Originally scheduled for launch in late January, the rollout of Skype for PSP has been delayed in Japan. Reason? Two of the microphone products apparently did “not meet the Skype specifications” in order to obtain certification. Because of this, Sony has decided to delay the entire Skype feature set in Japan.

However, this setback will have no effect on the US and Europe launch. Kotaku contacted a Sony rep and were told that the Japanese delay “will make no difference to the European and USA launch, which will coincide with the end of January firmware upgrade.”

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN TO POSTPONE THE RELEASE OF MICROPHONE PRODUCTS FOR PSP® (PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE)

Tokyo, January 23, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ), a division of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) responsible for business operations in Japan, today announced that it would postpone the release of two microphone products for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), SINGLE PACK (with one microphone, PSPJ-15010) and TWIN PACK (with two microphones, PSPJ-15011), scheduled to be released in Japan on Thursday, January 24th, 2008.

SCEJ planned to release the microphone along with the introduction of Skypeâ„¢ features for the new slim and light PSP (PSP-2000). However, it was found that the microphone did not meet the Skype specifications in part to obtain certification and SCEJ has determined to postpone the release of the microphone. New release date will be announced as soon as decided.

With this, SCEJ has also reached a decision to postpone the introduction of the Skype features and services in Japan, scheduled in late January as part of the system software update for PSP. Solutions to enable users to start using Skype features and services on their PSP are being sought for and will be announced in due course.

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