In a recent CNET article, Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey explains Sony's lost opportunity to capture the media download market. Due to their fixation on UMD, Sony has let Apple hold a near-monopoly on digital downloads. "The thing is, Sony could have been all this. The Sony PSP is one of the best portable entertainment media devices that anyone has come up with in years. It has a relatively big screen, plays video beautifully, has good storage and audio. It could have been the first big mobile carrier for TV shows and movies."

Even now, Sony continues to stand by UMD, instead of offering a true video download service for the handheld. Sony seems content with their position: their attempts in Japan have been lackluster at best, and PSP's video playback remains crippled due to incomprehensible video restrictions. "You got a company here that's pushing its own approach on every level, and as a result nobody is using its memory stick or video format," McQuivey said. "So you don't have the same robust market that you could have had if you said, 'We're going to open this up. You can put your Windows Media files on here. You can put your QuickTime files on here.'"

All hope is not lost, however. A Hollywood executive spoke anonymously to CNET, noting that many Hollywood executives are "pulling for the PSP to emerge as a competitor to the iPod." Many executives are afraid that Apple will maintain a monopoly over movies as it has had over music. Competition is good for the consumer, and the companies making the content. A PSP video download service makes so much sense, but it won't happen until Sony stops making lame excuses. "But Sony has been so dysfunctional and clueless when it comes to the Internet," said the executive. "We keep hoping they pull themselves together ... with the PSP video, we're hoping they create a forward-thinking strategy and stick to it."

David Carnoy, executive editor of CNET, has written an interesting piece about the appeal of Nintendo DS to females. Girls seem to love Nintendo's handheld, and they help make a large portion of Nintendo's current audience. For example, one CNET editor's girlfriend "liked the concept of the touch screen ... She thought it was more interactive than what you had with the PSP."

Certainly, women can enjoy PSP (see picture), but it's clear that PSP is largely targeted towards males. But is that really a problem? As Carnoy points out, focusing on this demographic has created a large library of games that can entertain an audience that simply won't be satisfied by the DS's numerous casual games: "Fact is, the number of really good titles for the DS is actually pretty thin, especially if you happen to be over 21 and don't worship at the altar of Mario or Pokemon. If you're looking to play more 'adult' games with any sort of backbone, the PSP is a far better choice with a much stronger game library."

Like almost every other analyst out there, Carnoy believes that PSP can better attract a wider audience with a redesigned handheld. The problem appears to be Sony's reluctance: "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw the DS Extra Lite before I saw the next iteration of the PSP."

[Thanks, Joel!]

"We want to get kids off the couch," Rahul Sood, chief technology officer of HP's gaming division, said during a presentation on their new Mscape technology. Their handheld technology takes advantage of GPS navigation and accelerometers, similar to the ones found in Nintendo Wii. The basic premise is to allow players to actively play in real environments, such as a park. CNET's Tom Krazit explains: "The early concept involves a handheld and a series of small sensors that a game organizer could lay out around a city or park. Those sensors would trigger certain events in the game, like a bonus level or an attack by the bad guys, based on a small demonstration of the concept here."

While HP will most likely avoid actually manufacturing a console to compete against Sony and Nintendo, the technology is certainly intriguing. Will Sony or Nintendo's next portable feature this inspiring Mscape tech? Or will a new portable from Microsoft or Dell take advantage of it?

Sony really dropped the ball early on in the PSP's life when there was no official media software available. However, Sony finally came through when they released the PSP's Media Manager, but like many other available software programs, it had problems, too. Well, Sony is giving it another shot with Media Manager 2, and CNET has had a chance to take it for spin.

Positives

• The new interface is "pretty stylish and sleekly designed."
• Features XMB crossbar.
• Better access to system's multimedia capabilities.
• Ability to transfer word documents and view them in HTML.

Negatives

• Most of the functionality is available in other freeware programs.
• Somewhat high system requirements.
• Can't transfer copy-protected DVD's or audio files.
• Won't encode at 368x208 size.

Overall, CNET gave Media Manager 2 a 6.3 and said if you have a decent understanding of how to run a computer, you'll be better off with a third-party software, such as PSP Video 9. While it looks like Sony didn't do much better with its latest media software incarnation, its release really begs the question "Do we really need it at this point?"

I manage to do all my file transfers and video encoding through freeware just fine, so I see no reason why anyone should spend the $17 to download the software or especially the $25 for the boxed version. But if you really feel the need to pick this up, you can buy it here.

Yes, it's another one of those DS versus PSP videos. It's becoming a little tiresome putting out these videos, but it seems like a topic that many people are interested in, especially CNET. As cool as those Windows Movie Maker films were, they won't have the authority of a presentation made by one of the web's leading sources of tech news. Check out their video to see a thorough, fair review of the two systems, and see PSP emerge victoriously. (Free registration required.)

[Thanks, Silver R. Wolfe!]

Need ammunition for the strange YouTube video flame war building between PSP Fanboy and DS Fanboy? Well, here's one for you guys: CNET's constantly updated "top 10 must-haves" still has your beloved handheld on the list. The PSP joins other gadgets, such as the incredible Motorola Q, Toshiba Gigabeat S, the Slingbox, the Xbox 360 and Canon PowerShot S80. Here's what the CNET folks had to say:

"The Sony PlayStation Portable was the portable gadget of 2005. If you haven't gotten yet, you must not have seen one in action. The screen alone will make you salivate. So much more than a portable gaming console, it also plays music and movies. Not only does it look hot, it also has outstanding sound and graphics, a built-in Memory Stick Duo slot, and Wi-Fi."

You get a lot of bang for your buck with the PSP. Considering how the PSP costs only $200, that's a lot cheaper than most of the items on this acclaimed list.

[Via 1UP Boards]

David Carony, executive editor at CNET, has a lot to say about Sony, the PSP, and their newly announced mylo. Sony's attempting to market the device at a whopping $350, which is ridiculous when many, if not all of its features can be implemented in the PSP, or a PSP redesign. With the right accessories and firmware upgrades, the PSP can do every thing the mylo can... plus it can play games. And at $199, it would be a bargain for the consumer. Here's a list of what Carony believes will make the PSP better:

1. Skype support to make Internet (VoIP) calls (using the SOCOM headset).
2. Support for Slingbox (a competitor of Location-Free TV). Sony could make some bling by not selling hardware, but selling a Slingbox application.
3. Built-in IM applications, similar to mylo's support for Yahoo! and Google.
4. Better e-mail integration.
5. Keyboard accessory.
6. Video output for TV.
7. Stop making Connect so crappy. Where's the revamp?
   

These are all great, plausible and reasonable upgrades that Sony can provide. If Sony actually took these suggestions to heart, I know a ton more college students and business people would pick up a PSP. Let's hope Sony has the brains to follow through on some of this.

[Via PSP World]