Sony's portable video games console, the PlayStation Portable. The company says it will add the Skype telephone service to its slim PlayStation Portable handheld console in Japan this month, enabling users to make free or low-cost telephone calls.

Sony will start selling microphones for the PSP-2000 in the Japanese market on March 19 as part of its efforts to broaden the appeal of its video game consoles amid fierce competition with rival Nintendo.

After a system software update planned for March 18, PSP users will be able to chat for free to other Skype users and, for a charge, call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world, Sony's game unit said in a statement.

The service was started for the PSP in Europe and the United States in January but Sony was forced to delay the launch in Japan because the microphones did not meet the Skype specifications.

Skype, which was bought by eBay in October of 2004, uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) network to enable users to make free Internet telephone calls to one another through their computers.

Users can also use the service to call landlines or mobile phones at low rates.

According to Ars Technica

By Ben Kuchera

Our inside source of all things video gaming has been right almost every time it comes out of the shadows to give us information, so I'm going to dispense with the back story. Wherever his or her information is coming from, it's usually solid. After I spoke to Sony about the possible discontinuation of the 80GB PS3 model, I lit the mole-signal.

Working late into the night on Saturday, I heard a noise behind me. For both of our safety, I didn't turn around. "You've talked to Sony," the mole said in a gravelly whisper. "Tell me what they told you."

I repeated the information we reported on Friday: Sony is sticking to a two-model approach at retail, but the company won't comment on whether or not the other model would be the 80GB system. The 40GB system seems safe. I asked the mole what information he had.

"Sony is, in fact, phasing out the 80GB PS3. Sony is going to stay with the two-SKU approach though, and the prices look to stay the same," the mole told me. I heard sirens in the background, and the mole seemed nervous. "The Spiderman 3 pack-in will disappear as well once the 80GB unit is gone. In order to maintain a similar value proposition to the 80GB/Spiderman 3 bundle, I expect to see a storage increase to 120 or 160GB at the same price point, plus the new Dual-Shock 3 controller... what are you trying to accomplish with this story?"

"I'm just trying to get to the bottom of Sony's plans for their hardware so my readers can decide whether or not they should buy now, or hold off. But I'm only one man," I say.

"Now we're two," the mole whispers, and when I look around in surprise... my informant was already gone.