based on search query analyses on I4U, I found out several features
people want to see available on the PSP.


The future Sony PSP features users are looking for are (Updated List 09/02/06):

Sony PSP as PC Game Pad
Sony PSP Car Stereo Connector
Sony PSP WebCam
Sony PSP Direct Data Exchange
Sony PSP TV
Sony PSP UMD Disc Writer
Sony PSP Touch Screen
Sony PSP Keyboard
Sony PSP Universal Remote Control
Sony PSP Bluetooth
Sony PSP TV-Out
Sony PSP Mobile Phone
Sony PSP eBook Viewer
Sony PSP Instant Messenger
Sony PSP Digital Camera
Sony PSP Hard-drive
Sony PSP VOIP Telephony
Sony PSP GPS



Below I go into detail on each of those thought-after PSP functionalities and my
take on the probability of them becoming a reality.

Sony PSP as PC Game Pad
The Sony PSP connects to PCs via USB. So why not use it as Game Pad for PC
games? A Sony U70 user would like to be able to use the Sony PSP as game
controller on the go, saving the need to carry an extra game pad. From just
looking at the PSP it makes sense. Technically and market-size wise I think
there is not much chance this will happen.
Probability of becoming a reality: 20%

Sony PSP WebCam
A USB video camera/microphone module that sits on top of the PSP for video
chatting over Wi-Fi with AIM or other Instant Messaging systems would make
sense. This feature request is more likely than the digital photo camera feature
request below.
Probability of becoming a reality: 70%


Sony PSP Car Stereo Connector
Users want to link up their Sony PSP to
Sony Car Stereos and play stored MP3s from the PSP in the Car. In the light
of MTV's Pimp my Ride, where they always integrate a PS2 in every car, there
might come the time a Sony PSP will have a connection kit for Cars.
Probability of becoming a reality: 75%

Sony PSP Direct Data Exchange
The ability to exchange directly data stored on the Memory stick between two
Sony PSPs via IR or Wi-fi. This would be a very useful feature. The Sony PSP is
not USB Host enabled, so Wi-fi ad-hoc would I think make the most sense for this
to work.
Probability of becoming a reality: 75%

Sony PSP TV
The Sony PSP Screen would be also of course excellent to watch TV on the go.
There are small
USB TV Tuner even HDTV USB
Tuners are out there that could be used if the PSP firmware would support
them. On the other side of things TV Tuners are already inside
mobile phones, so a future PSP
console could have a TV Tuner chip inside.
Probability of becoming a reality: 50%

Sony PSP UMD Disc Writer
That request is a controversial topic as it also of course touches on
copyright issues. Because the PSP does not have a hard-drive and the memory
sticks just do not provide a lot of storage being able to write music and videos
on UMDs would be the solution. It is not any different from being able to record
music on
Sony Mini-discs. An UMD has 1.8GB of storage. On the other hand the new Sony
Memory Stick PRO DUO announced in March have 1GB and 2GB capacity. Of course
they will be expensive for a while.
Probability of becoming a reality: 30%

Sony PSP Touch Screen
he PSP For text does not have any means for convenient text input. The
rumored PDA like functionalities that supposed to come might be inefficient to
use. A Touch-screen and soft-keyboard or text recognition could solve that. The
Nintendo DS has a touch screen. So a future PSP console might sport a
touch-screen if the versatility of the portable Playstation becomes a bigger
topic.
Probability of becoming a reality: 20%

Sony PSP Keyboard
If there is no touch screen a USB keyboard could be a solution. A
Sony PSP Keyboard has already surfaced. It is not shipping yet. Telling from
the photo it looks like it could work pretty well and as it also doubles as a
screen protector it can be left on the console. I am just not sure if Sony has
already a keyboard driver in the current firmware. So i set the probability not
to 100%.
Probability of becoming a reality: 90%

Sony PSP Universal Remote Control
The Sony PSP as a TV remote could be possible based on the presence of IrDA
and IR Remote interfaces. Not sure what Sony's plans are with those infra-red
interfaces. A simple remote I could imagine. A powerful universal remote is
maybe a bit tricky from a user interface perspective as the PSP has no touch
screen.
Probability of becoming a reality: 50%

Sony PSP Bluetooth
To interoperate with mobile phones the Sony PSP would need Bluetooth. The
functionality of taking calls on the PSP, like with the existing
Bluetooth MP3 Players,
would be possible. A Bluetooth USB dongle could become available.
Probability of becoming a reality: 20%

Sony PSP TV-Out
A TV-Out would make the PSP a portable Movie player. Additionally users
could view photos stored on the memory stick directly on the TV. Not sure if
game-play would make sense on the TV with the PSP, but actually why not.
I do not know if an accessory could provide that or if a new PSP console would
be necessary.Probability of becoming a reality: 30%

Sony PSP Mobile Phone
I do not think Sony will go the
Nokia N-Gage route in the
future. Sony Ericsson does
interesting products that work with there mobile phones, so maybe they come
up with a interesting synergistic solution.
Probability of becoming a reality: 10%

Sony PSP eBook Viewer
eBooks are already available on the PSP via
converting text pages into images. Most likely Sony will bring a real text
based eBook viewer for the PSP. Reading books on mobile phones is already a
growing trend in Japan. Lots of new MP3 Players already have a text viewer. Sony
also has the Librie eBook on
the market.
Probability of becoming a reality: 100%

Sony PSP Instant Messenger
There is already an IRC client for the PSP based on the
Wipeout Pure web browser Hack.
The writer of pspirc is
supposedly working on an AOL Instant Messenger client for the PSP. As soon
as the web browser is in the firmware many things will be possible through
server-side applications.
Probability of becoming a reality: 90%

Sony PSP Digital Camera
So users want a digital camera on their Sony PSP. Looks like its not enough
to view photos copied onto a Sony Memory stick on the PSP. Theoretically a
Digital Camera could be a future accessory for the PSP connecting via the USB or
the Wi-fi interface. There are no indicators that Sony plans a Digital Camera as
far as I know.
Probability of becoming a reality: 50%

Sony PSP Hard-Drive
The Sony PSP could have challenged the Apple iPod, if it would have a
built-in hard-drive. Rumors that Sony is working on a
PSP with Hard-drive are
already out there. This would mean users would need to buy a new PSP when it
comes out. Which also means that it will be at least one or two years before
Sony will bring a HDD PSP on the market.
Probability of becoming a reality: 80%

Sony PSP VOIP Telephony
Well the PSP supports Wi-fi and the TCP Stack, how hard can it be to have a
Skype client run on the PSP? Only problem I see is that there is no microphone
on the PSP. Not sure if the headset connector could also be used for a
microphone. Update: William B. tells me that the female headphone connector has
three contact bands inside, not including the remote commander pins. This is
historically the case for devices with a left & right audio out and single audio
in.
Probability of becoming a reality: 40%

Sony PSP GPS
A Gps Receiver could be connected via USB. An UMD could carry the map data.
Typing in addresses without a touch-screen and a stylus might be a hassle
though.
Update: Sony announced a Map software for the PSP. A rumor from a Sony Playstation magazine suggest that Sony might release a GPS dongle later this year. See Engadget for more details.
Probability of becoming a reality: 80%

Special thnx to 14u


If you have a Sony PSP Feature request post a
comment below.

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