''Talkman'' (PSP-240) is a program developed by Sony Computer Entertainment for the

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...

. It is a voice-activated translation software application that operates in four languages Japanese,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Korean, and Chinese (Mandarin). The name "Talkman" is a reference to Sony's

Walkman Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for ...

line of portable audio products. It was released in Japan on November 17, 2005 and in America on August 5, 2008 (via the PlayStation Store) as ''Talkman Travel''. In America, however, instead of receiving all the languages included in the Japanese version in one package, you have the option to buy a single pack for $2.99 a piece. Available packs are: Paris (French), Rome (Italian), and Tokyo (Japanese). The software is designed for travelers and entertainment, mostly containing

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

and useful travel phrases. While originally sold in and designed for the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese market for Japanese users, its translation function operates between all four language

In Japan, the software has proven popular with the middle-aged female demographic due to an interest in South Korean products, and Korean-language soap operas and movies; and as a fun English education aid for childre

This product has also been officially released in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

with a

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

packaging and manual. However, it does not seem that

is manufacturing any more of these for the Hong Kong market and most retailers that are sold out claims that it will no longer be restocked. Outside of pure translations, ''Talkman'' also lets players play games to test their fluency of a language. The program comes with a

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

included. This microphone draws power through two gold-colored contacts on the top of the PSP, one on each side of the mini-USB port. This is uncommon due to the ability for most USB products to draw power through USB. These proprietary contacts are similar to the gold-colored contacts on the bottom-right of the device, which are used for charging. Note: The

Chotto Shot The PSP Camera is a digital camera peripheral by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable handheld video game system. In Japan, the PSP-300 was released as the on November 2, 2006, and was released in Singapore in the same year. F ...

(aka "Go!Cam") has a built-in microphone that also can be used with the ''Talkman'' program.

''Talkman Euro''

Following the success of the Asian version of ''Talkman'', a version designed for translating European languages was developed and released on June 16, 2006.{{cite web, url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Talkman-PSP/dp/B000FH8Z2S/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1333947684&sr=1-1, title=Talkman, publisher=, accessdate=18 October 2016, via=Amazon ''Talkman Euro'' is available in two versions. The Japanese version contains support for English, Italian, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese, while the Chinese version contains support for Traditional Chinese instead of Japanese. The differences on the packaging (the Japanese flag as opposed to a flag with the word "mie" in Chinese) are minimal and hard to notice.

''Talkman'' UMD-only package

''Talkman'' is also released as a UMD-only package, so users who already have the USB mic or camera can choose to purchase this standalone version. The Sony PSP Headset has also been confirmed to work with ''Talkman''.

References

External links

Talkman GameSpot review of European versionPocket Gamer review of European versionTalkman Official site
PlayStation Portable games Machine translation