Web Talk

Sony has recently released a new firmware (version 4.0) for  Playstation Portable (PSP). What makes this new firmware release worth being installed is the new Google search feature, which will let people use the Google search engine straight from the XMB (XrossMediaBar). Basically, the well-known Google website will be added to the device’s options, allowing users to browse through different websites and blogs and make specific searches. Another feature available after the installation of the firmware is the ability to speed up and slow down playback of video files that are stored on the Memory Stick PRO Duo. If you want to download the new PSP firmware 4.0 click here (for USA users), here (for Asia English users), here (for Australia users), here (for New Zealand users) or here (for United Kingdom users)

If you are a big fan of the “Make-it-yourself” category, here is a step-by-step guide teaching you how to change your Playstation Portable speakers! Despite this is in french (but a full translation is available here), the guide is well made and lets you, in a few easy steps, remove and replace the tiny speakers in your PSP! Watch the video now!

If you own an iPod or a PSP (Play Station Portable) you know only too well how tricky it can be to watch videos from YouTube or Google. In fact you can not simply download them into your device (by the way, to download videos from YouTube and Google Video, cilck here and here). As a matter of fact YouTube videos are encoded in *.flv format, while iPod and PSP can just read MP4 files. Luckily for us, this is not an issue anymore thanks to Free YouTube to iPod and PSP Converter. This software, whose name is absolutely without any fantasy, does a very simple thing: Convert *.flv video files to *.mp4. The procedure is quite simple and very fast to achieve. In fact, all you have to do is fill in the form with the web address of the video you want to download, select the location where you want to download the file on your computer, select your device (select Apple iPod, Sony PSP or Mobile Phones with MP4 or 3GP video support) and hit download to start the conversion. That’s it! The software is absolutely for free and contain no spyware or adware. Download it now!

If you are a real geek who likes hacking everything then this video tutorial is for you. Basically, it teaches you how to turn your PSP into a iPhone. Of course it is rather difficult to have the same iPhone feel on the Play Station Portable because, among other things, PSP doesn’t have the touchscreen nor any cellphone antenna. Anyway here are the tutorials. Here instead you can find the software to hack your portable console!

If you have one of those nice PSP you may wonder if, apart from using Skype to call your friends and their phones, you can use a special software to chat and, why not, see people you care for. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and British Telecommunications (BT) have just introduced Go!Messenger which is a nice webcam (and the proper software of course) that once plugged into your PSP lets you chat, speak and see your friends, family members and whoever you want, wherever you are. Let’s read the press release: “With Go!Messenger, the PSP is pushing new boundaries, adding unique communication features to all the existing multimedia experiences,” said Stephane Hareau, PSP European Marketing Manager. “Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the SCEE region to communicate with each other, through Video or Voice chat, truly confirms the always evolving nature and potential of PSP.” Ps:

I remember when news used to be reliable, very reliable and you could trust them. Nowadays it is not like that anymore. In fact a few days after I wrote a post on PSP and the fact that the guys at Sony had delayed the availability of Skype due to microphone/speaker which failed to meet Skype certification standards, what do we have here? A brand new PSP 3.90 firmware update that includes Spype (just for PSP-2000 series.). This news is very glad, but Sony should stop playing with us. We are not videogames, are we?

Well, this is a rumor but it is worth being told. It looks like Sony is thinking to bring Skype to its famous PSP. If this is gonna be true, PSP will defeat all its rivals like Nintendo Ds, for sure. It ’s clear that the direction all these little devices are taking is (or should be) to have different applications doing different things: mp3 player, image viewer, camera, document reader, phone call etc are just some example of what an ideal device should be supposed to do. Coming back to PSP there are not details so far about the above rumor, but I bet we will know more from the upcoming CES. Stay tuned for more news!

Update: Sony has just released a press report saying that an indefinite delay will hit the project due to the PSP microphone/speaker which failed to meet Skype certification standards.

Update: The update that includes Skype has just been released. I apologize for what I wrote in the update above but it is not my fault. It looks like the guys at Sony like to make fun of all of us. Anyway, they are forgiven since Skype is really appreciated!

Source: scei.co.jp