Skype, the internet based phone service, has been confirmed for the PSP by Sony today during the International CES 2008 in Vegas.  Planned as an update at the end of January, Skype for PSP will allow users to make phone calls to other skype users or landlines (some additional fees may apply) using a microphone plugin peripheral.  There was also an included message client announced that will help keep track of Skype friends.  With at least 250 million Skype users enrolled in the service, this add on could be a great way to increase sales for the PSP hardware and add another component to the handheld's core functionality.

The only fly in this ointment is that only PSP Slim users will be able to enjoy the recently added Skype features.  Director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Nick Sharples confirmed to Pocket Gamer.uk that the decision to include this feature came down to the memory limitation of the original model.  With double the memory of the 32 MB predecesor, PSP Slim (or PSP 2000) users are set to reap the benefits of internet based calls over Skype.  Expect more info as this feature comes approaches its' global launch at the end of January.