A company by the name of CuPhone has introduced a simple USB adapter for using your regular phone as a Skype device. It is called the “Echo Free” USB-to-Phone Adaptor and you’ll find it pricing around $34.

The CuPhone “Echo Free” USB-to-Phone Adaptor plugs into the USB port of a PC, allowing “the user to plug his regular phone into the RJ11 port on the adaptor to make and receive either Skype or normal landline” calls. The adaptor has built-in echo cancellation technology to improve audio quality.

If you have a PSP slim and you’re up to date with the firmware you may have been thinking about taking advantage Skype through the Wi-Fi connection on your PSP. One of the hurdles might have been getting your hands on a headset to use with the Skype feature, which seems to have taken an awful long time. In fact, you may remember that the Japan launch was delayed due to something wrong with the headset microphone.

Well, now SCEA has finally come around and yesterday launched the Skype compatible headset to make it easier to get some free VoIP calls from your PSP - one more thing that makes that portable game console just plain cool. The headset comes with stereo sound and a microphone for $30, which is more than we had heard, but at least its available now.

PSP Skype Headset via PSPFanBoy

We’ve been checking daily for that next firmware update we told you about earlier this month that is to include Skype VoIP calling, and looks like it hit today. Version 3.90 is available for download from the Network Update menu on the PSP and will bring support for more PlayStation Network titles to the PSP along with the ability to make and receive free Skype calls on your Playstation Portable. The announcement comes today from Sony Europe but the update appears to be available for download here in the U.S. as well.

Unfortunately this feature is available only on the newer, slim PSP 2000 models and will require you to get a PSP headset and PSP remote control or Go! Cam to operate the Skype features. The 3.90 firmware with Skype lets you make free internet calls through the PSP Wi-Fi connection much like you would from a computer and will even let you setup a new Skype account on the PSP. If you have some Skype credit you can also make SkypeOut calls to landlines for a fee.

With the BKBU-SKJ109/SV Buffalo keyboard and built-in Skype phone, you’ll have everything you need to communicate with the outside world right at your fingertips. This would be a great addition to any evil villains HQ, whether your mind is on the business of the day or taking over the world by night.(Though you might look a tad dorky on the phone as it looks a bit like a toy.)

The receiver is Skype certified, so it’s pretty much ready to go. You just need Skype on your machine and the appropriate software. The downside, as mentioned earlier is that the set is pretty small. I know they didn’t want to make the keyboard larger then necessary, but it is a bit funny looking. That’s okay though, once you take over the world, no one will laugh. Until then just tell yourself size doesn’t matter.

Sony is only days away from releasing the availability of Skype on the PSP and the company has released an announcement saying that the January 24th launch will be delayed. In particular, Sony officials said that the microphone products they’ve created for the PSP to go along with the Skype service are what is causing the problem.

Both the Single Pack and the Double Pack microphones did not meet Skype’s specifications, and instead of going on without them Sony is going to hold up the whole works. A new solution and a new launch date for the Skype service and microphones for the PSP are being “sought after” and will be announced at a later time.

The good news is that this delay so far seems limited to Japan. It’s strange that they would come to this conclusion only a day before the launch. Are the microphones for Japan customers different and not up to standard while the microphones for the U.S. are acceptable, or is there some other force in Japan that doesn’t like the idea of free mobile VoIP minutes?

Sony’s Playstation Portable handheld gaming console has been trailing in sales to the Nintendo DS since the DS’s inception, but Sony is a far cry from giving up quite yet. Last month we saw a pretty cool upgrade with the version 3.80 firmware for the PSP which brought internet radio through the systems WiFi connectivity. Now Sony is saying that they are partnering with Ebay’s Skype to bring VoIP Skype phone service to the handheld system.

The new firmware is slated to be available for download to the PSP by the end of January and will add a Skype icon and functionality to the Network portion of the PSP’s menu. When connected to the internet users will then be able to log into Skype, manage contacts, view who’s online and of course make calls through their PSP to other Skype users or other PSP owners with the Skype feature installed. Owners will even be able to create a new Skype account right on the PSP.

According to a release late last night Skype has announced that the service is back up and running as normal. “Hello friends, Take a deep breath. Skype is back to normal,” said a press release posted on the Skype site at about 11 am GMT. This marks the end of an outage that lasted over 48 hours and affected millions of users of the VoIP phone service.

Skype, a division of eBay, says that the sign-on problems have been taken care of …