scattered technology news

Sony PlayStation Meeting 2005 - July 21, 2005

Sony had a lot of major announcements for their PSP product line. The first major announcement was the WHITE PSP. (More images @ bottom) The second announcement was the major firmware upgrade on all units to v2.0.

The White PSP (PSP-1000KCW) will sell for ~$220, which is pretty much the same price that the black unit was priced at. The PSP will only be on the market in Japan by September 15th, but there is no launch date for the American or European market. The unit doesn’t seem to have any hardware upgrades or modifications other than the color change. The value pack will still include a battery pack, a headset, headset controller, a cloth, power charger, arm strap, 32MB card, and a white soft case.

The Firmware v2.0 is a major update, while v1.0 to v1.5 were mainly security and minor bug fixes. 2.0 will include a mini browser, which accessible directly from the homepage. It will support HTML 4.01, which will work with many websites. (the game Wipeout Pure is no longer needed) The PSP will also support downloading Mp4 videos wirelessly by accessing Sony’s web portal. This site will offer TV programs and other videos (& music) for download. Sony also enabled a feature, which will allow transferring/sharing files (photos, music, and videos) from one PSP to another using the built in WiFi using the Ad Hoc mode.

Another major update may be the ability for it to play AAC (Apple’s Codec), which means that it might support the iTunes music store. It also supports Mp3, ATRAC, ATRAC 3, PCM, and WAV. Other features include jump and A-B functions for UMD Videos and Music, animated thumbnails, wallpaper selection, and theme settings. The PSP will also support viewing of TIFF, GIF, PNG, and BMP after the update. Once SonicStage 3.2 (Sonic Stage 3.2 uses Connect Music Store) is released, it will support transferring music to the all Magic Gate enabled Memory Stick Duo Pro cards. And finally, the PSP will support WPA for accessing secured networks. (Already supports WEB 64 & 128 Bit)

The update will be available in 7 days (July 27, 2005). It can be installed either through the auto update feature (via WiFi), downloading through Sony’s website (then via USB), or by placing a new UMD game into it.

Update: Here are some more pix PSP Accessories, PSP on a Website, PSP Downloading Videos, and PSP downloaded Videos!

Update: Download a video of the PSP Web Browser in Action and watch them download a video from the web and play it. Windows Media (15.3 MB) | Apple QuickTime (27.2 MB)

Link: Engadget | MAC World | BETA News | SCEI (EN)
Related: Hack My PSP (More PSP News)