Web Browser for PSP

[Lord Nepenthean]

What I'm still confused about is whether or not the browser will be useful.  The software may be free, but it's only useful with a WISP.  I guess maybe Sony could provide the service, but I'm sure that wont be free as well.

Article from: http://gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=10289

Sony adds web browser to PSP in new firmware upgrade
Illustration
Tom Bramwell 11:59 22/07/2005

Free to download update brings a vastly expanded set of features to Sonys' handheld

Sony has announced a free-to-download version 2.0 software upgrade for the Japanese PlayStation Portable that will introduce a web browser and increased versatility in other areas of its multimedia support.

It's due out in Japan next Wednesday, 27th July, and most expect it to be released in North America around the same time. Europe may even see it pre-installed on PSPs. The update will be downloadable through Sony's website (to be installed via USB cable connection) and will be made available on future game discs as well.

The new software introduces a wireless internet browser with unspecified security features (presumably support for cookies - the bits that remember your settings on certain pages) and support for HTML 4.01. Flash is not supported, but the PSP can apparently detect it, so we may see that in future. The web browser will be housed in a net network menu.

However, the web browser isn't the only new feature being introduced in the update, which also adds a raft of functionality to the console's existing features.

A desktop wallpaper style feature is being introduced for the PSP menu, and the system will allow you to trade your stored pictures wirelessly. This feature will only be available via ad-hoc wireless networks to begin with (i.e. PSP to PSP direct) but it may be expanded to allow the general sharing of pictures someday. Watch out Hillary Clinton, eh?

In terms of multimedia support, there's now full MP4 (AVC) playback (for better video using the H.264 codec, which is the new standard being adopted across the industry for high quality video), ATRAC3plus, MP4, AAC and WAVE audio support, and the ability to read TIFF, BMP (Bitmap) and even GIF image files, although whether animated GIF files will be supported is unknown.

The introduction of support for ATRAC3plus is particularly interesting, since it means that if you use the SonicStage v3.2 PC software, you can effectively use the PSP as a portable playback device for music purchased from Sony's Connect Music Store - reinforcing Sony's apparent positioning of PSP as a competitor to iPod and Apple's iTunes Music Store.

Playback of UMD video and music will also gain a skipping feature so you can move to different points, and there will also be an A-B repeat mode, an as-yet unexplained 4:3 video mode (slightly puzzling as everything is in 4:3 really - they may mean Zoom or Stretch?), and an audio adjustment feature to mute or adjust the gain on videos.

Further under the bonnet we see things like WPA support for more secure wireless networks and a new character set (details of which are sketchy), as well as Korean language support.

Sadly, some previously rumoured features like an email program, word processor and, er, calculator, have not been mentioned in connection with the version 2.0 upgrade.

However the volume of interesting features is likely to put it firmly on most people's radars - particularly given that it's free. The big issue for some of the PSP's most vocal users however will be the fact that by installing the update in order to use the new features, they'll also patch the security hole that allowed homebrew - and pirate - software to be run on the machine.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

All you have to do is buy Wipeout Pure. Unless Sony shut down the hacks.

[Lord Nepenthean]

[Lord Nepenthean]

I am on the PSP you see in the picture.  While it works, it is SUPER slow and typing is more annoying than Hillary Clinton.  End.

[Sauza12]

That is actually pretty cool.  I can't count the number of times that I have needed to get online while I was away from home or the office and couldn't.

Does it cost to go online with the PSP though?

[Lord Nepenthean]

You have to already have a wireless network.  I don't know if the PSP would be capable of using a WISP or not.  So, if I leave where I am by 100 yards for instance, there would no longer be a connection....  Laurel just has a wireless router.  You might be able to connect to other unsecured networks, but it seems that the PSP's wireless receiver is pretty weak.

[Hydrobond]

Well, you wouldn't want it to eat the battery alive now would you?

[Lord Nepenthean]

No, they already have a giant screen and optical drive for that.

[Izret101]

So, if I leave where I am by 100 yards for instance, there would no longer be a connection.... Laurel just has a wireless router.  You might be able to connect to other unsecured networks, but it seems that the PSP's wireless receiver is pretty weak.

Yaaaaay i can steal internet from my school if i have a PSP.
Which of course i do not.
I probably won't be in the right wing of the school to get the school signal anyways.

[CatchFiveBats]

Speaking of PSP, I had a friend who bought one not too long ago, and the screen now has HUGE bars going down the middle.  He's going to have to send it to Sony to get it fixed.  He's really pissed, but I told him this would happen when he bought a PSP.  I can guarantee I will never, ever, EVER own a PSP.  Or, at least, not until they come out with a cheaper, more durable version of it.  Of course, by then, I will have lost all interest in the system.  Not that I had any interest in it to begin with.

[s1lence]

You know this was supposed to be avalible on the 12th of august. Then the 15th, now its the 19th. When is this supposed to come out?

[Lord Nepenthean]

I dunno, but if you want it badly enough, I think IGN has the Japanese patch hosted on their site, which you can install on a US PSP.  You won't be able to switch to the US patch once that one comes out, but when a new firmware version (i.e. 2.5 instead of 2.0) comes out, you should be able to go back to the US firmware versions.

[s1lence]

Sweet, I'll try that.

[s1lence]

I got the real one last night, finally. It ok for general web browsing but for forum posting it really is the suck. The Nintendo DS needs something for web browsing, the touch pad might actually make it work.

[Lord Nepenthean]

Yeah I think DS would definitely be infinitely better for web browsing.  The touch screen would be great for a keyboard and/or mouse not only because of the touch screen function, but because it would free up the top screen completely for the page.  No more switching between view and keyboard screen every two seconds.