Two weeks ago the official PlayStation 3 wireless keypad was announced; this week Anand Agarwal, Product Manager for PlayStation Peripherals, reveals more information about the official bluetooth headset for the PS3 that was unveiled during SOCOM Media Day. The bluetooth headset will come bundled with SOCOM Confrontation next month and will be available as a standalone accessory later this year. The PS3 will receive a firmware update in the fall to unlock some new features for use by the headset. Check out the features below. The device will retail for $49.99 (approx. £25).
Features:
- The headset will feature "High-Quality (HQ) mode" with PS3. In this mode, the headset will take advantage of advanced voice technologies and noise cancellation techniques to provide clear and wideband voice input to the PS3. The HQ mode will ensure a much better voice chat quality on the PS3.
- HQ mode will also enable accurate speech recognition required to support or enhance "Voice Command" and "Voice Animation" features. Voice Command was originally used in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs for PS2 to administer the AI-controlled teammates using the WHO, WHAT, and WHERE format (example: Bravo, Attack, Nav Point Zulu). Voice Animation refers to the in-game character mimicking you during voice chat. With HQ mode, these features can be enabled on a much larger vocabulary in select PS3 games.
- PS3 will display an in-game status indicator exclusively for this headset that will show the headset’s connection status, battery charge level, speaker volume level and microphone mute status.
- Tired of wearing the headset during a long multiplayer gaming session or is your headset battery running out of charge? Just dock the headset in the supplied charging cradle, and the headset will work as a desktop microphone while charging.
- Last but not least, the headset will automatically pair with the PS3 by connecting with a USB cable.