Video Phone for PS3

Source: forbes

At last month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Sony showed off Eye Toy: Chat, the world’s first console-based video phone. The system will allow users who both have the device to hold one-on-one live video conferences, or to have voice conversations with as many as 15 people at once. It even features three mini-games: chess, checkers and naval war, which participants can play as they talk. Due for release this summer, it will run on Sony’s current PlayStation 2 and the upcoming PlayStation 3.

The company hasn’t yet set a price, but whatever the charge, Sony will likely discover telephony to be a profitable new sector. Since these calls travel on the Internet, hosting them won’t cost Sony too much.

The Eye Toy’s voice-chat capability will likely remain a novelty, used by gamers but not really spilling out of that niche. But turning a gaming console into a video phone does have possibilities for breaking out and attracting new users, since there are not a lot of other cheap, easy video solutions–and none of them are as common in homes as PlayStations. “If you add the video, you might have families that live far apart agreeing ‘Lets all get together in front of the TV at six o’clock and see each other,'” says Passmore.

Source: forbes

At last month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Sony showed off Eye Toy: Chat, the world’s first console-based video phone. The system will allow users who both have the device to hold one-on-one live video conferences, or to have voice conversations with as many as 15 people at once. It even features three mini-games: chess, checkers and naval war, which participants can play as they talk. Due for release this summer, it will run on Sony’s current PlayStation 2 and the upcoming PlayStation 3.

The company hasn’t yet set a price, but whatever the charge, Sony will likely discover telephony to be a profitable new sector. Since these calls travel on the Internet, hosting them won’t cost Sony too much.

The Eye Toy’s voice-chat capability will likely remain a novelty, used by gamers but not really spilling out of that niche. But turning a gaming console into a video phone does have possibilities for breaking out and attracting new users, since there are not a lot of other cheap, easy video solutions–and none of them are as common in homes as PlayStations. “If you add the video, you might have families that live far apart agreeing ‘Lets all get together in front of the TV at six o’clock and see each other,'” says Passmore.