Go! Cam (a.k.a. Chotto Shot) coming to rest of us!

At the beginning of this month news leaked that Sony had finally decided to give the rest of the world one of the most sought after additions for the PSP - the camera. Known in Japan as the Chotto Shot, Sony has rebranded it as the Go! Cam for its impending release in Europe which was originally scheduled for the 16 of May (Geek.com). Rumours have it at €49.99 for everyone (except the U.K., at £34.99) including the edit software. However, that date has been and gone without an appearance of the Go! Cam on store shelves - fortunately a quick look on Amazon.co.uk shows that they not only expect a May 25th release date, but they also have dropped the price to £29.99.

But, I hear you asking yourselves, what's so great about the Go! Cam? Well here's a short run-down on the specs according to Sony:

• 1.3 Mega-Pixel
• Wide angle lens (F2.8 f = 28 mm )
• Fixed focus (min. depth 40cm)
• Macro mode (distance 7cm)
• Digital zoom
• Still and motion capture
• JPEG (great format for going straight to YouTube)
• Mono-mic

On top of this, the camera comes with a UMD containing editing software which allows for many entertaining options including vfx such as speech bubbles, image warping, text and so forth. Although there will be a version of this software included in the Go! Cam, some concern has been expressed that it may not be as extensive as the Chotto Shot software - which is available only in Japanese. Ltes hope that's not the case - so keep an eye on the Go Edit website due to be up and runnning by the 23rd.

However the most exciting feature, for me at least, is the ability to rotate the camera 180 degrees so that it is looking at you whilst holding the PSP - add the fact that it has a microphone, as well as the (not so) recent dscovery of a mention of Skype in newer firmware, and we have the possibility that Sony and Skype will in the future support video telephony.

There are already several Choto Shot/Go! Cam videos creeping up on YouTube, and the quality seems quite usable. One won't be able to make a HighDef feature length film with it, but as the latest software update allows clips of greater length (apparently now only limited by the size of your memory stick), it will be a worthy substitute to the cell-phone - see below for a sample.




Now for those of you out there who are thinking "a camera is nice, but I want more", well one of the guys from AcidMods has modded his Chotto Shot for nightvision. There will hopefully be a tutorial soon, but theory is that one removes the IR filter from the camera and adds some IR LED's as an 'invisible' lighting source. Just goes to show, no matter how much money a corporation throws into R&D, some kid will always find a way to improve on it!

Looks like Sony not only have a winner accessory on their hands, but have finally heard the cries (more like deafening screams) of the PSP community to finally stop pandering only to the Japanese market.

Arigato Sony!