If you own the GPS accessory for your handheld and want to rock the vote, visit Engadget now.
Posts with tag engadget
PSP nominated for GPS device of the year
If you own the GPS accessory for your handheld and want to rock the vote, visit Engadget now.
A PSP video solution
Sister, brother or father site Engadget (I never really looked at the family tree) has reported about a hardware solution to help PSP owners convert videos for their system of choice. The ADS Tech Instant Video To-Go is a USB stick format device that has a "hardware accelerator" enabling gamers to convert videos "up to five times faster than real time." The device supports the following file types: MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, RM, JPG, TIFF and MTP. ADS Tech also claims the device can reduce a 100 minute MPEG2/VOB into a 320x240 H.264 file in about twenty minutes.
The Instant Video To-Go retails for $79.95 and may be a great solution for PSP video buffs looking for a quicker solution for format conversion.
Sony CES keynote reveals PSP importance
Did you know that Sony launched a new system in 2006? Yeah, I know. Crazy. Sony's hyping up the PLAYSTATION 3 machine, but it's nice to know that the PSP will not be ignored in 2007. In fact, the PSP continues to be an integral part of Sony's plan for world domination. Peter Dille teased PSP fans with the following tidbits:
- PSP has sold over 20 million units worldwide. This ain't no Game Gear, folks.
- Remote Play hype: "So if you want to access Spider-Man the Movie in Milan from your PS3 in Milwauke... it's possible."
- Expanded "online community" for PSP (pictured).
- Portable gaming is increasingly important to the consumer: Sony obviously wants a large cut of the market.
CES: 8GB Memory Stick Duo priced
Portable flash memory continues to get more and more impressive every year. Sony has announced pricing for the impressive 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo at CES ... and as expected, it's not coming cheap. It'll be released in February for $300.
You'll need firmware 2.81 or above for your PSP to recognize such a massive card.
[Via PSP-Vault]
Samsung hints at hard disk-enhanced PSP
Do you see what I see? There seems to be a very familiar looking portable device in that girl's hands. This photo was taken at Samsung's announcement of new portable hard drive tech. The 60GB version of Samsung's 1.8" N-series drives may end up in a future PSP revision, which should be enough to satiate you with days, if not weeks, of music and games
[Via Engadget]
Insanely expensive PSP case to deflect bullets
The good folks at PSP GadgetZ have found yet another quirky, insanely expensive PSP accessory that's (thankfully?) only available in Japan. For only 59,000 yen (about $500), you can get this impressive metallic case from Halliburton that should deflect bullets, especially at that price. If you're the kind of gamer that literally lives in Vice City, this might be for you.
Available in black and silver.
See also:
Signature series expands: new cases for people with too much money
Turbo-charged AVC encoding for PSP
ADS recently announced a new product called InstantVideo To-Go, which is supposed to be a video encoder accelerator. Using this USB key-shaped accelerator allows you to encode PSP-compatible video (in AVC format) insanely quickly. A DVD can take up to 5 hours to encode, but with this device, it'll take only 20 minutes. It'll work with a slew of media formats, including MP4, MP3, AVI, WMV, MOV, RM, JPG, and TIFF. It'll cost $80.
[Via DCemu]
Peter Dille calls DS for kids in Engadget interview
Dave Karraker isn't the only Sony executive to face the mic in the past day. Our sister site, Engadget, went face to face against Peter Dille, about PLAYSTATION 3 and PSP. Just like Karraker, Dille says that the PSP does not compete directly with the DS:We're not focused on competing with the DS head to head against the consumer they're going after. If we were, you'd see a very different top-down strategy. You'd see a very different technology that would deliver to games geared towards kids. Which is for the most part what they're doing. And so when people talk about how we're doing vis-a-vis the Nintendo DS, again, it's not the whole story. We're selling a device to guys our age, who are using it to play games, to play movies, to access video on the net, music, etc. And it's a very different product than Nintendo DS... You can look at the software that they sell. All their licensed kid stuff. So, what we're doing with the PlayStation Portable is really establishing a new marketplace, and establishing, frankly, a new beachhead. And that takes time. Having said that, it's the fastest selling platform we've launched to date. We're up to 20 million units worldwide, and that's off to a great start. So, we just need to sort of set people's expectations based on what we're trying to do, not compete against a kid machine.Ouch. Calling the Nintendo DS exclusively a kid's machine sounds like something a fanboy would do. Didn't Mr. Dille get the memo? The DS is for old people too! Regardless, he makes a very good point about how the DS and PSP are targetting different consumers: they are different devices, and there's no need to directly compare the two. It's similar to how Nintendo keeps saying the Wii doesn't compete with PLAYSTATION 3: they focus on different markets, and do very different things.
Other highlights of the interview include Dille apologizing about how they didn't focus the UMD's library correctly (but they still plan on trying to expand the UMD market. Uh...). Check out the rest of the interview at Engadget to see Dille avoid some crucial PS3 info, and fail to apologize for Kutargai's insanity.
PS3 XMB walkthrough reveals updated Flash client for PSP
Our sister site Engadget has been giving its readers an extensive look into the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3. We've seen the sleek PSP-inspired XMB of the console before, but this goes into a lot more depth about the system's functionality. Interestingly, a Sony employee talks casually about a new Flash player in the PSP browser in a future, unreleased firmware, at around 12:20 in the video. With the firmware upgrade, PSP owners will be able to watch Flash videos used on sites like YouTube, and here at PSP Fanboy.
This makes us very happy. When this firmware upgrade happens, you'll be able to watch all the videos we put up here when you access PSP Fanboy through the PSP (via m.pspfanboy.com). Hopefully, the PS3 launch later this month will reveal even more functionality for our system.[Thanks, Jess!]
Beef jerky + magic = PSP analog stick
How-To: Add an analog stick to your PSP
If you're sick of using that analog nub, the fine folks at our sister site Engadget has an incredibly detailed write-up on how to take the analog stick from a PS2/Xbox and graft it into your portable device. It won't be easy, but if you take the challenge, you'll see that your system will become stronger, faster... BETTER!
PSP gains touch screen support
People that try to avoid the flame war between the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP always jump to one conclusion: both are great systems, each with their unique capabilities... But it looks like the 0x89 development team is trying to blur the lines between the two systems by giving the PSP touch screen support. What?! In quite possibly the most ambitious homebrew modification to date, the team will allow you to attach a device to the PSP's USB connection and control the XMB and specially programmed homebrew applications. PSPTouchMe as it's called will not only give you touch screen capabilities, but it'll provide a new, completely customizable XMB that's far more flexible than Sony's official one. Look at their video support: avi, mpeg, mpeg4, wmv, avc, pmp. Most impressive.
I wish the best of luck to the programmers: it'll be a truly amazing feat if they can pull this. If they're able to complete this project, tons of PSP owners will be able to understand that touching is good.
[Via PSP Hacks]
Using LocationFree to stream video to your PSP
LocationFree support has been available for PSPs ever since firmware 2.50. However, because of how expensive the LocationFree devices are (retails for $200 at amazon.com), few have had a chance to actually try it and see how the PSP interfaces with it. Thankfully, this incredible video from theorycast's Kevin Lim goes through in meticulous detail how the hardware and software work. It's a bit long, and the PSP functionality is towards the end, but if you've ever wanted to see a truly in-depth presentation of LocationFree in action, this is where to go. This is the first time I've ever seen the LocationFree interface on the PSP, and I have to say that it's incredibly slick and desirable. Do any of you fanboys want to uh... donate $200 bucks to me? I kid, I kid.
Calling all PSPs
Sony and one of its sister-companies, Sony-Ericsson, are hinting at a couple of interesting possibilities for a PSP phone, including the possible addition of VoIP capabilities to our favorite handheld as well as the potential for Sony to introduce some sort of brand-new "Playstation Phone" Frankenstein that would be separate from the PSP all together.In an informative and fun read, GameDaily goes sluething and digs up some interesting evidence that supports the rumors. Here's our favorite nugget-of-fun:
"Sony Ericsson's senior vice president of Product and Application Planning, Rikko Sakaguchi, said such a phone may actually be in the works. Sakaguchi cryptically revealed to CNET Asia that the company 'is working on something' related to a PlayStation phone, but that 'the surprise must be kept for the future.'"
Without doubt, that quote is cryptic, non-specific and bordering on hearsay. But that's the stuff that fanboys like us live for. Now, go and discuss.
[Via GameDaily]
Keyboard coming Spring according to contest
The contest ends September 21st, so coders should get moving quickly. Hopefully, we'll find out more information about this peripheral soon enough.
[Via IGN Boards]
