Sonic Boom for PSP

Coming Soon - 2.1 home stereo speaker system and charger for PlayStation Portable (speaker system also compatible with iPod and other MP3 players) (Will be available from mid September)Bring your music, games and movies to life with the SonicBoom – a compact 2.1 stereo speaker system that delivers a truly awesome audio experience for your PSP or other MP3 players. With two speakers and a powerful sub-woofer, break the gaming sound barrier and transform your PSP for audio that is unparalleled by even the most powerful gaming consoles, let alone such a portable device.Use as a conventional speaker system, by docking your PSP or connecting your MP3 player and soaking up high-definition room-filling tunes or movie audio from its unique sub-woofer ActiveBass™ technology. Or, enjoy your PSP in full gaming mode by using the two-metre-long cable connectors to lie back and play remotely. Either way, the SonicBoom delivers a new level in audio experience whilst charging your PSP at the same time.2.4W per channel from 2 x speakers and 9.6W from 1 x sub-wooferActiveBass™ 2.1 technologyDocking stationMulti-system compatibility2m 'FreeStyle' cable extenders

HOT PSP Accessories

PSP Accessories Griffin Technology Rolls Out PSP Audio Accessories Griffin Technology has already built a reputation through their line of iPod products so we're excited to see their goodies for the PSP. iTrip PSP - $49.99 FM Transmitter that sends music straight to your (car) radio. iFM PSP - $49.99 Radio and Remote for the PSP. SmartShare PSP - $14.99 Headphone splitter with individual volume controls. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The PSP World according to Sony Sony has opened a store in Aoyama, and they're specialized in PSP accessories. there are plenty of nice things to admire (and purchase), but we do wonder what the added value of a PSP corkscrew or a PSP (wine)glass is... a watch, ok, but all those other gizmos. All the gear looks nice, but we won't even dare to mention any prices... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sony PSP Bluetooth This is a very cool accessory, the BT450Px (or c). This Bluetooth dongle connects to your PSP and transmits all audio to Bluetooth headphones. The dongle is BT v1.2 and A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) compliant Bluetake BT450PX i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Audio Transmitter - Product Code: HDW11X0042-001Manufacturer: BluetakeMfr part #: BT450PX The i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Pod Transmitter (P/N: BT450Px) allows the SONY PSP to transmit the CD quality stereo music wirelessly to the i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Headphone (P/N: BT450Rx) or the i-PHONO PLUS Bluetooth Stereo Headphone (P/N: BT420Rx) while you are enjoying the games, music and movies with the PSP. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 new Sony Media Recorders Sony has announced 3 new HDD and DVD Media Recorders today: the RDZ-D97A (400GB), the 77A (250GB) and the 87 (250GB). The 97A and 77A have a digital and analog TV tuner that allow you to record 3 shows simultaneously (1 digital and 2 analog). you can also connect your PSP to these Media Recorders and record straight onto the gaming console. The 3 models are DLNA compliant so you can connect these babies to your local network and share videos and pictures on other products. --------------------------------------------------------------- Rokuraku medialess Media Recorder Rokuraku has been selling Media Recorders with a HDD (max 300 GB) for a while now, and they were quality products. Here's a new version, without HDD this time, but with a USB port, so you can use an external HDD, a USB key or another media to store your videos in 480 at 6Mbps (DVD) and you can choose PSP and iPOD Video formats too. The design isn't quite there yet, but I remember that the video encoding works flawless. -------------------------------------------- MS recorder for PSP by Sony This is one for all the PSP lovers... Sony has announced a new video recorder. No HD, no HDMI, no DVD or BR... only the MS (MemoryStick)! This MSVR-A10 is a Mr reader/recorder that supports the MPEG-4 AVC(H.264) format and encodes the video straight onto the MS in 320x240, which gives you between 2h20 and 4h10 of video on a 1GB MS (depending on the compression). This little toy will cost less than 180 EUR. ----------------------------------------------------- Alu casing for PSP with battery, stand and speaker Green-House presents its GH-PSP-SA21C in Japan. It's a casing/pouch for the PSP made out of aluminium and it incorporates a stand , 2x1W speakers amd battery that should last for 10 hours. ------------------------------------------------- AKIBA TV : Test of the Rapsody S25 (HD Video Included) As you all know, the S25 is the perfect companion for your PSP, and thanks to this device, you can have an extremely large number of videos, MP3's and pictures (or even more for the smart ones) on your PSP!We had one of these in our gritty hands, and here's a review. The videos are definitely worth watching, and they're available in Flash or HD 720p. One of the things we'll show you is how to transfer a movie from the S25 to a PSP Rapsody S25 the review OR The PSP compatible 2.5" OTG HDD case is here! It seems that the S25 was very popular (considering the amount of emails we got about it), and here it is, FINALLY available via GeekStuff4U.com. A small recap for those of you who have the memory of a goldfish (approximately 3 seconds):"Our Korean partner SavitMicro has announced the official release of the S25, a casing for 2.5" HDD that offers OTG and USB2 functionalities and that allows you to copy your files from your digital camera or even your PSP. If you think your 1GB Duo Pro card is a bit on the small side, you'll have no space problems anymore with this box. "Here's a link straight to the product on GeekStuff4U " -------------------------------------------------- Sound day at Elecom Elecom presents 4 new audio products today: 2 headphones, 1 earphone and an external speaker set for TV or PSP. ------------------------------------------------ All-in-1 battery charger This is the BQ-X, a battery charger that is compatible with a whole range of products and that has a bunch of connectors. First of all it powers a lot of products that use the USB port to be recharged (PDA's for example), but also the iPOD, PSP,video recorder that store their video on memory cards in a mobile phone-compatible format in Japan, and this VRX-02 is now capable of recording video in a PSP-compatible format. ------------------------------------------- Record TV-DVD and watch it on your PSP You will be able to record from your video source onto CF or MemoryStick amd watch your favourite shows on your PSP, PDA, ... 2 days before the rest of the world thanks to GeekStuff4U! The Movie Recorder for PSP will be released on November 26th in Japan, and GeekStuff4U.com has managed to get hold of a batch of these devices before everybody else. So if you're looking for a solution thaay-trip from home to the office, here's what you need, here on GeekStuff4U! ------------------------------------------------------------------- PSP Giga Packet but ultra small stand After showing Totoro how I killed time in the subway by watching movies (Futurama and Cowboy Bebop), he finally gave in and got himself a PSP Giga Pack, and here are the pictures...What cracked me up was the stand that's worth like 2 yen... seriously, they should have omitted that plastic thing... other than that, the pack is really interesting if you need a 1GB MS. --------------------------------------------------- A new remote control for the PSP If you have a (black) PSP and you REALLY do not want to be mistaken for an iPOD user, you definitely have to get other headphones and another remote control for your beloved console, not the white ones but black ones this time around. The white iPOD headphones are considered classy by some but totally disliked by others. In any case, this is a solution if you're a part of the last category: headphones and a remote control for the PSP... in black! They're not manufactured by Sony though. So if the kids stop throwing rocks at you in the street from now on, you know who to thank for this, right? --------------------------------------------------- PSP and iPOD Video compatible video capture card IO-DATA has a video capture card that supports not only Mpeg2 but also Mpeg4 and it also offers recording formats tailored for the PSP or iPOD Video thanks to the GVencoder and a ULead software called Video ToolBox 2 for MemoryStick (that is also iPOD compatible).These are the GV-MVP/GX2W amd GV-MVP/GX2 cards. For those of you who ran out of free PCI slots or those that have a laptop, there is also an external version called GV-MVP/RZ3. ---------------------------------------------------- Bluetooth telephone, MP3 and PSP kit Japan is in the process of discovering Bluetooth and day by day more accessories are released into the wild, like this Bluetooth kit from a company called Try Electronics that connects to everything that has a line out, and available in 2 colours (black and white). The ideal tool for a phone, granted, but also for a MP3 player like the iPOD or a black or white PSP. ------------------------------------------------------ Location Free TV, free your PSP !!! Today's hot topic is the 2.5 firmware version of the PSP and everybody's showing off their tricked out PSP v2.5... but the most important aspect is the LF-PK1, a Wireless a/b/g access point that, once it is hooked up to the TV antenna, can stream video to a PC... or PSP! The PSP has become the IDEAL tool to walk around the house and never miss any of the TV shows. One problem remains though: it doesn't change the fact that there's nothing interesting showing on TV lately... ---------------------------------------------- Memory Card Video Recorder Record video onto a MemoryStick DUO for a PSP is very fashionable nowadays, and here's ANOTHER product that will be available soon in Japan, the HNT-MDR. There are 3 recording modes (Low, Medium and High) and at 798Kbps and 30fps you can put 150 minutes of video onto a 1Gb cars, all in QVGA 320x240 (NTSC only) . ---------------------------------------------------- PSP Wireless Headset Thanko presents yet another product that will destroy everything in sight... with its strange, big, ugly looks and horrible antenna... The concept of these wireless headphones is cool, but God, is this ugly or what?! ------------------------------------------------------- Pvralex, the video recorder for PSP at CEATEC 2005 We already talked about this product, but at CEATEC we had a real look at it. This video recorder stores its video on MemoryStick DUO cards in H.264 so that they can be read/played back on the PSP. there is even a USB port to store video onto an external HDD. The quality of the recording is excellent and even better than Mpeg2 at the same compression (Mbps). --------------------------------------------------- The Ceramic PSP is on sale NOW! Totoro was queuing this morning, just like 100 other crazy guys, in order to buy this beauty for his sister and he is sharing his pictures with us. --------------------------------------------------- TG gives you PSP when you buy a PC If your Geek Budget is quite limited and you hesitate between a PSP and a PC, look at this offer to get a PSP for nothing. Hop on a plane to Seoul, go and see a TRIGEM shop and they will offer you a PSP when you get a LLUON PC. Hurry up though, cuz this is a limited offer. And if you don't like to get a PSP, you can get a CoolPix instead of the game console... quite cool eh? --------------------------------------------------------- PSP speakers A 2.1 speaker set for the PSP. You can insert 3 alcaline batteries in them to avoid discharging the PSP battery and the device lasts up to 10 hours on those batteries. Dimensions: 280x38x102mm, weight: 430gr and a price of 70 EUR. ----------------------------------------------------- The all-in-1 PSP casing Princeton Japan presents a casing called PSP-MSHHS to protect your PSP (by adding a plexi casing of the same brand) and boost the speakers of your console. There's also a cradle in which you can charge the device and that connects the speakers. Quite... errrmm, no, very ugly in our opinion, but anyway... ------------------------------------------------------ The PSP video recorder Fuji Work's PvrAlex is a video recorder unlike any other recorder, with a sole purpose of recording in the H.264/MPEG-4 format in real time, which is the video format for the PSP. More surprising even is that this video recorder only has a MS DUO port, so it will record video only onto that card (61 minutes on a 256Mb card). There is a USB port on the device that will allow you to connect an external HDD to store the videos though.This product has potential, but there are several problems:1) it will cost as much as a HDD/DVD burner video recorder2) it is bigger than a HDD/DVD burner video recorder (280x45x220mm for 1.4kg)3) it only supports standard MS sticks4) EPG functions are not supported (so you can't program it from your phone or the Internet)So the concept is good, but they should at least include a HDD. ----------------------------------------------------- CardBus PCMCIA TV Tuner ELSA presents a CardBus card (PCMCIA format) called EX-VISION, which is a NTSC TV tuner with the possibility to capture video in Mpeg2/VMV, DivX or straight into the PSP-compatible format. --------------------------------------------------- The PSP Cradle You love your PSP and want to offer it a worthy throne? Well, here's the PSP Cradle, which is a charging cradle and it also has a connector to hook it up to some speakers. A perfect accessory that will allow you to look at some movies without holding the PSP in your hands. Very interesting indeed, but it lacks a Video-Out connector to view films and games on a big screen. -------------------------------------- The MPEG 4 video recorder A company called Taxane will start selling this video recorder in Japan. It records videos in MPEG4 straight onto Secure Digital and Stick memory cards, rendering the content compatible with the PSP, and DS. The machine will offer 2 quality levels: 320x240 15fps or 210x145 15fps. 320x240 seems to be acceptable, but what's with the 15fps? This is really not enough.You can expect a price below 130 EUR for this device -------------------------------------- Waterproof PSP? Our colleagues from the Japanese site Impress published a that will appeal to the lovers... especially those that cannot take their hands off it even when it rains, or when they take a shower, or when they go scuba diving... the company div presents this waterproof casing for the PSP. -------------------------------- 4GB Hard Drive + X2 Battery Pack (Datel) For Sony PSP Product Features 4 GB HDD built-in Provides 4 gigabytes of storage space for your PSP saves and files Effectively doubles the capacity of the standard PSP battery 3.6 volts - 3600 mAh Lithium-polymer battery technology Plugs at the back of your PSP Adds only 125 grams of weight The X2 Battery is a direct replacement for your PSP's rechargeable battery, but offers double the capacity of the standard model. Now bundled with a 4GB HDD, it gives you plenty of space for your saves and files on the go. The 4GB HD uses ultra-reliable Micro-Drive technology. The HD interfaces with the PSP by means of a flexible Memory Stick™ adapter which is plugged into the Memory Stick™ slot on the PSP. Once connected, the body of the HD attaches snugly to the back of the PSP by means of two location posts which slot into corresponding holes on the back of the PSP. When used in conjunction with the X-2 double capacity battery the 4GB HD forms an ergonomic extension to the PSP which follows the neat lines of the handheld, fitting snugly in your palms. Once connected, you use the 4GB HD just as you would a normal Memory Stick™; you can playback video, MP3s, movies and images and save from inside your PSP games. Technical Note: If you are experiencing a video-lag or out-of-sync problem, please update your PSP's Firmware. This problem doesn't occur with PSP Firmware 2.00 or above.

How can I copy DVD movies to my Sony PSP?

In a nutshell, the biggest problem you face copying your DVDs onto the PSP device is the same problem you have copying a commercial DVD for any other purpose: commercial DVDs have a variety of different protection mechanisms to prevent you from migrating the data from one device to another, making backup copies, or otherwise consuming it as your lifestyle requires.

There are a variety of different programs you can download for your Windows XP computer that will help circumvent these protection mechanisms, but generally they're all illegal to sell in the United States, so you'll find that their authors are all based overseas to avoid any problems. Is it ethical or legit to wantonly copy DVDs that you get from Blockbuster, Netflix or your pals? Of course not. That's a problem and I don't endorse that behavior for a second.

On the other hand, I have at least four different devices that can play movies, including my Sony PSP, an Apple iPod Video, an Archos AV-700 and a Wolverine MVP-100 multimedia device. If I want to take a movie that I already own and push it out to these devices, are organizations like the MPAA really expecting me to dutifully buy five copies of the movie, one for each platform? That's incredibly anti-consumer in my opinion. And so, I am offering up this tutorial on how to copy your movies (read that again: your movies) onto the Sony PSP.

The first, and perhaps most crucial step is to get a software program that removes the encryption and other protections from your DVD player on your PC, and after having tried out a bunch of free and pay solutions, I haven't found anything better than the $24 AnyDVD¹ application from Antigua-based SlySoft. What's particularly nice about their solution is that it's invisible: once you install it, programs that access the data on your DVD drive go through the AnyDVD app and never see any encoding, encryption, CSS, Macrovision, or regional encoding limitations. It's like waving a magic wand over the commercial DVD movies you put in your computer. You can get a sense of how it lets you interface with your DVDs by looking at its settings:

Once you have that set up and running (it requires a reboot and injects itself into the DVD driver, so it looks kinda like spyware, but it's benign and only accomplishes the one task of helping you access your DVD disks), you'll need a program that can read the data on the disk and convert it, compress it, and repackage it for the desired output device, in this case the Sony PSP.

There are lots of solutions in this space, including many commercial applications you can find from mainstream publishers like Roxio, but Slysoft's the winner here again, with its terrific and super easy-to-use CloneDVD Mobile¹ program. Combined, AnyDVD and CloneDVD Mobile will set you back about $50, about the same price as two UMD movies, and it can produce output for just about any modern portable media device.

Let me step you through how I copied a recent movie, The Island from DVD disk to the Sony PSP itself. First step was to get AnyDVD running, then I launched CloneDVD Mobile and selected the output media format:

Notice that it supports producing video for Apple iPod Video devices, Windows smartphones, Creative Labs Zen Vision devices, the Archos AV 700 device and, most importantly, the Sony PSP. In fact, it offers two different PSP video formats: AVC/H264 and MP4. The former takes longer on conversion but should generate smaller movie files, so that's what I choose, and clicked Next. Then I needed to select the DVD disk itself (obviously, you need a DVD reader in your computer for this process to work, by the way!):

Once I'd done that and cilcked on "OK" the CloneDVD Mobile program instantly figured out the disk layout and showed me all the track details and even a tiny preview:

To make a nice icon for the movie, I stepped the preview forward until it was a mnemonic frame, as you can see, rather than just a generic black screen which is how just about every movie starts. Again, I clicked Next to proceed, and:

Most DVDs have more than one audio track: make sure you select the one you want at this point (and some movies, like Hero have a default track that's not English. In the case of Hero the default language is Chinese, in fact) and again click Next:

Just about ready to start up the program. The only step left is to specify the output device, which I've already done here.

A note of warning: you can specify that CloneDVD Mobile should save the output file onto your PC so you can copy it onto the PSP later, but I couldn't get that to work properly. Instead, I recommend that you hook your PSP up to your computer before you start this process, also plug it into the wall, and just let the program write directly to the Sony PSP as it goes along.

The filenames are weird and un-mnemonic (I'm producing MAQ10001.mp4, for example) but they fit the Sony PSP's expectations of video file names, so I would discourage you from changing them. And if I haven't said so before, the PSP is very cranky about video files...

At this point I also recommend you change the label to something friendly and mnemonic too. I changed mine to "THE_ISLAND" as you can see in the screen shot.

You might also move the video quality slider to determine where you want to balance quality against file size. Needless to say, the higher the quality, the bigger the output file: at the very best possible quality level (25) this movie would be 683MB in size, while the worst quality (5) shrinks it down to an unviewable but impressively small 193MB. I always go for the middle value of 15, which in this case is estimated to produce a 438MB output movie file.

And yes, this means that you need that much space on your PSP Memory Stick for this process to work. I highly recommend that you buy at least a 1GB Memory Stick if you're playing with video. I have a 2GB stick, personally, and love having three movies neatly stored on the device for viewing anytime.

Everything looks good, so let's Go!

This is the screen you'll now see while the CloneDVD Mobile program is running. This is not a blindingly fast process: The Island took over two hours on my Pentium WinXP box to convert. That might be dramatically faster or slower than your own computer depending on DVD disk speed, RAM, CPU speed, and various other factors.

After some time passes (I went out for a walk, personally) you'll eventually see this cheery message:

Done! Hurray, finally a very painless way to push your favorite DVD movies onto the Sony PSP and just about any other portable video device.

Even better, it looks great:

It's not much work, but there's a lot of time involved. If you have a big disk, you can certainly create a nice archive of your favorite films in PSP format, then once someone comes out with a decent PSP hard disk (which I can't believe isn't already on the market) you could easily travel with 10, 20, even 100 of your favorites.

Nice!

Overcoming the Sony PSP Video Challenge

Sony's new portable video game system, the Portable PlayStation (PSP), is a stunning achievement, offering a console-quality video game experience and a stunning DVD-quality movie presentation. But the PSP's potential extends much further—these devices are ready to take on Portable Media Centers (and other portable digital movie players), MP3 players, and even PDAs. For these features to really take off, however, the PSP really needs better desktop tools. For the short term, we're stuck with the bogus tools that Sony provides, as well as a growing library of third-party applications, many of which are free or cheap. This week, I take a look at some of the ways you can watch videos on your PSP.

Some Basics

Before you begin, you're going to need a beefier Memory Stick Duo card than the 32MB stick that Sony supplies with the PSP. If you're serious about watching video, you're probably going to want a 1GB stick, which can be difficult to find inexpensively these days. You'll also likely need a Memory Stick Duo Adapter, which lets you use a Memory Stick Duo card in more common standard Memory Stick readers. I use such an adapter to interface the PSP's Memory Stick Duo cards with the 9-in-1 media reader on the front of my PC (which natively accepts standard Memory Stick cards).

Memory Stick cards must be specially set up to work properly with the PSP. For example, you must create folders named MUSIC and PHOTO under the root-level folder PSP to store music and picture files, respectively. You might think, then, that you'd store video files in a folder called VIDEO or MOVIES. However, that's not the case. Inexplicably, Sony makes you jump through hoops before you can watch Memory Stick-based movies on your PSP.

First, you must create a folder called MP_ROOT in the root of the Memory Stick (next to PSP). Inside that folder, you must create a folder called 100MNV01. Then, inside that folder, you can store only a very specific kind of video file (768Kbps or lower MPEG-4 with a resolution of 480 x 720 or lower). And those video files must be specially named. The first video file should be named M4V00001.mp4, followed by other video files with sequential names (M4V00002.mp4, M4V00003.mp4and so on). But wait, there's more: If you want the PSP to display a thumbnail of the videos in its menu system, you must also supply thumbnail files. These files will follow the same naming conventions of the actual video files. So the first one will be named M4V00001.thm. Good PSP tools create these files for you.

Make It Happen on the PC

Confused? Let's see how it works. On the PC, I've tried a few tools to convert movies into the MPEG-4 format that the PSP requires. My favorite is PSP Video 9. This handy free tool converts various video formats to MPEG-4, then copies them to the PSP.

You must manually create the proper directory structure on the PSP first, however, and then configure PSP Video. I used 512Kbps 320 x 240 movies with 96Kbps sound, which takes up about 4MB of space per minute. And I tested MPEG-2, Windows Media Video (WMV), and QuickTime MOV files. The process seems to work just fine, and the content I've converted runs the gamut from home movies to movie previews to recorded TV shows.

Mac Works, Too

On the Macintosh, I've been using a fantastic tool called PSPWare, which will also soon be ported to Windows. PSPWare lets you synchronize music, photos, videos, and other information (including saved game backups) between your OS X-based Mac and the PSP. The video feature is particularly well done: You simply configure PSPWare to convert videos to the desired format (typically 320 x 240, but it supports a widescreen mode too) and quality level, and PSPWare does all the work behind the scenes—including the video conversion.

PSPWare is particularly nice because of the wide range of functionality it provides, but it also handles the messy job of creating and maintaining the properly formatted folder and file structures that the PSP requires. I can't wait to see the PC version. PSPWare costs $15 and is well worth the money.

One concern I have about both these tools is their audio/video synchronization. I haven't quite figured out the exact problem, but higher-quality, non-MPEG video files that need to be transcoded down quite a bit to match the PSP's capabilities seem to be the worst culprits. I'll keep testing these and newer tools, and see how this market progresses.

Can't put movies on my psp ?

The AV Forums is an independently run resource for people interested in home consumer electronics. We focus mainly on home cinema and DVD, but include certain related interests such as digital photography, camcorders, gaming, computer hardware and mobile phones. We are the largest AV home consumer electronics forums in the UK and we are growing fast. http://www.avforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-209792.html

Sony PSP Survival Guide (The Facts, Links, How-TOs... What you need to know.) SEE ALSO: PSP Video: Need for Speed Underground (Rivals) - PSP PlayStation Portable's OS Background Color Changes Monthly - PSP Photos: In-Action (Music, Movies, TV) AS SEEN ON DIGG: http://digg.com/gaming/Sony_PSP_Survival_Guide_(The_Facts,_Links,_How-TOs...) Software Links... - Windows Users: Engadget tells how to rip movies to your PSP. (Mac Users: I have a blurb about this below.) - Win/Mac: iPSP syncs your Music/Photos/Video onto your PSP. However, the video feature didn't work for me, and I though the overall program was lousy. It got my music onto my PSP but most of it was corrupted. (that might have been my fault, though) Also, the interface kept glitching out. (Shareware, $20) - Mac: PSPware is an AWESOME application for PSP-syncing on the Macintosh. It's like iPSP, but half the price and actually works. - Win/Mac: XLink Kai lets you daisy chain your PSP through your PC or Mac's compatible wireless card and play online with others. Check it out. - UPDATE: Here's a direct link to how to set this up on your Mac once you have it installed: http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9544 - Windows: Here's an article with information about how to transfer your 'Tivo-To-Go' files to your PSP. Check it out. - Engadget has some information on Web Browsing on your PSP. It seems the PSP OS (Firmware) has a built-in browser! Slick. - Lt.Ping alerted me to his detailed WiFi Setup Guide for the PSP on the Playstation Forums. Check it out here. Battery Life. The Sony PSP is rumored to have terrible battery life. However, Sony has taken steps to remedy this problem in their software. First, Wi-Fi can be toggled on and off, and also has a power-save mode. The screen auto-dims and turns off after a period of inactivity, as well. Also, the PSP can be put to sleep by casually switching the system off and on using the power switch... and you're brought right back to where you were before! (in a game, in the menus, etc.) To power the console off completely, hold the power switch for a second or two and the system should shut-off completely. NOTE: All PSPs ship from the factory with an AC Adapter and rechargable battery, unless otherwise marked. Memory Sticks. Since the system is ONLY being sold as a bundle right now, everybody gets a 32MB Memory Stick DUO Pro with their console. This is MORE than enough for Saved Games, and can even handle a few songs or pictures, but if you're hoping to put Movies or a few albums on your portable, you'll have to shop for a larger chip. There's a base-price you pay for each chip, and the upgrade to a larger chip is usually worth it. 512MB chips are usually $75 to $120, which hold a fair-amount of Music, but probably less than a full movie with a few songs on the side. 1GB chips are hard to find and very expensive, generally costing from $150 (Sandisk) to $220 (Sony). Sandisk.com reports that they're backordered, as does SonyStyle.com. (however, my 1GB DUO Chip just shipped from SonyStyle so they must have gotten a shipment in recently. UPDATE: it just arrived!) Controls. The buttons on this aren't stiff or anything like that, and easy to press. The "analog-stick" is kind of lame, though. I assumed it was a mini-joystick... but it's actually this little thing that slides around in only 2D. (left, right, up, and down... rather than at any angles as well) It's awkward and difficult to move. I prefer the D-Pad even in racing games. The Screen. The 16:9 wide-screen (480x272) of the PSP is super-crisp. The PSP OS takes full advantage of it with its weaving animations and bright colors, and the game graphics are very detailed in most cases. Wi-Fi. (Wireless) The only internet connectivity so-far for Software Updates to the PSP OS and Online Play is via Wi-Fi. I had no issues using this with both my Linksys WAP and Airport Extreme base stations. The PSP also has an AdHoc system built-in for multiplayer without a local-area wireless network. There is a physical switch on the left of the unit to turn Wi-Fi on and off. Music/Audio. The PSP audio player is excellent. I consider it blend between an iPod Photo and an iPod Shuffle... in that there is album artwork displayed, yet due to size constraints it only holds a portion of your library. It also has a shuffle feature, and supports Playlists. The sound quality is satisfactory. The PSP also has a few different EQ settings that can be activated by pressing the 'Select' button... including Heavy, Unique, and Pops. The EQ can also be turned off using the 'Select' button by cycling through to the 'off' setting. I'm not sure if this is just me or not, but my PSP shows a "Corrupted Data" file for each MP3 I add to my PSP. However, if I scroll past these, my Music is safely listed below and plays just fine. Very strange. (Hopefully there will be a software update to fix this.) UPDATE: This problem has been fixed as of Version 1.5.0. This software update was offered to Japanese PSPs on the US release date. The PSP supports both MP3 and 'ATRAC3plus'... whatever that is. I haven't had anything to do with ATRAC3 since I had a MINIDISC Player a few years ago. USB. While in USB mode, the PSP acts as a Storage Interface to its inserted DUO Pro Memory Stick (if available). This mounts a drive on your Mac, or adds a new drive into 'My Computer' on Windows. Always remember to 'disconnect hardware' (Windows) or 'eject' (Mac) the device before unplugging it or your stored data will be corrupted. The PSP file structure is like this: * '/PSP/GAME' -- For games stored on your memory card. (perhaps for downloads in the future? Not sure about this.) * '/PSP/MUSIC' -- For music. * '/PSP/PHOTO' -- For your pictures. * '/PSP/SAVEDATA' -- For your saved games. * '/MP_ROOT/101MNV01' -- For movies and video. (MPEG-4) If these folders do not exist on your PSP's memory card, the easiest way to create them is to format the memory stick using the option in System Settings on the PSP itself. (with the card inserted) THIS WILL ERASE any saved games, music, movies, photos, software, etc., on the card (NOT your UMD discs), so if you don't want to do that just create the folders by hand. Even after formatting the card, the MP_ROOT folder for movies, and/or others, may still not exist and need to be created manually. You can place files directly into these folders, OR create new folders inside these to group content together. However, folders inside folders inside folders, (example: '/PSP/PHOTO/MYVACATION/DAY3') will not be recognized. The PSP does NOT come with a USB cable. I had an extra kickin' around so I just used that. The PSP has a typical Mini-USB connector on it, and should work with any standard USB to Mini-USB cable that may have come with a digital camera, cellphone, MP3 player, etc. Or, you can buy one from a computer store for less than $20. (estimate) The device DOES support USB2.0 for high-speed transfers with compatible machines. Photos. Any JPEG images stored in the proper location (see above) can be viewed on the PSP. Unfortunately, it does not seem to support viewing photos fresh from digital cameras' memory chips... which I would have liked. There is also a slideshow option with adjustable speed, and photos can be zoomed. Video. Although Sony will soon offer various UMD movie titles for purchase and direct use with the PSP... who wants to PAY for UMD movies of DVDs you already own!? Not me... screw that. As I linked above, Engadget has an article for converting your DVDs to PSP-compatible MPEG-4 files, but what about us Mac users? I have the solution for you here. IMPORTANT: Regardless of whether you use a Mac or PC, you have to remember something: The PSP only seems to support videos in 320x240 dimension, which is NOT widescreen. However, if you squish a 16:9 picture (for example, from a widescreen DVD) to 320x240, there IS an option to stretch the image back out on the PSP. The quality is far from DVD, but it's not THAT bad. Anything that is not 320x240 will be recognized as "incompatible" by the PSP. TIP: I generally like to sacrifice quality for more content, so setting the bitrate down as far as possible while still being able to see the picture will generally store about two megabytes for every minute of video (audio included). The setting varies from program to program, but with FFMpegX I just set the bitrate to 1kb/s and it seems to find the appropriate level automatically. All PSP Videos must be named like M4VXXXXX.MP4 (replace the 'X's with random numbers)... and yes it has to be capitalized like that. The PSP will ignore all other files... including lowercase ones like '.mp4', which is stupid... but the way it is. The PSP uses some strange XviD/MPEG-4/3GP/AAC combination for its video format. On the Mac, there are two different tools we can use to convert DVD's VOB files to these formats: - FFMpegX - and, altShiiva. FFMpegX is harder to install, yet easier to use. altShiiva is very easy to install, yet its videos didn't work on my PSP. However, since altShiiva can produce the thumbnail files (.THM) that show up next to the movies on the PSP... I use FFMpegX for the flicks and altShiiva for the Pics. Visit FFMpegX's PSP tutorial for more information: http://homepage.mac.com/major4/psp.html I'll admit that I had a lot of problems getting FFMpegX to read some of my Movies, and also to produce files that would actually work on the PSP. However, the trick is to convert whatever movie you're trying to use to DivX using Quicktime... THEN use FFMpegX to convert it to a PSP MP4. That worked great for me. FFMpegX had no issues reading .VOB files I ripped from a DVD (with DVDBackup), and it converted them without issues. Remember, you HAVE to squish *all* video to 320x240 pixels... even if its 16:9. You can later choose to stretch the picture out on the PSP itself. (there's a display option) Random, Games. Gran Turismo 4 PSP is coming out later this Spring, and Grand Theft Auto PSP in just a few weeks. The current launch titles are okay, but not great... as many are lousy, watered-down copies of PS2 titles like Tony Hawk's Underground 2. Hopefully this won't be the case for long. I'm satisfied with Need for Speed Underground 'Rivals' at the moment. The graphics are *excellent*. UPDATE: Lumines is my new favorite game, and I don't think that's going to change. :) It's very similar to Tetris, but with DJs doing the music, a new method of clearing blocks (colors), and other cool stuff. Definitely check it out... you might get sick of it if you play it too much, but it'd be pretty hard since every single time you play it's a brand-new experience! Definitely worth buying... it's only like $40. (one of the cheaper PSP games, heh)

HOW-TO: Get videos and DVDs onto your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free

HOW-TO: Get videos and DVDs onto your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free

Posted Dec 21st 2004 1:10PM by Dan Wu

Filed under:

Gaming,

Handhelds,

Home Entertainment,

Peripherals,

Portable Audio,

Portable Video

This week's How-To is only going to apply to the lucky six or seven of you who've managed to already get your hands on a PlayStation Portable, the rest of you will just have keep this one in mind and come back to it when the PSP comes out here in the States in March. We're going to show you step-by-step how to get video clips on to your PSP without having to spring for any additional software.

When you format a Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo stick in your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP), you will get a new PSP folder, with sub-folders for ?game?, ?music?, ?photos?, and ?savedata?. But nothing for videos? What?s up with that? Well, it turns out that you need to put MPEG-4 video files in their own special folder, one that?s not in the PSP directory, but in the main root directory of the Memory Stick.

Just create a new folder in the root directory named MP_ROOT, and then make a folder called 100MNV01 in there. So your .MP4 files should go into E:\MP_ROOT\100MNV01, where E:\ is the drive letter of your Memory Stick. You also need a PC, as the converter software does not work with Macs. This MP_ROOT directory structure is directly cribbed from Sony?s UX/VZ Clie PDA series, which also plays MPEG-4 videos. Sony does offer up Image Converter 2.1, but they charge 1000 yen (around $10) for it. We?re going to show you how to do it for free.

First, we need to download 3GP Converter, currently in version 0.22 (2.7MB).

http://www.nurs.or.jp/~calcium/3gpp/

Unzip the 3GPC .ZIP file into a directory of your choice, and run setup.exe. You may see a bunch of weird characters, but don?t worry, it?s set to Japanese by default. Scroll down to the bottom of the 3GP Converter Setup window and select the English radio button, select Customized: MP4, for PSP (Direct, renamed) the then press Apply. This is the setting for conversion of video files to MPEG-4 format that can be played by the PSP, and renamed so your PSP recognizes it (such as M4V31337.MP4). Unfortunately, the PSP currently won?t recognize file names such as TheUsualSuspects.MP4 or TheOCSeason2Episode4.MP4.

Now, the 3GP Converter program window is open (if not, you can double-click the 3GP_Converter.exe program to run it). Click the Select button to choose where you want your converted PSP MP4 video files to reside. We just chose C:\3GP_Converter.

The program may ask you to install QuickTime Authoring before being able to convert your video files. A simple click of the Do It Now button will suffice.

The drop down box is what level quality setting you want your MP4 video to have. All outputted videos will have QVGA (320x240) resolution. You can choose from 15 or 29.97 frames per second, with 29.97 fps being a lot smoother. The third item listed in the quality settings is the video bitrate, the higher the bitrate, the better quality your video will turn out, with the highest quality being 1500kbps. The QB# settings appear to be variable bit rate (VBR) settings, where the converter will use a higher bitrate when necessary. The QB4 setting is the lowest quality VBR option, and QB10 the highest quality VBR. Next is the options for audio, choose between Mono or Stereo. The last bitrate is for your audio quality, you can choose from 32kbps (lower quality) to 128kbps (highest quality). The higher quality setting you choose, the slower it will be to convert.

Now drag whatever file you want to convert into MPEG-4 format into the blank area of the program window. Here we chose a Shark Tale trailer, originally in DivX Pro HD format, to convert with the ?QVGA/29.97fps/1500kbps Stereo/128kbps? setting, the highest quality setting that 3GP supports. When the program is finished converting the video into MP4 format, the program will rename the file to something like M4V04895.MP4.

Now setup the USB connection (or take out your Memory Stick Pro Duo and stick in a

reader) on your PSP to copy the video files over. The correct folder name for videos is E:\MP_ROOT\100MNV01 (where E: is the drive letter of your PSP). Copy your .

MP4 video(s) over (the .THM files that 3GP Converter creates are not necessary for

playback), and then disconnect the PSP USB connection by pressing the X button.

Scroll over to Video in your PSP menu and select it by pressing the O button. It should list

your converted MP4, with title, date, and length of video. Press O again and it will start

playing.

There are four screen display modes, which you can choose from by pressing the triangle

button. Scroll up to Screen Mode (2nd from left on the top row) and use the O button to

scroll between Normal, Zoom, Full Screen, and Original modes. Normal is fin

New Sony Locationfree LF-PK1 TV Place Shift Device

Sony announces a new gadget in its Locationfree line. The Sony Locationfree LF-PK1 is a TV place shift device, that enables consumers to watch TV via the Internet. Sony's other Locationfree devices are wireless TVs. The new locationfree device is comparable to the Slingbox from Sling Media. The Sony LF-PK1 connects wirelessly to a PCs or other devices running a Sony media streaming software (LFA-PC2). I first thought the LF-PK1 needs a PC to enable outside access to view live TV from the net, but I4U reader Sam convinced me that this is not the case. So Sony is head on competing with Slingmedia. The Location free LF-PK1 goes for about $300. Related Products: Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pak - Buy.com Sony LF-X1 - CompUSA Sony SRS-T57 - PC Connection Related Stories: SHIFT - The Transforming Bicycle shift.tv: Online Personal Video Recorder Sony LocationFree TV LF-X1 Review More Related Stories

do not know what the PSP Media Manager 1.0 is, it's a software from Sony that allows you to manage your PSP

For those of you who do not know what the PSP Media Manager 1.0 is, it's a software from Sony that allows you to manage your PSP and lets you transfer pictures, music and video feeds, but you can also manage your games and backups on your MS... so it's a must-have/use if you have a SPP. In the Feeds-section, you can manage content especially created for the PSP, just like our Akiba PSP News!So how does it work? Very simple, once a PSP News is available on Akiba, it's automatically availble on the feed in your PSP Media Connect and the software automatically downloads the zip file of PSP news, extracts it and installs it onto your PSP... it could not be easier!Only the English feed are available by default under "Cool Feeds" - "Magazines". To add the French feed, you just need to paste this link into the software: Also noteworthy is that you can be alerted automatically when a new PSP News is available by using the same feeds in a different RSS software.Here's the link for the English feed: http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/index.php?page=pspnews And the link to the French feed: http://www.akihabaranews.com/fr/index.php?page=pspnews To download Sony's PSP Connect software, click here! Akihabara News has been offering videos to download for almost 3 years now, and we recently formalized this matter in Akiba TV where you get flash videos and formats adapted to the iPOD and PSP. 2 new categories will appear on January 2nd, Akiba TV and PSP news, and our gratitude goes out to A.D. from Sony Connect. We tested the RSS feed of PSP news and the success was instant, so this feed will be available to everybody soon, and besides the PSP newsin images you'll also have the video version (still on the RSS feed).But we're not stopping there, and we would like to offer HD videos (720 or 1080), and here's the first test with a video of Nihon Car & Bike. It's 2 minutes long in 720p MPEG and weighs in at 280MB. these videos are available in torrent at this moment, so here's the file to use: Toyota bB 2006 HD VideoThe goal is to see whether my desktops at the office and Totoro's PC's at home can take it. If you have some disc space or bandwidth available, ot if you have any ideas on how to improve things, don't hesitate to get in touch, k? Also, if a company is interested in this project, we would be very happy to mention their logo and details in the videos.If this test has positive results, the first HD video from Akiba will be online on Janury 11th with some very exclusive news... you want a clue? It's from Sanyo and it's going to kill everything!

Buffalo will release the PC-MV9H/U2, an external TV Tuner recorder

Buffalo will release the PC-MV9H/U2, an external TV Tuner recorder that uses the H.264 codec (720x240 at 10Mbps) to record any kind of video on your PC. The main selling point of this product however is its PSP and iPOD function which, once selected, will format any video to match the requirements of your PSP or iPOD and this without the need to reconvert them.

Microsoft Launches On10

On10 is a new video show/blog/community website that profiles interesting and passionate people. It's been setup by Channel 9 folks and the blogs are manned by Microsoft employees so it's a total Microsoft lovefest. The PSP releated news is that they've made their daily video download available in WMV, IPod Video and PSP Video formats. On10.net Website

New PSP

A post on Ain't It Cool News confirmed rumors that Sony would ship a new PSP before Christmas. According to the post, the new PSP will be thinner, lighter and outfitted with 4GB of memory and a built-in camera. We don't know how a movie rumors site became a cutting edge PSP news source but we like what we hear. Ain't It Cool News PSP News Story

Question Answers about PSP

Question Answers :

1.	Which PSP games are appropriate for an 8-year-old child? (1 Answer)
2.	If the PSP isn't yet capable of browsing the Web, how will initial models be upgraded? (4 Answers)
3.	Can the PSP play Playstation 1 and 2 games? (2 Answers)
4.	Can I put passwords on my PSP so only I can use it? If so, how? (1 Answer)
5.	Is there anything I need to buy to go with the PSP, like special cables, adapters? Can I use it straight out of the box? (1 Answer)
6.	Can you hook a PSP to a PS2, and if so what can you do with it? (1 Answer)
7.	How common are injuries (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) caused by playing too much PSP? (1 Answer)
8.	How do I delete stuff off my PSP memory stick? (1 Answer)
9.	What are the most popular PSP games? (1 Answer)
10.	Can I play PSP games from all regions with a Japanese PSP? (1 Answer)
11.	Is it possible to go on to the web with your PSP and download games from there? (1 Answer)
12.	What are all the functions of a PSP? (2 Answers)
13.	Does the PSP have a night light to play games in the dark? (2 Answers)
14.	How long does a PSP battery last? (2 Answers)
15.	Can the Sony PSP be attacked by viruses while online? (2 Answers)

How can I get shows from tivo onto my Sony PSP

Basically, you need to unlock your .tivo file and convert it from MPEG2 to MPEG4. To do this, download two free programs: 3GP Converter and AviSynth 2.55. Install AviSynth and then launch 3GP. The first time you run it, configure 3GP for English and set output to PSP, Direct, Renamed. You'll also need to edit the 3GP .ini file so that it recognizes TiVo files by adding this line in the [Avisynth] section: Ext3=TIVO:\cores\AVS_Skelton.avs. Once you've done that, launch 3GP, choose an output directory, drag your .tivo file in, and conversion should begin. You can play around with output settings, though 368x208/29.97fps/QB7 Stereo/96kbps seems to have a decent balance of quality, file size, and time to convert. Your output file (i.e.: M4V00007.MP4) needs to be located in \MP_ROOT\100MNV01\ on your memory stick for the PSP to find it.

4/13/05 Update The authors of PSP Video 9 have incorporated the above .tivo file recognition and AviSynth into their application. This means you can skip the above steps and manipulate TiVo files directly through the free PSP Video 9, which also includes PSP synchronization features.

If you experience bad audio/video sync or crashes with your configuration, unwrap .tivo files using GraphEdit or DirectShow Dump as described above, and then run your .mpeg through PSP Video 9.

FYI X Copy PSP rips DVD's to the appropriate resolution, file size, and file type with appropriate labeling onto your PSP memory stick

E-books on your PSP

Written by T

Saturday, 26 March 2005

Courtesy of GameFries Two days after the launch and I'm already looking around to try and squeeze extra functionality on my PSP. Well, I got to thinking, the high contrast screen would be great for e-books. Why not? Might as well start hacking this glorious new piece of electronics ASAP. So for today's lesson, we'll be using Davinci's Notebook, provided by the wonderful folks over at Project Gutenberg. And here are some steps, you know, for people that like that sort of thing: Click here to download PaperlessPrinter. It's completely free for non-commercial use. If you want to check out the company, hit up this link. The software does nag you once in awhile to register, but there's definitely no spyware. Install it. This adds a new printer called "PaperlessPrinter." This is what you want to use. Ch...ch...check it out: Open the file that ebook you downloaded. Go file->print then click preferences after you have the PaperlessPrinter selected. Make your shit look like this: Now hit OK, and click Print. You'll see a dialog pop up asking you which file type you want. Hit jpeg, of course: Click OK on that shit and you'll be brought to the meat of the program. Hit the quality tab to adjust the quality. This adds a bit of blur around the letters, but otherwise is unnoticable. I recommend laying it down around 30, and set the jpeg to greyscale just to keep things clean. I strongly recommend making a seperate folder, as this saves each page as a seperate jpeg. Click OK and it'll start hacking away at the files. For a 478 page book, it only took about 4 minutes on my measly 1.2ghz Athlon. This is what you should see: Awww yeah. After it crunches away, you'll be left with a whackload of jpegs to plop on your PSP. Here is a picture of the device viewing the book we just made: On the editorial side, I apologize for being so picture-heavy, and also a little bit picture stupid. I enjoy visual aids, and am terrrrible with photoshop. In any case, there are a few notes to add to this method: The virtual printer you installed can be used for *ANY* document. This includes websites, text files, word files, essentially anything that can be printed. The text is small, but relatively high contrast. I can read it fine, but my vision is also good. Anybody with bad vision may not have much success with this method. The files generated are HUGE without any encryption. DaVinci's notebook rang in at an astounding 150 mb. Lowering the quality will lower the file size significantly. Please e-mail me if you have any suggestions at all for improving this method. I'll get right on it. It's a remedial sledgehammering way to get e-books on the PSP, and I'm sure there's a better method.

Look below to find out more about your PSP!

Look below to find out more about your PSP!

What is UMD?

UMD (Universal Media Disc) is a new, proprietary, high-capacity optical medium enabling game software, full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content such as movies and music, to be stored. The newly developed UMD is the next-generation compact storage media and at only 60mm in diameter, can store up to 1.8GB of digital data, making it perfect for a portable entertainment player like the PSP system. UMD stores a broad range of digital entertainment content including games, music, movies, and more. For example, a feature length film can fit on to a single UMD.

What format will the UMD Video be released in?

All films will be released in widescreen - compatible with the 16:9 screen on the PSP.

How do I download on to my PSP?

To view the tutorial, click here

Do I need special software to download to my PSP?

Yes, there is software available from Sony. To visit Sony's download site, click here.

There is also iPSP Movie Loader. iPSP Movie Loader works in two ways: by clicking a PSP Movie link on the web, or by double-clicking a downloaded PSP Movie Document. iPSP Movie Loader requires your PSP to be connected to your computer and mounted on the Desktop and an active connection to the internet. To download iPSP Movie Loader, click here

Can I connect my PSP system to my PC?

You'll need a USB cable that has a "Mini-B" connector (common for digital cameras) and a "Standard-A" connector (common for printers, etc). Plug the Mini-B side into the top of your PSP system and the Standard-A side into your PC. From the PSP system software, navigate to the top of the settings list and select "USB Connection." Your PC (Windows/Mac/Linux) should detect a new "Removable Disk Drive" that you can then access.

How do I use UMD with my PSP handheld?

Movies on UMD are inserted into the PSP player just like games. See the instructions that came with your device for more information.

Share a PSP Game

Load a level, then eject the disc. The PSP will ask if you want to quit. Click “No” and keep playing. Pass the disc to your buddy so he can start his own game.

Frag Like a Pro

f you get blown to giblets in the first 10 seconds of videogames like Unreal and Halo, maybe Tom “Tsquared” Taylor can help. A pro Halo player and the founder of Gaming-Lessons.com, taylor offers this advice for kicking a little n00b butt.

»Study the terrain. You may be lost, but your opponents aren’t. To avoid getting double-barreled in the back, learn the maps by playing alone. You’ll not only memorize layouts and weapon locales, but also find hidden shortcuts. Picture your enemy’s face when you snipe him through an open skylight.

»Work on strafing. Strafing – or sidestepping – is the best way to avoid getting a face full of metal in a close-quarters melee. But you need to vary your moves: Try two long side-to-side jumps followed by two short ones. The pattern is hard for opponents to figure out but easy for you to remember.

»Know your guns. Experiment with how different munitions work and how to use them effectively. Shooting a rocket into the ground near a foe will surely kill him, but you’ll need to know the blast radius. And be creative: Grenades, for example, are often more than lethal weapons – they’re sometimes used to flatten walls and move objects.

»Increase look speed. Set your controller to track faster – much faster. Initially, you’ll want to puke, but you’ll also be able to turn quicker than your foes. When someone attacks you, you’ll be able to whip around, splatter them across a wall, and continue on your way.

New things with PSP Firmware v2.0

• Themes and Wallpaper—While the monthly background color change that was the only option with previous versions of the firmware remains as the “Original” theme, you can now select any of the 12 colors as your default theme as well. Also, you can navigate to Photo—>Memory Stick, choose any of your pictures and click X to display the picture. While it is displayed, hit the Triangle button and choose Set as Wallpaper from the control panel to make that image the background wallpaper image for your PSP’s main control interface.
• Transfer pictures via WiFi—While you are viewing a picture, you can also hit the Triangle button and select send to attempt to send the picture to another PSP. While either having the Memory Stick selected under Photo or one of the folders in your Memory Stick selected, you can hit the Triangle button and choose Receive to receive images from other PSPs. This file transfer over WiFi feature unfortunately doesn’t seem to work with Videos or Music, but that’s to be expected. The good news is that it most likely won’t be too difficult to trick the PSP into thinking that your computer is another PSP; WiFi transferring of pictures between your computer and your PSP probably isn’t that far away.
• New Security—Now there’s support for both WPA and WEP WiFi security (before, there had only been WEP). Also, there is a new Internet Browser Start Control Password to work with parental controls to block access to the new web browser.
• Web Browser—Not only can you browse the web rather nicely and set up book marks. You can also edit webforms (I posted to this site earlier with it), You can also download pictures from websites you visit and then set the picture as your wallpaper. I haven’t tried it yet, but I would bet you can download video as well. I need to test to see if I can download attachments, like Word documents, etc. I may not be able to open them on the PSP, but if I can download them, that at least is something. The screen looks great for web browsing. Flash doesn’t work, but who cares? I wish the analog stick would let you scroll up and down and around the page. Right now, the analog stick lets you move around the contents of the current screen, panning and scanning from left to right, but to move up and down a page, you have to use the directional keypad to jump erratically between links.Update: Holding down the Square button allows for scrolling around the page with the analog stick. Also, the browser supports tabbed browsing. You can only have 3 tabs, by the looks of it, and you cannot seem to launch a link into one of the tabsyou can only launch links in tabs by bringing up the browser’s interface (Triangle) and selecting File then Open Link in Different Tab, but this could be useful for keeping webmail open in the background while you surf around. Or for surfing on one tab, while posting to your website in another. However, that’s the Achilles heel of the PSP web browser: text entry. Once there’s a nice little USB keyboard that works nicely with this, it is going to kill.

These are all my early first impressions. Check back for more later.

UPDATE: Downloading files—Here’s what I just did. On my PSP, I went to this page, which is where Rocketboom provides PSP and 3GPP ports of all their vlogs. Really cool. Now, I selected one of the formatted for the PSP videos with the mouse and hit the Triangle button, which brings up the browser interface. Select the control on the far left, called “File”, hit the X button, and the 3rd option down is “Save Link Target.” Choose this option, hit X, change the Destination field to /MP_ROOT/100MNV01, then click X to confirm that you want to save in that folder, then select Save and hit X again. The download will begin. Hit the Home button, go over to Video, select your Memory Stick and hit the X button. The file should be there. Click X and play. Who needs a computer? It looks like you can also save files to the Music folder, a Common area, and a few other spots. Pretty cool.

‘NOTHER UPDATE: Okay. It doesn’t look like it worked after all. The file was downloaded and the next time I connected my PSP to my computer it was sitting there, but the .mp4 at the end of the file wasn’t capitalized so it didn’t show up on the PSP. After capitalizing it myself it showed up as corrupted data. Hmmm. Rocketboom problem, or downloading problem?

NEXT DAY UPDATE: So I spent some (probably too much) time last night, lying in bed surfing around the net on my PSP. The web-browsing capabilities on this thing are sweet: Much faster than my Palm LifeDrive, my old PocketPC, or any of the various PDAs and little non-computers that I’ve tried surfing the web with in the past. As I mentioned before, there is tabbed browsing (with only 3 tabs) and you can open links in one of the available tabs. You can also download files to the PSP and, unlike my LifeDrive, the PSP will accept downloads of file types with which it isn’t familiar. Last night, I downloaded several pictures from my Flickr page (and I then made one of these pics the wallpaper for my PSP), I downloaded a few podcasts and MP3s (and then navigated over to Music and listened to them immediately), and I downloaded a few Word documents and a few PDFs to the Common folder of my Memory Stick. I couldn’t access these files via the PSP, but they are there and ready for viewing the next time I plug my PSP into my computer. UPDATE: Forgot to mention that it works with Bloglines too.

The only downsides I’ve seen with the web-browser is the lack of Flash-support and that some rather crowded sites give you a “Not enough memory” error when you navigate to them, but 9 times out of 10, the site still loads after you cancel out of the error. Also, if you are going to use the PSP as any sort of real web-capable device for long periods, you’re going to want to invest in a few backup battery packs. This thing devours battery life when surfing.

Things I haven’t tried yet, but which look promising:

• Evidently the new firmware can play iTunes AAC files, (the non-DRMed type) as long as you change the .M4A to .MP4 (which you can do on the fly as you download the files).
• There’s already some new homebrew projects for v2.0 emerging. It’s not emulators or games launching on the PSP itself, but it’s a pretty cool means of packaging your text documents for easy reading via the web browser. No more need to convert all your text documents to JPEG!
• Use Gmail as 2GBs of remote PSP storage accessible via the browser. Nice.
• There’s a new javascript offline homebrew portal that you can load up to your Memory Stick and navigate to using your PSP’s browser to play a bunch of games and chat. Nice.

Also, Dave’s iPaq has a video of how to grab podcasts with the PSP for those of you who are interested in the step-by-step. And, thanks to R.J. in the comments, I now know of a new place where I can get some nice backgrounds for my PSP.