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Skype functionality coming to the PSP?!

Posted Feb 09, 2007 at 09:17AM by Pranav T Listed in: Firmware, Hacks & Exploits, Rumors Tags: Sony, Skype, Mylo, MaTiAz
Ó

You might think I've gone bonkers. But bear with me here, I'm not kidding. A lucky find by my friend MaTiAz seems to point towards some form of VoIP functionality in upcoming firmwares. This reference to Skype is hidden in the decrypted version of vshmain.prx from Firmware 3.10, basically the latest firmware if you don't count 3.11. Nobody has yet checked the presence of its reference in the latest firmware (3.11) but it's most probably there since not much has changed between the two firmwares.

Anyways, I did get a look at the decrypted version of the prx and as expected, this string pointing to a non-existing prx was present. To save you guys the hassle of having to do it yourselves, I've taken a screenshot which shows the same. If you're interested in finding it yourself, the reference is present as a string at offset 0x000344C4 in the decrypted vshmain.prx.

offset 0x000344C4 - Image 1


Checking the dump, there was no actual PRX by that name which means that the actual functionality is still being worked upon at this stage. And I don't think anyone's bluffing either. There have already been cases of Camera, GPS, and POPS PRXes being in the firmware long before the functionality was opened up. In the case of Camera and GPS, references can be found as far back as Firmware 2.70. POPS references were found in Firmware 2.80 dumps.

While this is all good to hear, the question begs to be asked - "What happens to the Sony Mylo?" You know, the PSP's sibling which came out a while ago with features like VoIP and Google Talk support. Is Sony thinking of burying the Mylo and making the PSP into "a lot more than a handheld" whose main functionality until now has been gaming? After all, the Mylo never quite took off in the same manner as the PSP, which itself has been lagging far behind the DS. We don't have any figures to back us here, but the Mylo was, in my opinion, a complete failure.

So while killing off the Mylo might not sound so good, it's probably a good move by Sony to move over a lot of its functionality to the PSP which still has a firm ground to stand on with over a few million users. It's all speculation since Sony hasn't announced anything yet, but then again, would you expect an official announcement from Sony about this?

The hardware in the PSP is good enough to handle the extra additions and the feature set of the Mylo was pretty much a subset of what you found on the PSP, plus a few additions. As for the firmware features, my opinion is that you should see some of the Skype functionality coming out in Firmware 3.50 or thereabouts. This would give Sony at least a couple of months to fine-tune everything and integrate it with the rest of the stuff already there. Stay tuned, we will have the latest on this as soon as we know more! A big thanks to MaTiAz for telling me about this find!

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64 Comments


Sort by:
   by Bigmeza (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » First!
Sounds good. Hope this comes to life...


   Re: pspfan (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Good Good Good
Wow thats interesting to hear

   Re: sawyas (Unregistered) - 2007-02-10
 » sweet
i like skype
   by A33A (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » YAY
YAY Skype

and First POST


   Re: s*cker (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » nope
nope you were second!! HAHA

   Re: McKenna (Unregistered) - 2007-02-14
 » ur and idiot
How can you think your first when your clearly in second???????? God your an IDIOT
   by no name (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » moo
cool

   by a33a (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Whoops
Oh well 2nd Anyway

But um Skype on PSP WOW!

   by Advertising -
   by Alk (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » wow
man, that would own.

Now only if i had a microphone :P

   by Sony (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Now Upgrade
I am sony . I say Upgrade to use this! Forget your homebrew when we release this. why wait 1 Week for DarK_AleX to crack the firmware Upgrade NOW!!!!
LoL


   Re: Dark Alex (Inpersonator) (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Yeah about that....
Oh I guess you didn't hear, the cracked 3.5 will be out tomorrow.
   by KAZAN (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Yep!
Yep, this is cool but how Its gonna work?
I think PSP need constant WiFi connection with internet and headphones with microfone
But how we can get permament WiFi internet?
Thats no way until the hotspots wiil be on every corner...

   by .. (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ..
if only the screenshot was a bit bigger so we could actually read the stuff ._.


   Re: Pranav T (QJ. NET Staff) - 2007-02-09
 » lol
Try clicking on it. lol

   Re: .. (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ..
did that, only gives me a 102% version of the thumbnail :P

   Re: hooger - 2007-02-09
 » .....
once u click the image. there is another small button you click for a full screen.. version
   by mmick (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Skype NO, Keyboard YES
I don´t want skype. I want a Keyboard and MSN!!! I want to be able to write (fast) on Web Browser and on MSN/ICQ!


   Re: Advertising -


   Re: manaox2 (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » well...
Using AFKIM and the infrared keyboard that has been developed and being updated, you'll get your chance. voIP is definately sweet, so don't change the subject. I'm not the one who rated you down so low.

   Re: mke (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » huh
How do you get AFKIM working on 3.03OE-A' I cant get it to work..
   by Ummm (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Ummm
What's Skype?

._.


   Re: Squallshomeboy - 2007-02-09
 » skype
skype is a program that allows you to use your computer sort of like a phone and call other peoples computers who also have skype... go to www.skype.com and download it and try it out they have some games now u can play with your friends while talkin to them like checkers and stuff
   by whoelse (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » yay
This sounds promosing. Surely sony wouldnt put it in way before its released because it would give away everything long before everyone is supposed to know.

   by cube (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » how do you do this?
I searched my vshmain.prx and can't find it... maybe I'm looking in the wrong place... mines directly from 3.10 oe...


   Re: MaTiAz (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » This is how you do it
You have to decrypt it. Dump the PSAR with PBP unpacker or something and then use C+D's psardumper mod to decrypt the files.
   by sinus (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » sinus
vous etes des trou de cu. des petits cons! moi j'ai deja skype sur ma psp et ca marche tro mal. lol


   Re: Superpomme (Unregistered) - 2007-02-10
 » skype
ORLY? Sure you already have it on psp, maybe the reason que "ca marche tro mal." is that youre Lying. its one thing copying the skype exe to your memorystick, its another actually running it.
   by zerofive (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » great
so now its a *****ing laptop

   by Advertising -
   by TO ALL OF YA F_U_CKERS (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » PSP, Skype and a microfone.
1st - PSP ROCKS
2nd - Skype... not so rocks, but it's a fine app to use with voip functionality
3rd - YOUR PSP already has a microphone, try activating the camera while your psp is plugged to the PC and you shoul see it will say USB PSP audio device, the chotto shot doesn't have a mic built-in but uses the one on psp


   Re: To you. (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Microphone?
Then tell me where the built-in microphone on the PSP is. There is no built-in microphone. You would need a camera or a headset compatible with the PSP.

   Re: RLY!?? (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » PSP mic
Dude, are you sure that the Chotto doesn't have a mic built in or are you guessing. I've never heard anything about a mic being built into the PSP and a million people have gone over the hardware mm by mm.

   Re: Harp (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » microphone...
The reason it says USB PSP audio device when you activate the camera is because the *usb driver* for the camera is on the PSP firmware itself and not on the camera attachment. Its only your PC finding the driver on the PSP and not the actual microphone. Go ahead and try recording something with it.

Why do you think games like "Talkman" come with a USB mic?

   Re: Cadabena (Unregistered) - 2007-02-10
 » Get your facts right
What's that little thing on the side of the Chotto Shot? By any chance, is it a little mic, with the letters M, I and C by it? Please research this kind of thing before posting anything like that again
   by korpiolut (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » omg.,. ...
psp isnt console.... its a mini PC!

   by ks4life (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » psp mic
yes the psp has a buit in microphone if you look below the psp screen there are 2 small holes. if you play music no sounds comes from it and im sure those holes are there for a reason.


   Re: seven (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ...
Yeah, their there to let air in behind the speakers, because it would sound terrible if the sound was just coming out of the two little holes with no air output.

   Re: pspfan (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » psp mic
i do use chotto and i can confirm you that it has mic on it
   by Turbocat777 - 2007-02-09
 » lawls...........
ok, first off, the psp doesn't have any built in mic at all, hence why you need to buy a headset to talk in socom ftb 1 and 2

and 2nd i have a chotto shot camera and it has a mic, it's on the side, it even says mic

that being said, i dunno, but when they released the chotto shot they mentioned something about skype video or something, kinda cool, though it might lag like hell

   by mayakovsky (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » to ks4life
umm.. no. those are NOT mics. im pretty sure of that. and, for the microphone part, you can just use the SOCOM HEADSETS.

   by tenshu (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ....
i would prefere SIP support instead of the crappy proprietary protocol from Skype

SIP is free (as in talk)

Free software rules


   Re: cube (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » skype
skype is free genius

   Re: Moose (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » sigh
Hey, mister genius.. Tenshu didn't mean free as in money. He meant free as in closed/open source. Like Firefox is free, and Internet Explorer isn't. Both don't cost any money, but one of them, Firefox, is free.

Implementing SIP would mean that practically any PC with any OS, and any hackable device with enough hardware and community support (as in coders working on an implementation of SIP on any given device) would be able to talk to the PSP. With Skype instead of SIP, this won't be true...

Next time, Cube, think before actually typing something..... Sigh...

   Re: Harp (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » SIP
"Implementing SIP would mean that practically any PC with any OS, and any hackable device with enough hardware and community support (as in coders working on an implementation of SIP on any given device) ....."

You mean a hackable device like the PSP?

Why not let Sony do all the hard work and put Skype on our PSPs, release the required hardware, get everyone using it, and let the homebrew guys work on the SIP?

Do you really think a company like Sony, that imposes its standards in every form of media it's involved in, would go for an open protocol?
   by Chaos (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » TopMenu 3.10
if you have 3.03 OE-C and have a dumped copy of 3.10 OE-A, try throwing the 3.10 OE-A topmenu_plugin on your OE-C. notice how there is now TWO network icons instead of one. adding a new place to scroll to with no name or sub-icons within the list. maybe there will be more than just Skype if they made an entire new section of network. (this also explains why we cant customize the icons in 3.10+)

   by MickMog - 2007-02-09
 » i use skype
i use skype to send texts (sms) messages, but without a voip telephone its just like msn from pc to mobile....thats how i reckon this will turn out.
i got that with ebuddy link as my online manual plugin ;-)

   by Bncplix (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ...
Incase some of u didnt know, skype is no longer free (after dec 31 06) Its now $15 a year.

But skype on psp... :D


   Re: phila (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » ......
i think skype to skype calls are still free
   by Armez (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » it's amazing how many things become possible when thinking stops
Won't happen for 3 reasons

1)$ony cant port Skype to the psp b/c the Mylo has it...If you know $ony then you will understand why they wont do it.

2)Skype wont do it. Lets face it, if $ony released the Skyped fw, it would most likely be decrypted in a matter of hours. Skype cant have that. The idea of an at least 40k member community getting free skype mins scares them like DAX scares $ony.

3.Skype is a complicated program. The several antidebug threads+I/O+wifi+codec= a technological nightmare.


   Re: anon (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Reading too much into this.
It's likely that PSP and Mylo share some codebase. It wouldn't make much sense to code all the features they have in common twice. So this probably doesn't mean anything at all.

   Re: frwololo (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » @Armez
The security checks happen on Skype's side, not on your computer or your psp... your point 2) doesn't make sense at all. Decrypting a plugin doesn't mean you'll be able to get free calls, otherwise people would have tried to descramble the skype executable file for windows. It is obvious that the checkes are done on a server owned by skype, not on your PSP...

   Re: Typhoonexhale (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Skype minutes? are you retarded
Skype is free to call other Skype Users FREE if your calling phones from skype you still have to pay for the skype minutes Decrypted FW or not numbnuts
   by Juney (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Or Maybe??
Maybe Sony and Their Other a**wad execs thought it would be funny to type in one little thing like skype.prx or linux.prx or w/e they feel they can get a thousand posts on 100 different threads... cmon guys skype is gay big deal u can talk to other psp or pc owners ... u noe only prob is u have to be within a wi-fi connection which is stupid cuz y dont u just use a house fone lolz stop giving sony so much to laugh about if it does come 1. it'll be hacked in one way or another 2. it will most likely suck but hey Dark_Alex to the mother****in rescue

   by Aj Collins (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » 3.11
This is true for 3.11 also. I just decrypted 3.11 and opened "vshmain.prx" with a hex editor and it does have something for Skype.

   by BoBo (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » voip
Maybe Sony will release the US version of the Chotto shot camera bundled with voip software and perhaps even video, vvoip. Now that would be awesome. Hey I wonder if one of our great homebrew programmers could come up with something like this?

   by Friend Of Armez (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » o rly
@ frwololo
You're a *****tard

   by Armez (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » wtf? Kill yourself, save the planet...
@frwololo

A lot of the anti-debug security things happened on the program side, not the server side and yes, number 2 makes sense because skype is incredibly afraid of piracy and the idea of them getting to together with sony and releasing a firmware to over a 40,000+ hacking community seems kind of stupid and yes, someone could easily hack the skype plugin. Also, I have to agree with Juney because sony would put something like skype.prx, or linux.prx, or godmode.prx just because they're *****sticks and yes, it will mostly likely be hacked if it was released...o rly?


   Re: jfdino (Unregistered) - 2007-02-10
 » Jesus
You dont have a clue what you;re talking about do you?
   by OsakanOne (Unregistered) - 2007-02-09
 » Practicality
So in all seriousness, you can only use the PSP inside a Wireless network whereas a good proportion of Skype users actually use Satalite.

Unless games implement it specifically, I can't see Skype functionality comming to games unless Sony decides to get off their arses and produce a dashboard and solid gameroom system instead of the pathetic excuse that PSP owners put up with now.

Also, another thing:

Will users have to wear daft headsets with mass wires? Bluetooth?
Either way, something has to give.



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