Sony Europe has announced the launch of the new 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. The increased storage capacity of the 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media enables the users to hold large amounts of multimedia data including digital photos, music files, videos and games as well as increasingly popular podcasts and video blogs. Users will be able to store up to 1000 MP3 songs, 3000 digital photos in 5 megapixel resolution or more than 9 hours of MPEG-4 video* on a 4GB Memory Stick, making it ideal for mobile entertainment ? especially given the increasing number of available data hungry applications.

The new Memory Stick Duo line-up with the new packaging design and inclusive adaptor will be introduced in Summer 2006. The 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media will be available from summer 2006 and will cost approximately 170 Euros.

To promote the release of Seether’s upcoming CD/DVD package, One Cold Night, which features hits from their debut albums Disclaimer and Disclaimer II and their current release, Karma & Effect, as well as smash hits ?Remedy? and ?Broken,? Wind-Up Records are offering PSP owners free content!

Head over to the Seether Downloads page now!

Sony issued a warning to all PSP owners not to use third party battery to power up their PSP. The company urged the use of genuine Sony battery pack to protect against “the danger of ignition and explosion etc.” Sony said while they can guarantee the standards of their battery pack, other brands could cause “accident and breakdown and it is dangerous”.

They also said to be on the look out for fake Sony battery packs, the company cannot be held responsible for any damages cause by these knock-offs and third party battery packs. If you have experienced any kind of damage from using party battery packs Sony is unlikely to repair or replace your PSP.

Shots of the Camera have now become available. A SCEJ press event in Tokyo revealed more information about two much-awaited devices for the PSP to further expand its capabilities. Judging from the photos, the camera sits above the USB port much like the already released USB microphone, and same goes for the GPS device. The camera can be turned vertically to take pictures from both the front and back of the PSP, similar to the current 3G cell phones available, however, the resolution is probably going to be much higher.

Also at the event was the GPS reciever, although it was not functioning. The exact details of the GPS device has not been revealed by Sony thus far.

Electronic Arts announced today that Need for Speed TM Carbon is in development and will hit the streets this November. Developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia, Need for Speed Carbon delivers the next generation of adrenaline-filled street racing and will challenge players to face the ultimate test of driving skill on treacherous canyon roads.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to reinvent the franchise and continually uncover new and exciting trends in car culture. Canyon Racing is a real test of a driver’s skill and we think it provides a fantastic game play opportunity to lean into” said Larry LaPierre, the game’s executive producer.

What starts in the city is settled in the canyons as Need for Speed Carbon immerses you into the world’s most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. You and your crew must race in an all-out war for the city, risking everything to take over your rivals’ neighbourhoods one block at a time. As the police turn up the heat, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve. Need for Speed Carbon delivers the next generation of customization giving you the power to design and tweak your crew’s cars in every way using the ground-breaking new Autosculpt TM technology. Represent your car class, your crew, and your turf in Need for Speed Carbon, the next revolution in racing games.

Need for Speed Carbon will be available for Xbox 360 TM video game and entertainment system, PlayStation ® 3 computer entertainment system, and Wii TM as well as the PlayStation ® 2 computer entertainment system, Xbox ® videogame system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube TM , Nintendo DS TM , Game Boy ® Advance, PSP TM (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system, PC and mobile.

More information can be found here.

Ahman’s iR Shell application has definitely become a household name to most PSP owners because of the usefullness and preacticality of its features. The previous version already packs a punch, with the loads of updates great Ahman has equipped v. 1.6 with, it’s a certified knockout.

This time, aside from allowing us to listen to MP3s while playing games, iR Shell 1.6 enables our PSPs to stream any files via WiFi or USB to any of our fave homebrews. Straight from Ahaman himself:

"Imagine having your whole mp3, movie & photo database on your PC and stream them real time to your PSP via WiFi or USB for unlimited storage and enjoyment. You don’t like to convert your movies to PMP format? How about streaming your MP4 movies to Sony’s XMB movie player? Having too much fun and can’t stop playing your PSP? Well, you can setup an alarm to remind you stop playing. Your favorite shell now gives you all these features at your fingertip, plus a lot more."

Now I’m sure every single PSPanatic out there is barely able to understand/read all the text (heck, I won’t be surprised if you miss reading this line) out of sheer anticipation of what these new features really are, so here they are:

• You can now browse your PC harddisk, DVDROM or any other PC storage devices from your PSP via infrastructure WiFi or USB connection and stream files to your homebrew applications. You can even install PSP homebrews on your PC harddisk and launch them on your PSP, just like a huge virtual Memory Stick. 200GB memory stick is now a reality!
• You can open files directly with a single click via iR Shell file browser, such as PMP movies, PMF movies, Atrac3s, mp3s, photos, text files, PDF files, ZIPs, RARs, etc. These files can reside on your Memory Stick or even on your PC storage device.
• Launching XMB within iR Shell which allows you to use all features of XMB, plus taking snapshot of it or UMD Video.
• Alarm clock to remind you important appointments.
• Low battery voice warning to remind you to recharge your battery before it drys up.

You may be getting dizzy after such an overwhelming line of updates, but there are more, lots more. Just check the readme file for full details.

As great as a developer Ahman is, he also recognizes that he can’t achieve this feat alone, so he wishes to thank the following: Tyranid for making usbhostfs for PSPLINK; Dark Alex for making nethostfs; AnonymousTipster for developing the ZIP & RAR Unarchiver Plugin for iR Shell; StoneCut for being my favorite beta tester; Skydew for providing the new Help image files; Triable for making various nice graphics for iR Shell; Rangedunits for supplying a free hosting service; all original plugin authors; and of course, all iR Shell beta testers for providing valuable suggestions & counterless hours of testing.

[Via PSPUpdates]

The July 2006 issue of the XTREME PSP Magazine is now available to download. The Magazine now has a new look and Issue 13 is packed with over 80 pages of great content including previews of Crisis Core, Miami Vice, Planet PSP and reviews of Field Commander, Untold Legends II and Disney’s Cars. And all the regular content including tips and cheats, the latest news, a new competition and more…

Download it now

Seven Seas has just added a new manga preview this week to its PSP manga page. The new download is the first chapter of the webcomic Aoi House. A package of exclusive Chugworth Academy wallpapers was also added. Head over to Go Manga now.

Yet again, we have updated our database with even more PSP formatted wallpapers. We have added over 1000 new wallpapers for you to download, expanding our wallpaper collection past the 1,500 mark. Visit the Wallpaper Gallery, or check out the Top 100 Wallpapers.

If you have a wallpaper you would like to share with others, send it to us and we will add it to our collection. Use the Contact Form to send us details.

Our Wallpaper Gallery has been updated with over 200 new wallpapers in several catagories including Games, Nature, Cars and more. We have also added a few new categories to the collection. Why not check it out?

Submit your wallpaper to us to help us increase the collection. Look out for more updates over the next few weeks.