Hacking the PSP Blog

CES: Let the Ripoffs Begin!

There were many Taiwanese companies copying the PSP's design and applying it for their own uses... Some were making portable gaming systems that play multiple low-resolution, low-quality games, like the handhelds you're used to buying for $20, but these look like PSPs. The best knockoff I've seen so far has been the AV880 Pocket Video Recorder, from WinTek (www.wintekgroup.com), a Chinese company. The AV880 looks like a graphite blue PSP (if one ever existed). It also comes in, hahaha, black. The AV880 records and plays back audio/video content from its built-in 1.8" 20 gigabyte hard drive, similar to what the lower end of the Archos media line sports as well.



Reported by Auri Rahimzadeh @ 4:32 PST 6-Jan-2005

CES: LOTS of PSP Cases, Charges, and Accessories at CES, But Nothing Amazing (yet)

Well, it's my third day at the CES and first day on the show floor (I moderated a panel on the future of gaming - that was fun). So far I've covered the Sands convention center - tomorrow will be the LVCC, where I'm likely to see much more. There are HORDES of companies shipping products for the PSP. These are mainly limited to game cases, UMD holders, and Bluetooth adapters so you can use wireless headphones with your PSP (the Bluetooth adapters work with practically any device with a headphone jack - how convenient!)

I even found a ripoff design of the PSP that includes a 20 gigabyte hard drive and both plays and records video. It is not a PSP,and does not play games, of course. I wonder if Sony will sue... I have a picture of that in the "Let the knockoffs begin!" blog entry.

Here are some of the cases I've seen:

The first one is a nice white case from French company MCA (www.mcafrance.com) (other colors available include blue, green, yellow, red and black) which flips open to reveal your PSP with full access to the USB, power and headphone/microphone ports. Slick! They don't have distribution in the U.S. yet, but they're looking around and hopefully will have something soon.



The second unit is from Norazza (www.norazza.com) called the Ape Case. It has a front pocket for memory sticks and headphones, as well as inner pockets for UMDs and other accessories. It even comes with a rockclimbing-like C-clip so you can hook it to your jeans, or wherever. It also sports a belt passthrough so you can hook it over your, well, belt ;)



StudyTech (www.studytech.com.tw, although they said their web site isn't finished yet) also looking for resellers and distribution, was showing its Moki Film product, an anti-glare screen protector for the PSP.



The iPhono Mini from Bluetake (www.bluetake.com) is a small Bluetooth adapter that plugs into any standard headphone jack and lets you use Bluetooth headphones with wireless convenience.



AirLogic was showing its iCombi (www.icombi.com) product, another Bluetooth headphone adapter. The iCombi is much smaller than the iPhono Mini and includes the headphones, while the iPhono requires the separate purchase of headphones.



ArtRang (www.artrang.co.kr) was showing their Emergency Charger, which can charge a PSP, cell phone, and other devices. It doubles as an external battery, so if the juice dies in your phone, it can start drawing from the Emergency Charger even if no wall outlet is present.



Reported by Auri Rahimzadeh @ 4:15 PST 6-Jan-2005

CES: PSP LocationFree TV Details (Joystiq)

Sony was on-hand at last night's Digital Experience, again focusing on LocationFree TV--highlighted during the keynote. If you're interested in turning your PSP into a portable TV/DVD/DVR player, you'll have to first cop the LocationFree base station ($349; $299 with current rebate). The base station features a NTSC tuner with RF input, 2 video inputs (1 S-video), 3D digital combo filter, Ethernet port, and IR blaster.

With v2.5 firmware (now v2.6) you can control your LocationFree TV experience with an on-screen universal remote. Users can watch hometown cable programs, and then power-on the DVD player and watch a movie from any wireless hotspot in the world. Theoretically, you could use the LocationFree technology to turn your PSP into a semi-portable monitor for your home consoles. That is, you could watch (but not control) your PS2 on the PSP's screen--you'd have to have the base station and PS2 nearby to control the game.

Until WiFi hotspots are introduced into every nook & cranny on the planet, LocationFree TV has a limited range. Still, it's a fine technology for homebodies that are serious about television. With this setup, you'll never miss a second, even during trips to the kitchen or bathroom breaks.

ScreenMax lets you play PSP on TV (PSPWorld)

Digital Innovations has announced the GameDR ScreenMax Video Transmission System for PSP. The $70 product makes it possible to play PSP games and movies on any TV or monitor. It will be available in February from major retailers.

"Resembling an oversized computer mouse, the ScreenMax snaps into two holes on the PSP and covers the player's screen like a hat. The internal ScreenMax camera and lens system digitizes the PSP image, transmits it through a four-foot-long built-in cable that is attached to a TV or monitor on the other end, and reproduces the image in magnified form for a full-size gaming or viewing experience. A second cable that is also hard-wired into the ScreenMax unit plugs into the PSP's headphone jack and pumps the soundtrack through the TV or monitor speakers."

New 4GB and 8GB Memory Sticks on the Way! (PSPUpdates)

Sony has updated their MemoryStick Website to include their latest product unveiling at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Touting the way of "Gigabyte Life" as their theme, Sony announced that they plan to release 4GB and 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo's sometime in 2006. There is no mention of price range at the moment, but you can bet it'll be pretty pricey at first. The upside to that is we can expect a price drop on the 2GB memory sticks when these products hit shelves. But as our attentive readers have pointed out in the comments, the PSP doesn't currently support any storage media exceeding 4GB, so you can expect a firmware update to be released at about the same time as these new memory sticks to accomodate for the massive storage if Sony wants PSP users to snatch up the 8GB version.