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While retaining the same slim size, it now has a new LCD display with a better contrast ratio and can produce more vibrant colors. One major problem with the previous PSPs was reflectiveness of the glossy screen. Seeing anything out doors was almost impossible. The PSP-3000 now has “anti-reflection” technology to make it easier to view under direct sunlight. The other hardware feature that’s been added is the built-in microphone. Previously you had to purchase an accessory to be able to speak to others when using Skype or in a game. With this upgrade, you’ll have a fully functioning VoIP device at all times without any extra cables or headsets. (Just waiting on the webcam at this point!)

It is also expected that Sony will be rolling out some new firmware upgrades with new features in the near future. Unfortunately some new features will probably not be entirely backwards compatible. Sony has officially stated that the the price of the new version will be kept the same, $169 (MSRP). Some new PSP Entertainment Packs with a movie, a game, and a 1GB Memory Stick will become available later this year. This isn’t really that great of an upgrade, but it’s worth mentioning since it’s retaining the same price!

Links: US PlayStation Portable
Related: PSP-2000 Info

WordPress 2.6 was just released a couple of hours ago and it packed with plenty of new features. I had a chance to upgrade Skatter Tech, previously running version 2.5.1, and the entire process went through quite smoothly without any issues. I have included the official video demonstration of WordPress 2.6 above, however I will also go over some of the notable features below.

Post Revisions
This implementation will be a savior to authors who write and edit articles in the WordPress editor. Each time a post is modified a revision is saved. (Like Wikipedia.) Authors can switch back to previous editions or compare two different revisions. This is probably the next best addition to the editor since auto save. The editor also received a few other new goodies including a Word Counter and a improved uploader.

Press This! Bookmarklet
For those who blog content as they browse the web, this is going to be very handy. The new Press This! bookmarklet acts quite like Tumblr. When you launch the bookmarklet, a popup window appears offering options to blog the page you are currently viewing and choose whether it should be considered a Text, Photo, Quote, or Video post. Although I may not use this to blog right away, it is quite neat to be able to save drafts with some info so I can come back to it later.

SSL-Encrypted Admin Panel
Security is a big issue for those who have large blogs. Previously with no SSL support, hackers monitoring a network could theoretically capture passwords and data being published to your blog. There have been a couple of WP Plugins to address this issue, however I personally never found any to function as required. Authors now can login using the HTTPS protocol to encrypt the data being related between their machine and their server for protection. And it’s been working great, for me, so far!

Other Stuff
There are a couple other notable features added, one of which is the Gears add-on. The add-on has to be installed to your computer’s browser and intelligently caches Javascript and CSS files to your machine to allow a much faster and smoother work flow. WordPress now also allows bloggers who are re-designing their themes to now preview it before making it visible to their readers. This would have been quite handy when I was in the process of designing my theme!

There are plenty of other things that have been included in the update and if you wish to find out more about them, visit Word Press 2.6 Announcement Post. If you are using WordPress I personally recommend you upgrade to 2.6. There are many new features you will truly appreciate!

Links: WordPress.org
Download: WordPress 2.6

“The new design will deliver a hugely improved navigation system, much greater scope for categorization and a dynamic new user interface.”

According to PlayStation, the update will be released by mid-April, which is just two weeks away. A software update to the console will also accompany the new PSN Store. The bad news in all of this might be the fact that no new content will be available until this upgrade is pushed out. Fortunately this shouldn’t affect PlayStation Network game play, accounts, or virtual wallets.

Update: According to the PlayStation Blog, no new content will be added to the PlayStation Store for the next two weeks. (North America) However with the re-launch, plenty of new content will become available including a demo of the highly regarded Gran Turismo 5 Prologue!

Links: us.PlayStation.com

When Microsoft Released Service Pack 1 for Vista to Windows Update on March 18th, I upgraded immediately. The process took a while to download since the servers were being hit hard by the large amount people trying to get a hold of the update file. After the download it took about one and a half hour to completely install. It required a few clicks of the “next” button to begin the installation. The computer will be unusable during the process. After it was complete, I was disappointed to find that it was now taking over 5 minutes to start up my machine. It normally took about 2 minutes. In addition there were absolutely no recognizable visual changes. After a few days of use, the performance of my machine drastically changed. Since the upgrade had deleted Vista’s pefetching, caching, and indexing databases, they had to be rebuilt. Today my machine starts up at least 30 seconds faster than it did before SP1. Shut Down, reboot, and suspend speeds have also improved greatly. Launching applications such as Phtotoshop CS3 has become much faster. The best part is that my system hasn’t crashed even once since upgrading. Previously I usually sat staring at blue screens at least a couple of times each week.

Beginning next month, Service Pack 1 will automatically be installed onto your system if you have Auto Updating enabled. However if you want to go ahead and get it now, just launch Windows Update from Vista’s Control Panel and click on check for updates. If it doesn’t appear make sure you have all the critical updates installed. Once you hit install it will close all your programs and then begin the process. The duration it will take to complete will vary depending on the performance of your machine. I was lucky not to run into any major issues whatsoever, however some have complained about major fatal errors. Despite those complains, the majority of those who have upgraded have done so successfully.

Links: Windows Vista Blog

Earlier today Apple announced the iPhone 2.0 software and the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK). A beta version of the iPhone 2.0 software will be available today, however the finalized version won’t be available to consumers until June. The phone will also be getting much demanded business features such as the compatibility to function with the widely used Microsoft Exchange Servers, which will bring wireless push email, contacts, calendars, and access to encrypted private networks.

“We’re excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community with potentially thousands of native applications for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs – Apple’s CEO.
“iPhone’s enterprise features combined with its revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface and advanced software architecture provide the best user experience and the most advanced software platform ever for a mobile device.”

The iPhone SDK is available for download for free. With the SDK they’ll have access to the iPhone Simulator and all the information they’ll need to create native applications and distribute it through the Application Store for iPhone and iPod Touch owners. Apple boasts that their Multi-Touch interface, Core Animation, storage space, 3-axis accelerometer, and triangular cellular tower locater will allow creation of even more unique and powerful iPhone Apps.

Developers who create iPhone Applications will be able to retain 70% of the sales revenue of the amount sold through the new Apps Store. Developers will also have to purchase either a $99 standard license or a $299 enterprise license. In addition to the SDK-related content, the iPhone will also be getting other heavily demanded features such as the ability to view PowerPoint, Word, and Excel Documents and to mass delete messages. Anyways for the rest of you folks that aren’t interested in make applications but instead using them you’ll have to wait another three months for the final upgrade.

Video: March 6th Event with Steve Jobs
Links: iPhone Dev Program | iPhone Enterprise | Apple iPhone

Earlier today, Microsoft announced that Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista has been finalized and was released to manufacturers today. Unfortunately customers won’t have access to the upgrade which brings “enhanced reliability, security, compatibility and performance” until March. Consumer using the auto-update feature won’t receive the upgrade until April unless they manually download and install the patch. Microsoft claims performance improvements by as much as 50% for tasks such as moving large files around your machine or network. Today’s launch of SP1 to manufacturers indicates that new computers produced by companies such as Dell, HP, and Sony soon be available with the upgraded Vista pre-installed. In addition, new shipments of licensed retail boxes of Vista will come with SP1.

Hopefully the changes will help fix many of the major problems which a fairly large portion of customers are experiencing. SP1 for Vista will probably still not help it gain a lead over the performance XP will be offering with the upcoming Service Pack 3. Despite this, Vista users should be glad that at least some improvements have been made and will be available within a foreseeable date.

Links: Windows Vista Blog Post | Microsoft Vista

Yesterday, Apple announced that the final release of the Mac OS X series, Leopard, will go on sale on Friday October 26th 2007. OS X Leopard has over 300 new features including desktop Stacks, a newly designed finder, QuickLook, Spaces, and Time Machine.

“Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ version [...] for just $129.”

Just to go over some of the features, we’re going to start with Stacks. Stacks allows accessing and placing files right onto the new 3D dock to keep the desktop clean. With one click, the Stack will spread out cleanly, displaying all the files in it. The finder now borrows a neat feature from iTunes, Cover Flow. In addition, once setup, Mac users can easily search, browse, copy, and transfer files between any other Mac or even a Vista machine. Another feature which will save a lot of time is Quick Look. This pre-installed application will allow fully viewing any image, pdf, or document and even watching or listening to music or videos without having to startup the associated application. This means you can instantly open up a Word Document to read without having to startup Word. However if you wish to modify or edit the file, you will have to open the actual program. If you have used Linux, you probably know that most distributions allow creating multiple virtual desktops. Spaces does just the same thing for Macs, except now it is much more interactive as well as powerful. You can now do neat things such as drag a window from one virtual desktop to another. Although there are ton of more neat features, the final important feature we’ll touch on is Time Machine. This application is a built-in backup tool which allows visually browsing your backups. Instead of having to an entire system restore, Time Machine will allow searching or browsing through your archives to bring the file you wanted “back to the future.” The more hard drive space you offer Time Machine, the better of a job it can do creating more detailed backups.

As mentioned it will be available on the 26th of October at 6:00pm for $129 (single license). Apple is already accepting pre-orders through their online store. If you happened to purchase a new Mac after October 1st, Apple will include the upgrade for just $10 (shipping charge).

Links: Apple OS X Leopard | See 300 New Features
Pre-Order: $109 OS X Leopard by Apple (save $20)

This morning, Digg’s founder Kevin Rose announced a few new features that digg will soon be getting. The fist implementation, which will be pushed out tonight, will revamp digg’s user profile system by making it more “social”. Registered diggers will now have the ability to send each other quick messages called “shouts”. When the recipient logs in, a notification will be visible in the headers as well as his or her profile page. With the new “share” feature, users can also send other users links to digg stories. Previously the only method to share a story would have been to send an actual email. Digg’s new favorites feature seems to be replacing the “My #1″ feature. Once a story is dugg the option to add to favorites will become available. As for the profile page, it now displays larger profile pictures, full name, location, member since date, about section, personal photos, recently dugg/comments, favorites, and contact information. (50 new additions!) And just like Facebook, diggers will have privacy settings to choose whether or not to display each component. Only time will tell whether this feature will be accepted or ridiculed by the digg community.

Also, due to popular demand, digg will soon be implementing a pictures section next month. In addition they will also be fixing the problems with the slow comment loading system, offering email alerts, and automatic suggestions based off your digging history! Check back tomorrow to see the what’s changed and if you are in a hurry, a video demonstration is available on Digg’s Blog.

Links: digg.com | digg blog | my profile

One of my favorite FTP Clients, Filezilla, recently got updated to version 3. The application, which began development in 2001, has now reached a new level. The client is now cross platform, supporting Linux and Mac OS X machines in addition to Windows. And to top that, Filezilla is still open source.

The application has received a makeover and now has a bunch of new features. It remains easy enough for novices to use, but is packed with advance features. In addition to FTP, it also allows using FTP over SSL/TLS and SSH FTP. The client includes a Site Manager for saving addresses and passwords, supports pausing/resuming files even larger than 4GB, and features a neatly organized transfer queue. In addition Filezilla supports “dragging and dropping” of files in and out of the program, configuring upload and download speeds, and plenty more. As this application is open source, it remains entirely FREE. In my opinion it is much better than many paid FTP clients such as cuteFTP and others.

Download: Filezilla | Links: Official Site

Media Temple (mt) customers are in for a treat. The recently launched GRID server is getting a second major upgrade, v1.2. All customers using the new Grid-Server (gs) will soon receive an update which will consist of many stability enhancements, “micro-updates”, user request implementations, bug fixes, and plenty of new features.

GMR v1.2 System Upgrade:

• Over 800+ Core count cluster – faster than ever
• MySQL GridContainers – currently private beta only
• Email Upgrades – performance, spam, virus scan, & security
• FTP Update – faster connection and transfer rates
• Storage Performance – around 400% faster data access
• Network Speed Increase, DNS cluster, and much more!

We left our previous host, 1and1, we joined Media Temple in September 2006. Since then we have been quite satisfied with their service and the peformance of their servers. (great customer service too!) Anyways, Media Temple will be rolling out the new GMR v1.2 update on 03/02/07 (friday), a week from today, and no action is required on your end.

Links: Media Temple | GMR v1.2 Info

After the launch of firmware v3.00 in November and following a series of bugfixes, Sony has finally pushed out v3.11. From our perspective, there’s not much this update will offer to the majority of PlayStation Portable owners unless they currently stream content from a LocationFree base or plan to purchase games through the PlayStation 3 Online Store.

PSP v3.10:

• Support for PLAYSTATION Network titles has been expanded.
• Support for the MPEG-4 AVC format has been added under [LocationFree Player].
• [Conserve Memory] has been added in [View Settings] under [Internet Browser].
• [Dynamic Normalizer] has been added as a feature under [Sound Settings] in [Settings].

PSP v3.11:

• Support for PLAYSTATION®Network titles has been expanded.
• [Reset Game] has been added as an option to the menu for PLAYSTATION®Network titles.

Also, as always, to update your PSP to latest firmware you can either download the file directly to your PSP using a WiFi network or download the update to your computer from PlayStation.com and copy it over to the PSP. Also note that upgrading to the latest firmware will prevent homebrew apps from functioning. If you wish to run your own applications you may want to try installing the v3.10 custom firmware.

Links: PSP System Update | Instructions
Related: PSP v3.10 Custom Firmware (for homebrew)

Only about two weeks after the launch of WordPress 2.0.6 and 2.0.7, the WordPress crew finally pushed v2.1 (aka “Ella”) out of beta. WP2.1, rather than a patch, is a major upgrade from the 2.x series. The blogging engine, which Skatter Tech is currently running, now has a more powerful back-end for administrators to manage content. Although many plugins no longer work for 2.1, we recommend updating since it also includes over 550 bug fixes. The following is some of the major changes implemented.

WordPress v2.1 Features:

• Ajax AutoSave Posts – prevents loosing posts
• Tabbed Editor – WYSIWYG and Raw Code
• Ajax-based Spell Checker for composer
• XML Import/Export – transfer data between blogs
• Search Engine – custom indexing privacy settings
• Front Page – set any page as the main page
• Blogroll – many improvements and changes
• Login – redesigned screen from Shuttle
• Ajax Admin Panel – helps speed up tasks
• Comment Feeds – includes all rather than last 10
• Uploads – management for uploaded data
• Other: Cron support, new APIs, and more

We are pleased with the overall improvments the update brings. Managment and content seems to be flowing much faster than ever before. As we mentioned we are having diffucluties with some plugins, but most of the major ones either already have been updated or work.

Links: WordPress 2.1 ‘Ella’ | Download
Related: Instructions For 2.0.x to 2.1

Only a few weeks after the previous firmware release, Sony pushed out another update, version v1.50, for the PlayStation 3. Unlike previous patches this update supposedly fixes larger issues such as the jaggedness which appears while playing certain PlayStation 2 games. Multiple patches have been released since launch which have fixed issues such as display problems with 1080i HDTVs and other minor bugs. If you plan to play ANY games on the PlayStation Network, you MUST update to this version (1.50). You will not be allowed to connect to an online game or even browse the online store unless the update is performed on your console.

Sony PS3 Firmware 1.50 Features:

• You can now select an image to use as the User icon from [Photo].
• [Key Tone] has been added as an option under [Sound Settings].
• [Delete Backup Data] has been added under [System Settings] > [Backup Utility].
• WEP 128, WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA-PSK (AES) have been added as security methods.
• The method for saving your password / signing in automatically under PLAYSTATION®Network has been changed. There are now 2 separate options.
• You can now enter text in Korean using the on-screen keyboard.

We updated our console with no issues what so ever. You may update your console in a variety of methods. Either download the update directly to the unit using the built-in System Update function or downloading the file from PlayStation.com and copying it to the PS3’s HDD. The update file is about 100MB so it may take a while to download.

Update: Sony has just released version 1.51 for the PS3. There is literally no changes since v1.50, but Sony’s changelog states “Support for PLAYSTATION 3 format software titles has been expanded.”

Links: PlayStation 3 Updates
Related: PSP Firmware 3.00

A new version of WordPress (2.0.6), which fixes a major security flaw is now available. Although the update only fixes other minor issues, it is recommend you upgrade due to the security issue. For all WordPress users out there, version 2.0.6 which fixes a security flaw is now available. We upgraded Skatter Tech earlier today and had no issues what so ever.

WordPress 2.0.6 Features:

• The aforementioned security fixes.
• HTML quicktags now work in Safari browsers.
• Comments filtered to prevent messing up layout.
• Compatibility with PHP/FastCGI setups.

According the announcement, this is (or should be) the last minor upgrade before v2.1. The next major upgrade will bring plenty of new features rather than fixes to the engine. A beta of v2.1 is already now available for those who join the “beta group” on WordPress.org.

Note: There are apparently a few bugs which causes feed readers such as FeedBurner to have difficulty fetching feeds from this version. Despite this bug, is it is recommended you upgrade because of the security holes being patched. (A new v2.0.7 might be pushed out soon.)

Links: WordPress 2.0.6 | Download

As predicted, today Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has officially released firmware v3.00 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The new firmware has many major improvements however the notable ones include the ability to play PlayStation 1 games and communicate with the PlayStation 3. Another feature SCEA has finally added, which should have been included since 1.50, is the ability to disable automatic loading of UMDs, which saves the hassle of having to remove the game if you want to use any of the PSP’s other features. (Video demonstration below!)

PSP v3.00 Firmware Features:

• PlayStation Network titles are now supported under [Game].
• [Remote Play] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• [Online Instruction Manuals] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• Timed recording has been added as a feature under [RSS Channel].
• A visual player has been added as a feature under [Music].
• 3-speed fast forward and fast reverse has been added as a feature under [Music].
• [Camera] has been added as a feature under [Photo].
• [UMD Auto-Start] has been added as a feature in [System Settings] under [Settings].

One smart addition was in depth Online Instruction Manuals which covers almost every feature that the PSP offers. However I don’t know how useful it will be for the many PSP users who are still trying to get online via WiFi.

Another good feature is the timer for the “RSS Channel”. After setting any specific time, the PSP will turn itself on (even if completely off) and download the latest podcasts, photos, or videos from the feeds you have specified. The coolest feature added in v3.00 is probably the visualizations for the music playback. There are currently 5 different styles including a random feature which switches through the 5. The visualizations work for both content under Music and RSS Channel.

Of the features included in the update the PS1 game emulator is probably the most important, but there is no content available yet. We are unable to demonstrate “Remote Play” feature since we still haven’t received our PlayStation 3. Check back later for reviews of these features including a review of the PSP camera once it is released.

Notice: (11/22/06) Sony has just released second update v3.01. It consists of the exact same features as v3.00, except for “security enhancements”. We don’t know what this means, but do not update to 3.01. We have v3.00 available for download below. Just copy the EBOOT.PBP file into PSP\GAME\UPDATE folder to update. We think that Sony might have left a hole to allow for homebrew on 3.00 so don’t upgrade any further unless you don’t care.

Download: EBOOT.PBP (v3.00) or via PSP: Settings -> Network Update
Related: PSP Firmware 2.80 Info | PlayStation Update Page

Less than two weeks after the launch of the revamped iTunes Music Media Store, Apple has quietly pushed out a minor update to patch many of the bugs iTunes users were experiencing. Apple claims that the patch will improve performance, increase stability, reduce memory usage, and fix issues with CD importing/iPod sync/Coverflow.

I do have to say that iTunes 7.0 is not for everyone. I recently tested it on a slightly older machine, which did just meet the minimum requirements for running iTunes, but even so, it took an extremely long time to load iTunes even only a handful of items in the library. I also found that iTunes 7.0 is a memory hog, which can consume over 3x the amount of RAM that iTunes 6.0 did. Therefore be warned if you are on a slower machine.

However if you do have a decent machine, iTunes 7.0.1 is still probably the best media play available for both Windows and Macintosh machines. I suggest getting the new update if you are experiencing any problems with 7.0. Finally, we want to know: What do you think about iTunes 7.0?

Links: Apple iTunes (info) | Download iTunes 7.0.1
Related: NEW iPod Shuffle | NEW iPod Nano

As announced last week at Comic Con, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has officially released Firmware v2.80 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). This update comes with a variety of new features making the PSP easier to use and giving it more functionality. The updates main features include the ability to download videos through the RSS Channel and place media into new easy-to-access folders.

PSP Firmware v2.80 Features:

• Download video and image content under [RSS Channel].
• Register devices via a wireless LAN access point under [LocationFree Player].
• Play AAC files with file extension .3gp under [Music].
• Play content saved in [MUSIC], [PICTURE], and [VIDEO] folders on a Memory Stick.

The RSS Channel was originally introduced in v2.60, but was limited to only audio files. With this update, video and photo files will be recognized and displayed in the RSS Channel. Although new functionality has been offered, this update unfortunately does not offer streaming video content through the RSS Channel similarly to how the audio works. However it does allows saving videos and pictures to your Memory Stick.

The other important implementation is the new folder layout. The PSP no longer requires media files with special names if they are placed into the “MUSIC”, “PICTURE”, or “VIDEO” folders respectively. These folders are to be placed in the main directory of the PSP. Also note that previous arrangements of files will still function as usual. This feature will make it easier for newbie as well as all PSP users to organize their media.

Download: Sony PSP Update Page [or via PSP WIFI: Settings -> Network Update]
Related: PSP Firmare v2.70 Information
Links: How To Transfer Videos To PSP via WIFI

The following is the Offical list of games, as published by SCEA, that will be released for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America for May 2006. Note: This was the accurate list of games as of 04.28.06, games may be removed and new ones may be added later. Check PlayStation for any future updates. Also search our archives for previous title releases.

• FIFA World Cup 2006 – Electronic Arts
• Astonishia Story – Ubisoft
• Field Commander – Sony Online Entertainment
• Guilty Gear Judgement – Majesco
• Lemmings – SCEA
• Monster Hunter Freedom – Capcom
• NBA Ballers®: Reboundâ„¢ – Midway
• Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords & More! – Crave Entertainment
• Race Driver 2006 – CodeMasters Software
• Stacked with Daniel Negreanu – Myelin Media
• Tomb Raider: Legend – Eidos

Past Links: PSP Games Released in April 2006
Related: PSP Firmware v2.70 Released | Stream iTunes Library To PSP

On 04.24.06, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) released a major update (v2.70) for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Once PSP owners update their PSP, they will be able to playblack Macromedia Flash files through the WebBrowser and save Podcasts to the Memory Stick through the RSS Channel. Video Podcast support has not been added yet, but should be included in the next update. Full v2.70 ChangeLog below:

PSP Firmware v2.70 ChangeLog:

• You can now play Macromedia Flash content under [Internet Browser]. *Note that you must adjust a setting to enable this feature. A connection to the internet is required to adjust the setting.
• [Connection Settings] has been added under [Settings] in [Internet Browser].
• You can now save content added under [RSS Channel] on a Memory Stick.
• [Automatic] has been added as an option under [Rate] in [Location Free Player].
• [UMD Video L/R Button] has been added under [Video Settings] in [Settings]. You can now disable the channel skip feature of the L/R buttons. (This applies to UMD VIDEO.)
• A new file extension has been added to playable AAC formats.
• [Simplified Chinese] and [Traditional Chinese] have been added as options under [System Language] in [Settings] > [System Settings].
• [RSS Channel Settings] has been added under [Settings].

With this update, it seems as though Sony is sticking with their PSP Timeline Plan they had presented in the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing. To update your PSP to v2.70 either visit the U.S. PlayStation Software Update page or to [Settings] > [Network Update] on you PSP. Updating does have a major draw back, homebrew that worked on v2.60 PSPs using the GTA exploit will no longer function. If you do update you won’t be able to run any homebrew applications until PSP hackers release a new exploit. But if you don’t wish to run homebrew you might as well update. Both the Macromedia Flash Player and the Save Feature for the RSS Channel are great new addons. (Stream iTunes to PSP will now allow saving files.)

Links: US PlayStation SoftWare Update | ChangeLog
Related: PSP Firmware v2.60 Released