-old PlayStation Portable (PSP).

At the first briefing Sony announced that the PS3 would have a world-wide launch (North America, Japan, and Europe) in early November 2006. They expect to have about 1 million units available during launch. SCEA has also confirmed that the PS3 will be using Blu-ray technology, which will be able to store a total of 50GB on a single disc. Sony also guaranteed that the PS3 would have 100% high-definition support as well as standard-definition for older TVs. The PS3 will also be able to access plenty of online content and can connect to millions of other users through any high-speed broadband network. Many expect a shortage of units since only 1 million units will be available at launch. SCEA has not yet confirmed the official price on the unit, but is expect to cost around $400-500. Some other items that SCEA mentioned was that the PS3 would come standard with a 60GB HDD and would be 100% backwards compatible with both PS1 and PS2 games.

At the 2nd briefing Sony announced a new PSP package, which would be available on the market by March 22nd. The package will be cost only $199, down from $249, and will include all standard accessories. Even though SCEA managed to sell over 15 million PSPs worldwide last year, their goal is to make the unit more affordable for consumers. The PSP already has a large selection of media to choose from: over 107 brand name games and 347 blockbuster movies. SCEA also stated an USB camera for the PSP would be available this spring. (similar to the PS2’s EyeToy) With this new hardware and the built-in WiFi card, Sony has plans to turn the PSP into a VoIP device wich will support video and voice chat. There also may be a GPS module that includes a UMD with maps available for the PSP very soon.

SCEA Press: Tokyo Announcement | California Announcement
Links: PlayStation Products Global | U.S. PlayStation
Recent: A “PSP 2″ Soon? | More PS3 Information

The PlayStation Portable (PSP), which was launched in March 2005, was not Sony’s first attempt to create a portable gaming device. Sony had launched another device called the “PocketStation” in December 1998 to compete with Sega’s VMU for the DreamCast. The unit was originally released in Japan, but because of its unpopularity it was never released in the United States or other countries. The main reason the unit failed might be the fact that the PocketStation never had any type of game cartridge media to insert into the unit. To play games on the unit you were required to own a PlayStation One. Then to get games onto the Pocket Station you had to plug the unit into the memory card slot on the PS1 then transfer games over. (also serves as a Memory Card) Another reason for failure was the fact that there were only a handful of PS1 games that actually included “mini-games” for the Pocket Station. Because of this design, the unit was absolutely pointless for the majority to purchase.

[Thanks for the pics, lipanz]

Other things Sony had intended for Pocket Station to be a tool to “train” characters and unlock new features in the full game editions. This was pretty much a rip off of Sega’s Virtual Memory Unit they released to go along with the DreamCast, which was eventually another failure because of the buggy parent unit. The Pocket Station also had speakers, a clock, infrared (for multiplayer), and once again served as a memory card. Pocket Stations are now “rare” novelty items and can only be purchased for high prices on sites such as eBay. This might have also been a plan to compete with Tamagotchi, but Sony obviously never came through.

Technical Specs:

• CPU : ARM7T (32 bit RISC Processor)
• Memory : SRAM 2K bytes & Flash RAM 128K bytes
• Graphics : 32 x 32 dot Monochrome LCD
• Sound : Mini Speaker (12 bit PCM) x 1 unit
• Switches : 5 input buttons + 1 reset button
• Infrared : Bi-directional (IrDA based)
• LED : 1 indicator
• Battery : Lithium battery (CR 2032)
• Other functions : Calendar & Identification #
• Dimensions : 64 x 42 x 13.5 mm (L x W x H)
• Weight : Approx. 30g (w/ battery)

Links: PlayStation | Sony | SCEA
Related: Free PS3 Conga | 8GB MS Duo