大象传媒

Calling from a console

• Rory Cellan-Jones
• 26 Feb 08, 21:30 GMT

What do we want from a mobile device? Will video calls ever take off? And who will win the battle to bring cheap mobile communications to a young audience? Three questions I鈥檝e been puzzling over since I made my way to the top of the BT Tower for a demo of a new service being launched by BT and Sony鈥檚 games division.

It鈥檚 called Go! Messenger, and it brings wireless video, voice and instant messaging to Sony鈥檚 PSP portable games console. The service will be free to the PSP鈥檚 11 million users across Europe 鈥� though they need to shell out around 拢35 for the mini camera that clips onto the console, and they need a broadband connection. In essence it is no different from the Skype video messaging service or Apple鈥檚 iChat, but the two partners say they are pushing new boundaries by bringing this kind of communication to a mobile device.

So far, though, video calls have been the great white elephant of the telecoms industry. In 1970 AT&T launched its Picturephone service in the United States. Nobody wanted it. In 1993 BT launched its Relate Videophone - 拢500 each or 拢900 for two so Mum could see you. Guess what? It was another flop. Then, in this decade, the whole promise of 3G phones was that we would all be making video calls on them. Are you? Thought not.

So it鈥檚 not clear that video calls will bring hordes of new customers to the PSP. It鈥檚 also not entirely evident what is in it for either BT or Sony. Of course, the telecoms company has struggled to connect with a young audience since splitting off its mobile division Cellnet (now O2) in 2001. Warren Buckley of BT鈥檚 Mobility & Convergence division told me the service promised his company 鈥渧ery significant brand exposure to users who may not be familiar with BT.鈥� Err, right.

Sony鈥檚 Nainan Shah said that, while there were no revenues in the short-term, 鈥渢his will help us do the research. It鈥檚 laying the foundations for something we think could be very healthy from a profit point of view.鈥� Of course, Sony needs something to breathe new life into the PSP, which has sold fewer than half as many units worldwide as the rival Nintendo DS.

But there is a prize that both the entertainment and the telecoms company are seeking. Whoever can convince a young audience that they have got the device which can entertain them and help them communicate all in one simple package can end up making a lot of money. At the moment, the mobile phone firms believe that text and music are the two killer applications that this audience wants. Now Sony and BT are betting that a combination of games and video messages will provide the recipe for success, But I鈥檓 not convinced that gamers are really that keen on looking at each other.