PlayStation to go wireless in April

Sony shipping software, DoCoMo shipping iMode connection cables

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 21st February 2001 16:10 GMT

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Japanese PlayStation users will at long last be able to compete with other players across cellphone networks next April.

Sony announced today it will ship software that enables multi-player gaming in April. Sony's cellular plans are being developed in co-operation with NTT DoCoMo, which will offer cables to connect PlayStations to its iMode phones at the end of March.

Sega and DoCoMo announced yesterday that they will work together to offer iMode-networked games on Dreamcast. To complete the triangle, Sony is also working with Sega, this time on networkable arcade games based on the PlayStation 2.

The tie-in with DoCoMo was announced last summer, though Sony had earlier hinted at the alliance when it launched its remodelled PlayStation, the PS One, and said it would support cellphone-based networking.

And earlier this month, Sony's European operation announced a similar deal with Vodafone, though they're both having to wait for the roll-out of third-generation cellular technology first.

In the meantime, iMode is coming to Europe through DoCoMo partners - Dutch KPN Mobile, Telecom Italia Mobile and Hutchison 3G - so European PlayStations will be wirelessly networked sooner than later. In the US, DoCoMo's iMode partner is AT&T. ®