Saturday, February 25, 2006 - Posts

Great Things Come in Small Packages With Sony's New 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- PMA 2006, Booth #4150 -- Don't let the size of Sony's 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo(TM) media card fool you. This product has the largest storage capacity of any Memory Stick flash media card on the market.

At one-third the size and half the weight of the standard-size Memory Stick® card, the 4GB PRO Duo media is designed to store large amounts of rich, multi-media content, including movies, music and high-resolution digital photos.

"As we've increased capacity, the Memory Stick format has advanced beyond serving primarily for storage of digital still images" said Mike Kahn, senior manager for Memory Stick® Media at Sony Electronics. "With our postage-stamp sized 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media card, people can store all of their vacation photos and wedding videos, along with their favorite movies, music and even game-scores from a PlayStation Portable device."

The new media card is compatible with a wide selection of currently available devices, including Sony's Cyber-Shot® T Series and W Series cameras, Handycam® camcorders and the PSP system.

For added versatility, all Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo(TM) media cards are sold with an adapter for devices with a standard-size Memory Stick® media slot. It also offers the industry's highest durability with a standard operating temperature range of -13 F to +185 F.

Like all Memory Stick media products, the 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo card incorporates MagicGate® copyright protection technology to allow for secure distribution of commercial content such as digital music and downloaded movies.

The 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media card will be available in July for about $250 direct at http://SonyStyle.com, nationwide in Sony Style® retail stores (http://www.sonystyle.com/retail), and across the country at authorized dealers.

                          Memory Stick to the Rescue

Sony also announced the Memory Stick File Rescue Service, which helps recover certain files lost through accidental deletions or data loss. This free service can be accessed on the Sony customer support web site, http://esupport.sony.com/. Customers will be asked to register the Memory Stick model name and product lot number prior to downloading the recovery software.

The Memory Stick File Rescue Service can recover .jpg (DCF format), MPEG1 and .mp4 (MS Video File Format) files. It is compatible with all Sony Memory Stick cards sold since 1998. This free service will be available this summer.

    Memory Stick PRO Duo media

Specifications
Memory Flash Memory
Storage Capacity 4GB
Usable Capacity Approx.3.66GB
Interface Memory Stick Interface (Serial/Parallel)
Operating Voltage 2.7V-3.6V
Average Operating Current
{Serial transfer} 65mA (max.)
Average Operating Current
{Parallel transfer} 100mA (max.)
Standby Current 1.5mA (max.)
Access (Read/Write) Speed
{Parallel transfer} 15Mbps when combined with optimized Memory
Stick PRO format-compatible devices


Source: Sony Electronics, Inc.
posted by Auri with 3 Comments

More PSP 2 Rumormill Blurbs

Is the PSP about to gain new features to square up against the DS Lite...

Citing an "anonymous source", PSPWorld has recently suggested an upgraded PSP is currently in the works, presumably as an attempt to gear up towards the impending second bout against the DS Lite.

Suggesting that the model will alleviate the typical PSP storage problem and help to realise its true media possibilities, the article alleges that the unlikely titled "PSP 2" will include 4GB flash storage as standard, and follow the DS Lite model by trimming 6-7mm and offering the device in three colours - black, white and silver.

Based upon the accuracy of the source, further reasons to be frustrated if you've already shelled out for a PSP, include the introduction of the previously rumoured EyeToy like digital camera. Beyond its use as a digital camera, PSPWorld suggests this will also open up the possibility of streaming video from the "PSP 2" to the Playstation3 via the heavily speculated "HUB" service.

Given Sony's inclination towards re-inventing the Playstation, it's somewhat inevitable that Sony would take a continuous look at ways to reduce its manufacturing costs; however evidently concerned by the DS performance during 2005, it's entirely possible that Sony would also look to make improvements.

Whether Sony would welcome such a launch, whilst speculation continues to rage of problems facing the Playstation3, however is an entirely different manner; it's also worth adhering to the liberal dosage of salt required with "anonymous sources".

Source: TVG
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Coming Soon: Mortal Kombat Unchained for the PSP

Fatalities in your fist.

It's hardly the secret of the world but it's been a while since we heard anything about it. Originally scheduled for a release late last year, everything went quiet and it may have been assumed that this venture was dead and buried. Midway has recently revealed new information on Mortal Kombat Unchained, the first Mortal Kombat game to hit the PSP. Despite the new subtitle. Unchained is still pretty much a port of Mortal Kombat Deception, which hit consoles back in 2004.

For this title we can expect to see multiple fatalities per character and multi-tiered interactive backgrounds that we enjoyed in Deception as well as six new fighters. The game will offer playable versions Kitana, Jax, Frost, Blaze, Goro and Shao Kahn. The latter two were incidentally available on the GameCube version but it never reached PAL shores. Depending on your perspective, it's either better or worse that the Konquest has come to the PSP as well. Here, you can embark on a single-player mission with heightened character control, computer-controlled characters and hidden extras. It's good to know that Midway decided to include it, because it adds some meat to the title (even if it can be dodgy at times).

Chess and Puzzle Kombat have made it over as well. There's even an all-new Endurance mode where players will contend with waves of combatants. It's unclear whether these modes will come locked, or whether you will access them straight out of the box. The game will make use of the PSP's wireless Ad-Hoc functionality. Currently, Midway has revealed that Unchained includes head-to-head matches, but there's no word on other multiplayer modes or play over the internet. It's set for release sometime in Q3 of this year.

PALGN will bring you more information as it becomes available and maybe even a screenie or two.

Source: PALGN
posted by Auri with 0 Comments

Does it take over six minutes to load Smackdown vs. Raw on the PSP?

I actually sat through this entire video twice before I wrote this post, to see if I could find any hint of foul play in the making of this video. That means I spend almost 15 minutes watching loading screens. You still think this job is easy?

There is nothing totally obvious, it did seem like one set of menus came around twice, and the time when there is absolutely nothing on the screen seems a touch long to me. Loading screens before the actual loading screen? Ouch.

I've sat through some pretty terrible load times in PSP games (and Madden seems to load evey few seconds no matter what you're doing) but this is insane. Can it really take over six minutes from startup to get to gameplay? In portable gaming I think anything about a minute or so is too long, and I think ideally it should always be around 30 seconds. You turn the unit on, and go.

So what do you guys think? Fake? Anyone with this game willing to actually time it themselves and see? 

Source: Opposable Thumbs

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Homer's RIN Gameboy Emulator Updated to 3.01 - Works Great on all PSPs!

Thanks to Fanjita's Brown Ale eLoader and RIN Gameboy Emulator v3.01 you can now successfully, and enjoyable, play Gameboy(R) and Gameboy(R) Color games on your PSP!

Download the new version here!

Download Brown Ale here!
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Homebrew Releases for February 25, 2006

It's PSP Magazine Heaven today! Plus lots of new games and even an update to the XBox Media Center controller!

Games
Beats of Rage v0.06
Masterpiece - "Same Edition"
Sudoku v0.9

Applications
PSPSeq v0.10 - Music generator.
XBMC Remote Music Interface v0.2 - XBox Media Center controller.

Emulators
Homers RIN v3.1 - Gameboy (R) / Gameboy Color Emulator - This works GREAT!

PSP Magazines
Footy in a Week Issue 3
iPSP Magazine - Issue 2
PSP Galaxy - Special Edition

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PSP Camera on a fast track?

Stuart, one of our readers, managed to catch a snapshot of this mysterious ad that is making its way down the rails of London trains lately. It’s pretty obvious that this ad is trying to build up anticipation for a future PSP camera accessory – you can see the accented camera icon in the lower right hand corner. A camera is probably one of the most desired add-ons for the PSP (aside from a keyboard) and it’s nice to know that the campaign has already started to warm up.

Pspcameraad



Source: PSPUpdates
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Control Your XBox 360's Media Center With Your PSP!

This program was a big hit when it was released a few weeks ago. I guess there’s nothing better than controlling your Xbox’s Media Center with a PSP. Maybe we just like to see Sony and Microsoft getting along in a warm ‘n bubbly way. Today, Jonny2002 released a newest version of the XBMC Remote Music Interface furthering the love story between these two consoles. Here’s what’s been fixed up in the latest version, but be sure to check the release thread for installation instructions and more info.
  • Added playlist support
  • Added support for album art
  • Added skip to previous/next song with L/R-trigger
  • Added fast rewind/fast forward with analog stick.
  • Added "controller mode", enter with Start.
  • More informative error messages.
  • Better network recovery when bringing the PSP out of sleep mode.
  • Playing SHOUTcast streams (and probably also ITunes streams) caused a crash.
  • Increased the timeout from 7 to 15 seconds during transfer of data, accessing internet streams would sometimes timeout on slow lines.
  • Fixed a bug with parsing of SMB shares containing domain name.
  • Fixed an index off by one bug in the network selection screen.
Download it here.


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