So the 2.7 System Software has also been released for US and Japanese PSPs. That a very pleasant surprise from Sony. We'll be bringing you downloadable flash games and other fun stuff with this new firmware release in the future.

Here are the links to upgrade your PSP. There currently isn't a hack for the 2.7 PSPs so you're going to have to sacrifice your homebrew if you upgrade (atleast for a little while).

QJ.NET US PSP Firmware Download
QJ.NET Japan PSP Firmware Download

Sony is about to release version 2.7 of the System Software for Japanese PSPs. The highlight in this update will include Flash (Version 6) support in the web browser , AAC audio playback and the ability to save RSS Audio to your memory stick. These were all features that were recently announced at a Sony meeting so it's not a complete surprise.

Here's the complete feature list.

* [Internet Browser] now supports Macromedia Flash contents playback.
You need to enable the Flash contents playback in the [System Settings].
The version of the flash player is Macromedia Flash Player 6 (a part of the functions is not supported).
The settings of the [Internet Browser] is added into [Settings] -> [Connection Settings]
The audio contents from channels in the [RSS Channel] section now can be saved into your memory stick.
* [Auto] option added to [Rate Change] in [Location Free Player].
More about the Location Free base station can be found here

Music
Added file extension to playable AAC format.

Settings
* Added [Enable Flash Player] in [System Settings].
To change this option, you need to connect to the internet.
"Simplified Chinese" and "Traditional Chinese" added to [System Settings] -> [System Language].
Added [RSS Channel Settings].
Added [UMD Video L & R Button] into [Video Settings].

Others
Fixed some issues when using a memory stick with more than 2GB free space.
*This problem has not happened among the memory sticks sold in Japan until April 24.

Explicit Warning for NON Japanese PSP Owners.

"CAUTION: This update is only for customers who obtained PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) for Japan (PSP-1000 series). Upon completion of preparing, we will announce update information for the other countries/areas customers via SCE Group Web Site or other channels . For these customers who obtained PSP® in the other countries/areas, please DO NOT update PSP® through this web site. There are no guarantee of proper operation of the other PSP®."

Update
The gameplay video was messed up so we reencoded and reposted the vid.


We've been out at Game Developers Conference in San Jose the last few days and we wanted to show you some photos of the PSP demo stations and the PSP Spot game kiosk. Sony's Expo Booth had a bunch of game stations that included Metal Gear Acid 2, Me and My Katamari, Daxter, Generation of Chaos, Field Commander, Talkman, Worms, Exit and last but not least Loco Roco.

They also had several downloadable games though the PSP Spot like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Mega Man Powered Up and Loco Roco. Phil Harrison, Sony's Playstation Head, mentioned during his keynote speech that Loco Roco would be released this summer in the US. We've shot some video of this wonderfully cute and addictive game and made it available here for your enjoyment!



Me and My Katamari


Worms


Talkman


Game Stations


More Game Stations


PSP Spot Station


Another PSP Spot Station


Loco Roco Controls Screen

Rumors of an Mobile XBox went off the charts yesterday after a silicon valley insider reported in the San Jose Mercury News that Microsoft is working on a mobile handheld gaming device that will compete head on with Apple's iPod and Sony's PSP. The project is headed by J Allard and Greg Gibson, two senior leaders of the XBox design staff. The project is still in the early stages and it's unlikely we'll see anything for at least year or two.

This is not the first rumor of a XBox portable gaming device but this news seems to have more credibility because of the recent announcements of the Oragami project, increased competition from Apple and Sony and internal reorganizations at Microsoft that have put the control of entertainment and media products with the XBox management team.



San Jose Mercury News - Microsoft takes another shot at handheld market

Griffin Technology has already built a reputation through their line of iPod products so we're excited to see their goodies for the PSP.

iTrip PSP - $49.99 FM Transmitter that sends music straight to your (car) radio.

iFM PSP - $49.99 Radio and Remote for the PSP.

SmartShare PSP - $14.99 Headphone splitter with individual volume controls.

Sony made some very interesting PSP and PS3 announcements today at the PlayStation Business Briefing 2006. They first confirmed what everyone seemed to know already, the PS3 won't be shipping in the spring but will be delayed till November. Now on to the good news.

Sony will be dropping the price of the value pack to $199/199 euro in the US/UK at the end of the month and introduce a ton of cool new features and devices. A new PSP browser is set to be released this spring which will feature Flash 6 support. RSS enhancements for streaming and saving video and audio, video and VOIP, a new electronic distribution service for downloadable games are scheduled for the fall. They also mentioned two new peripherals for the PSP during the presentation, an EyeToy-like camera (probably used for video chat) and a USB-GPS receiver for the PSP.

PSPUpdates Slides from the Sony Presentation
1Up's Coverage of the Sony Announements
Joystiq's Play By Play of the Presentation

A post on Ain't It Cool News confirmed rumors that Sony would ship a new PSP before Christmas. According to the post, the new PSP will be thinner, lighter and outfitted with 4GB of memory and a built-in camera. We don't know how a movie rumors site became a cutting edge PSP news source but we like what we hear.

Ain't It Cool News PSP News Story

On10 is a new video show/blog/community website that profiles interesting and passionate people. It's been setup by Channel 9 folks and the blogs are manned by Microsoft employees so it's a total Microsoft lovefest. The PSP releated news is that they've made their daily video download available in WMV, IPod Video and PSP Video formats.

On10.net Website

Atom Films has added a new section of their site which has free downloadable Movies for the PSP and IPod. We're linking to one of our favorites in the series.

Atom Films To Go Site

Fanjita has released version 0.96 of their famous EBoot Loader that's compatible with version 2.0+ PSPs. They say on their website that it's more stable and list a few new features.

Full support for infra-red (for GTA-mode only).
Lots of extra configuration parameters, including GTA-only and TIFF-only options.
USB support in the menu (TIFF-mode only).
Use O as well as X to select in the menu.
Use Square to get EBOOT IDs from the menu.
Most corrupted menu icons now fixed.
* GTA autoload option in installer.

Fanjita's Place
Fanjita's List of v2.0 Compatible EBoots
Fanjita's List of v2.0+(GTA) Compatible EBoots

There have been a lot of comments about homebrew games so here are some links to the best resources and guides for running homebrew apps, emulators and games.

PSP-Hacks.com's Ultimate Homebrew Guide & How-To

Hack-A-Day's GTA Eloader How To
Fanjita's PSP Homebrew Compatibility Guide + EBoot Loaders
PSP Vault's - Yet Another Homebrew Pack (v8.0) for FW2.01+ - Get all the best PSP Homebrew programs in one download! Check the site for packs for the other firmware versions.
Beats Of Rage PSP Game - Cool Homebrew PSP Game

A Flash player for the PSP has been released today at psphacks.net. They even managed to to get actionscript support up to version 7 for this first release. Newgrounds.com and Heavy.com are mentioned in the press release so we should expect some fresh content for the player. You'll need a 1.5 firmware PSP to run the application but we're sure it'll be running on the latest 2.x firmware PSPs very soon.

Makezine PSP Flash Player Demo Photos

PSPHacks PSP Flash Player Download Link