Hacking the PSP Blog

Your PSP Is Vulnerable to Hackers

While homebrew development teams have been exploring the libtiff exploit to enable us to play homebrew games, others could be exploring it to brick our handhelds. According to Panda Software, these malware exploit the buffer overflow vulnerability of PSPs with firmware that can view TIFF files.

The company revealed that there is already a proof-of-concept code that demonstrates this vulnerability, and that hackers can take advantage of this flaw to wreak havoc on your PSP. Last year, their PandaLabs detected the Format.A and Tahen Trojan viruses designed to infect PSPs and delete its files, making the handheld unusable - bricked.

The most basic precaution that all PSP owners can take is to only connect to trusted and reliable sources. In addition, all downloaded files and software should be scanned with an updated anti-virus program to clear it of any threat to your PSP, says the company. But you guys always do that, right?

Source: PSPUpdates & vnunet.com

Streaming TV Onto the PSP Using TVU Player

From PSPUpdates:

Talk about comprehensive! Bebe has sent us a tip of his discovery: a way to stream TV from TVU player to the PSP. He even sent us a link to a video (which we can assume would also be him, since the user name for it is bebeboouk).

The process itself needs a couple of things before you can try to stream anything, so take note of the following:

• PMP VLC v0.0.9
• VLC Media Player
• A WiFi connection
• TVUPlayer, and
• the PSP version 1.5 (for his guide, anyway)

You'll need to mess around with the code in the PMP.ini file to get it to work properly, but his guide in the readme lists all the steps, so you don't miss a thing. You can also look at the video below for a visual perspective to getting it to stream. The one thing he mentions that you might not like is the need to get back to the computer if you want to change channels, but it could be worked around in the future. For now, at least, you can lounge around away from the computer if you feel like watching a TV movie or the entire first season of My Little Pony (if it happens to be on the TV that day).

In the meantime, try it out, see if it works with other firmwares, and let him know (email in the readme!) your thoughts or offers of assistance. Enjoy!

Watch the video...

Source: PSPUpdates

UMD price drop leads to sales jump in Japan

While the news probably doesn't come as any surprise to you, it has apparently taken the execs behind the UMD movie scene quite some time to pinpoint price as the primary culprit of the lagging sales. The higher-ups at Warner Home Video reported that its UMD films weren't selling well awhile back -- presumably to no one's surprise but their own -- and even Wal-Mart has been teetering on dropping the slow-selling discs from its precious shelf space. In a less-than-revolutionary announcement, it seems implementing a "permanent sale" on UMD movies in Japan has increased sales nearly tenfold; pricing 22 (and counting) titles at ¥980 (about $8.46) has prompted PSP owners to snatch these up in unprecedented quantities, which is somewhat telling of where these things should've been priced at from the start. While we aren't exactly sure if this indefinite sale will make the jump to US shores, this "discovery" is a rare step forward for the flailing format, and we can only hope this reduction becomes the norm on all UMD flicks.

Darren Murph
September 7, 2006

Source: engadget

Who Needs a PSP When You Have A PalmPS2?

From the maker of the PalmPSOne comes the PalmPS2, a hand-held version of Sony's last, greatest console. The PPS2 takes all the innards of a regular PS2 and mounts it into a "slim" case with a DVD drive an an LCD. Taking many, many man-hours to build—including a full day of sanding—this PPS2 can play every PS2 game you can play on your regular console. Best yet, the maker used as many PS2 parts as possible, truly making it a portable PS2. Before you ask, it's one of a kind and unless you commission the guy, he probably won't make another one for you.

Jason Chen
September 11, 2006







Source: Gizmodo & PalmPS2

Off Topic: EA: Spore is PC only ... for now

Despite Will Wright's dreams to put Spore on every medium known to man, Electronic Arts has released a statement to taper off expectations that the Sim Everything is fast approaching a release onto any next-gen consoles. "Though we're investigating the possibilities of bringing the franchise to other platforms in the future," the statement reads, "any announcements or confirmations for the Wii or any other platform would be premature."

The Wii reference may be a direct result of UK magazine NGamer's recent article that suggests Spore is coming to Nintendo Wii in Spring 2007. As it stands, Wright's team is "100% focused on finishing Spore on the PC and PC only." That said, you'd have to be pretty foolish to believe Spore will remain exclusive to any format. Like The Sims before it, Wright's latest project will likely invade every screen -- television, computer, mobile phone, etc. -- on Earth.





Source: Joystiq