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Remember that PSP Skype headset with the remote control that was announced way back in January? It's now available. Skype functionality has been added in the 3.90 firmware update (also back in January), but if you haven't updated yet, you'll have to do so, and then follow these instructions to make calls. [Amazon]
mods
As Adrian pointed out, if we had these PSP bath bags when we were nine, we'd be a whole lot cleaner and a whole lot wrinklier than we are now. It's a bag. It holds your PSP. It goes into baths. That's pretty much all you need to know. It's unclear to us why you couldn't just get a sandwich bag from Target that would do the same thing, but sandwich bags don't have that fancy pants cord at the top. Does the PSP camera work with Skype video? Because we have an idea... [Impress via PSP Fanboy via Kotaku]
upgrades
sony
Sony's decision to only place one analog stick on the PSP as opposed to the two on just about all their other PlayStation controllers has led to some control scheme oddities. For one, FPS shooters are all but impossible because you can't use the D-Pad to aim, and two, Katamari Damacy was a bitch to play with the buttons. Modder L0rdNic0 had enough and decided to shove his own analog stick on the right-hand side. The result is a supposedly 100% "fully functioning" mod without any issues, which means snack cakes and sumo wrestlers alike need to watch out once more. [Acid Mods]
gaming
sony
According to PC World, the PS3's firmware version 2.20 will allow it to send standard def copies of Blu-ray movies to PSPs. We covered news of this firmware before, happy the PS3 is getting more advanced Blu-ray support. And we covered these PS3 to PSP transfers in January. But this is the first time we've heard of these features being mentioned within a specific firmware. This is great in principle.
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psp
gaming
In retrospect, it's surprising this didn't happen sooner—Sony has announced the PSP Cradle for Japan. Meant to take full advantage of their 1seg tuning abilities, the cradle allows users to do the normal cradle shtick (charging the unit while outputting to the television, plus getting an IR remote). Arriving April 24th, the cradle with A/V cables will cost $62, while the cradle without will run $46. Yes, it seems a tad pricey, but Sony knows that the cradle addicts among us will just have to get one. [kotaku]
From late April, it looks like Sony's PSP Lite will be getting a matte bronze skin color as part of a new Value Pack. This pack will include a 32MB Memory Stick Duo and an AV cable along with the newly tanned PSP. Available for around $200, the new pack is scheduled for release in Japan— we don't know when or if it will hit this side of the Pacific. But you don't want a third place color, do you, America? Gold is the only way to go. [AV Watch]
gaming
"I'm not scared about anybody. The real question is how do they [Sony Ericsson] do it? Can they create a link between the PSP games and a phone? Can they do the multiplayer and online stuff? We've been doing this for two years and it hasn't been easy."Is that the real question, or is it whether or not Nokia can do anything right and finally get a gaming platform off the ground? [Pocket Gamer]
There's no exact date yet, but Kotaku's reporting that a red PSP will be hitting this summer bundled with a copy of God of War: Chains of Olympus as well as Superbad and a gift certificate for a downloadable PlayStation Store game. It's similar to the Star Wars PSP from last summer in that it's a branded PSP, but instead of a bald disabled man with a deep voice, you're getting a bald Spartan with a deep voice. [Kotaku]
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Dark-AleX has just released a hack for the PSP that boots from the Memory Stick, and will allow you to select any firmware version you so choose. The app, dubbed Time Machine, will also boot-up PSPs with destroyed firmware, a second life for you not-so-great hackers out there. It functions via Pandora, and looks a bit tricky to get to grips with at the moment.
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It's not exactly a secret that Sony/Sony Ericsson's making a cellphone that has PSP features in it. Hell, even the Sony Ericsson gaming boss says that a PlayStation-branded phone is coming some time. Sony Magazine's putting an updated timeline on the project, saying that there are "suggestions that it could be in the shops as early as February." It's different when you see it print. In a magazine. All glossy. But unless we're slightly more drunk than we usually are, half of February is already gone and we haven't seen squiddidly. [Phone Mag]
It's really unlikely that this Movie Phone from the Indian cellphone maker Spice would make it anywhere besides India, but it's an amazing phone because of what it's got on the back: an optical drive. This h.264 optical drive loads into the back of the phone much like UMDs into a PSP, and can fit a 2.5 hour film into one disc. There's going to be 40 movies available in India at launch, which will be followed by 1,000 more movies later. We only have one question, which will probably be the only time anyone on earth ever asks this question: Why didn't they just go with UMDs instead of making a proprietary format? [Tech Digest]
7:00 PM on Mon Feb 11 2008
By Jason Chen
4,694 views,
38 comments
Latest by honbr: @w00zzy: Maybe they are not thinking about selling movies & the phone for you ... more »
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