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It’s official. Firmware 2.81 was released by Sony today addressing security vulnerabilities in the system software as well as a few minor bug fixes. Not a big deal really, but as you all know, Sony will be pushing users to update to the latest version. The update is available via the Network Update feature or through the regional PSP sites.
Here is a summary of the bug fixes:
Today, Sony has announced that it has revised the original PS3 launch date of 17th November 2006 to March 2007 for all PAL territories (Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia). The good news is that the launch dates for Japan and North America will remain the same, which are November 11th and November 17th respectively. The revision of the launch date in the SCEE territories is caused by the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PLAYSTATION 3.
The previously announced PLAYSTATION 3 shipment forecast of 6 million units globally within the fiscal year ending 2007 is not changed. For Europe, it means many gamers won’t have a PS3 this christmas and must wait a further 4 months before the PS3 is available. Here is the official press release:
“London, Wednesday 6 September 2006 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced that it would revise the launch date of its PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system in the PAL territories of Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia from 17th November 2006, as previously announced to March 2007.
Launch dates for Japan and North America will remain the same, which are November 11th and November 17th respectively.
The revision of the launch date in the SCEE territories is caused by the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PLAYSTATION 3.
The previously announced PLAYSTATION 3 shipment forecast of 6 million units globally within the fiscal year ending 2007 is not changed.“
The PSP Quick Shot camera will be available from 2nd of November while the GPS will be available fro 7th of December. The camera will be available for approximately USD 44/GBP 25 and will be equipped with digital zoom and allow the user to shoot 1.3 megapixel photos, record video and use the camera in games. The GPS will be available for USD 54/GBP 30 and will weigh around 16g. It will a 20-channel reception system with a frequency of 1575.42MHz (L1 ban, C/A code). It would take 40 seconds before it could acquire your position, but would refresh every second after that. The positioning precision is 5m, or 16 ft, which is pretty accurate.
The GPS will come with the “Planetarium Creator Homestar Portable” navigation tool, which contains information on over 5 million stars, 300 heavenly objects, and over 15 planetarium style shows. Not only can this tool find stars above your head, it will also provide information about them. Eager astronomers will sure find this tool useful. Other uses of the GPS include games. Two games are currently set to use the device include Everybody’s Golf and Metal Gear Portable Ops. How the GPS will enhance the gameplay for these games is still unknow.
According to SCE corporate executive Izumi Kawanish, the PSP will act like an information terminal with the PS3 using WLAN. This means that the PS3 will be able to distribute video imagery to the PSP for portable viewing. Izumi Kawanish commented on the upcoming PS1 emulator for the PSP, and said that tests were still going on but progress is steady. Kawanashi also said that that Sony might allow gamers to play PS1 games through emulation on the PC and, in the future, on a cell phone.
“Games for PS3, PSP, PS1 and so-forth will be distributed via the network. While popular series are a separate matter, it’s becoming hard to tell what’s inside the package of recent games. So, we’re thinking of distributing demo versions. In the case of PS1 games, we believe that if we make a library of all games available, similar to what Amazon does for books, there will be many users who want to give the classic titles a try.“
“It’s possible to have distribution of video imagery from the PS3 to PSP,” said Kawanishi. “In other words, images that are rendered on the PS3 will be sent to the PSP via wireless LAN. If the PS3 is something like a home server that’s placed in the center of your home, the PSP is an information terminal that you carry with you.” Kawanishi was referring to 3D imagery that’s rendered on the PS3 and viewed on the PSP.
“The PSP started off clearly with the position of a portable game machine,” continued Kawanishi. “However, looking long term, there’s the thought that it ought to become a portable network device. At that time, if there’s demand for an information terminal, it is possible to take it in that direction.” If what Kawanishi says is true, the PSP has a long life ahead of it and the PS3 is just the beginning.
[Via QJ.net]
Its the time of the month for the new issue of the XTREME PSP Magazine to be released. Issue 15 is packed with over 90 pages of great content including previews of The Sims 2: Pets, Myst and Gun Showdown, and reviews of Tekken: Dark Resurrection, Juiced: Eliminator and Miani Vice. And all the regular content including tips and cheats, the latest news, a new competition and more… Download it now.
As of today, homebrew is once again available on all PSP firmwares as another exploit is found in firmware 2.00, 2.01, 2.50, 2.60, 2.70, 2.71 and 2.80. Currently, there is no eLoader for this exploit, but with time, 2.00+ users can use this exploit instead of the GTA exploit. It also means that 2.80 users can also use homebrew although Kernel access will be denied. The exploit was discovered by NOPx86 and with the help of several others (psp250, skylark, joek2001, jimp, cswindle, and Fanjita) the exploit was transformed into something that can run code.
For firmware users of 2.00 to 2.71, Kernel access will be possible, however, 2.80 users will not have this luxury due to tighter security measures. Download the exploit here.
Sony has announced plans to release Pink PS2’s and PSP’s in a bid to attract more female gamers. This increases the range of PS2 colours to Black, Silver and Pink, and the PSP colour range to Black, White and Pink. For those interested, the Pink PSP will only be available in Europe retailing for €229 / £169 and will be available to buy from 27th October 2006. The Pink PSP will be bundled with all the usual accessories including headphones, remote, Memory Stick Duo (32MB) etc, however, none of these will be pink.
The Pink PS2 will be bundled with two pink controllers and a pink memory card. It will be on sale from 8th November 2006 – just in time for christman and will make a lovely gift for your girlfriend! Of course, don’t forget to pre-order incase it’s more popular than Sony imagined.
As I type this, 11 new galleries are being uploaded onto the XTREME PSP Adult Section, this brings the grand total to 30 galleries, if that isn’t enough, we will be adding more in coming weeks. In the mean time, check out the gallery or Register Here if you are not already a member.
If you have any photos you would like to share in the gallery, contact us and we will upload them onto our servers to share with others. You can download each gallery easily to your PSP by clicking on the ZIP Download link. You can also use the Slideshow function to cycle through a gallery automatically.
Could the Sony Mylo (short for MY Life Online) be an iPod killer, and could it replace the PSP? This new media device from Sony will feature many of the PSP’s features as well as a few features that would have made the PSP even better, including a QWERTY keyboard, IM capabilities, Linux OS, Java Support. It will also have support for Skype and possibly even P2P capabilities for easy file transfer. The Linux and Java support already pave the way for homebrew!
Here are the specs:
