Firmware 2.0 observations

[Leon]

What I've noticed so far (it's only been twenty minutes):

The Web Browser

Definitely slower and less than the PC experience, but I think SCE deserves a lot of credit. The jaws of most Clie users will definitely drop at how good the PSP browser is vis-a-vis NetFront 3.0. Apart from the lack of a touch screen, the GUI is more fluid, the rendering is better.

Okay I know you didn't click this thread to hear the soapbox crumbling beneath my weight.

The scrolling is very nice - I didn't know the "speaker net" I've been fiddling with is the analog stick! Multiple tabs can be opened and cycled through, but there isn't a "tabs bar" that shows you how many are open and what they are at a glance.

My number one disappointment is that you can't use the browser offline. Although you can save pages and files linked from a page, there don't seem to be ways to view files from the MemoryStick. I tried an RSS feed (.xml) and the PSP said it can't display that. The ultimate GEEK way to get around this would be to set up a Blogger blog for note-taking... nevermind

The font is the standard boxy PSP one, which doesn't scale very well to the smallest size. Bring on the hacks... I want my Verdana.

The browser handles graphics-intensive sites just fine (I tried AV Watch), but it's probably best for "mobile" versions of sites. In any case, I think it's a lovely web browsing appliance if you're on a trip and have Wi-Fi connection.

ATRAC3plus and SonicStage

All of the new A3+ bitrates play on the PSP. I'm not sure if there are sound quality differences.

I've yet to try AAC or WAV.

Miscellany

The wallpaper feature is nice. When you're viewing a pic there's now an option to set it as wallpaper, in the "view" you specify. I'm using an 1024x768 pic, the first time it popped up was the whole view, i.e. there are 2 black bands to the left/right due to the aspect ratio. It asked me if I wanted that. I went back, zoomed the pic to fill the screen, and set that as wallpaper.

This might be placebo effect, but I think the GUI overall is a bit more responsive.

There are no additional display modes for my video stored on MemoryStick.

Edited July 27, 2005 by Leon

[Leon]

PSP owners will probably all update and get very intimate with the ins and outs faster than I can say ######, but a couple pics for you...

My apologies to our Canadian friends with progressive musical tastes - I love Jann Arden to pieces

The ALC on display.

[Christopher]

Thanks for the thoughts; it's really neat to get a perspective on this before it hits North America. Your observations are very specific and would probably be in tune with my own.

About the web browser, how do sites like MDCF or ALC look? (ignore, just saw your update) Is there alot of side-scrolling involved?

Have you done anything with the h.264 codec yet? I'm surprised you didn't speak more of the video additions as I remember in our conversations you noted that you purchased this primarily as an entertainment device for non-gaming scenarios, e.g. "speaker net" (lol).

[Ishiyoshi]

This is brilliant, Leon! Many thanks for sharing your impressions with us.

I am curious to know how pleasant is web navigation without a keypad?

[Leon]

Oops! 56k warning!

I haven't done anything with h.264 yet - my encoding app has the option but I haven't tried it yet, I'm not very good with video codecs

With the poor Clie and Zaurus experiences still haunting me, I think the web navigation is very smooth, to an totally unexpected magnitude if you're used to the CPU speed/performance correlation of PDAs You scroll around by holding down the square key and using the "analog stick". You can use the four arrow keys to "tab" to anything that has a link, then hit the O to visit the link.

The triangle toggles the interface and display - I don't think you can browse with the interface present.

Left/right goes back/foward; Pressing Square + left/right toggles the tabs you have opened.

The text entry screen is used for URL and whenever you want to fill out a text field. An URL subset is added on the text screen where you usually switched between Katakana, Hiragana, etc, for various domains, country domains, etc. Tedious, yes, but the PSP's buttons are tactile in a very pleasureable way, which will take the edge off of you - it's a game console after all

The MDCF works just fine.

The ALC isn't too bad either.

[dapreview]

Leon - saw your post at Engadget. I know this is the Japanese version, but are the menus and such written in Japanese or English..? I'm interested in installing the v.2 software now but I only speak English and wouldn't want to get stuck with Japanese text everywhere.

Thanks!

[Leon]

The Japanese firmware has always had the option to switch languages - I'm using the English option in the pictures here. Everything becomes English so there's no problem with gibberish really, unlike those useless PDAs.

I don't know how Sony distributes PSP firmware - I always used the PSP itself to check for updates. Mine is the Japanese model so I just assume it pulls updates intended for itself. The one announced in Japan should be available to you guys one way or another, just like SonicStage 3.2 has been. I kept forgetting to update today, and kinda expected everyone to have the firmware by now

Edited July 27, 2005 by Leon

[Leon]

Oh guys, one more thing!

The AAC files I made with iTunes and copied to the MemoryStick don't show up on the PSP menu. [EDIT- Got it working now - thanks guys]

I was perhaps too optimistic about this appearing in the feature list... sigh.

Edited July 27, 2005 by Leon

[Christopher]

Thanks for the shots of my two websites, it's really cool to see them in that perspective.

And just to pick up on Leon's note of Sonicstage 3.2, it is fully reviewed and covered here:

http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?showtopic=42

[mediaguru]

Oh guys, one more thing!

The AAC files I made with iTunes and copied to the MemoryStick don't show up on the PSP menu.

I was perhaps too optimistic about this appearing in the feature list... sigh.

←

Try changing the suffix to .mp4 or .aac - let me know if that works. I work for a different Japanese company and they put AAC playback into one of their devices (a phone). It took me a lot of effort to convince them to recognize .m4a as an AAC suffix but eventually they did, thank goodness. The whole point to support AAC is to get unprotected iTunes support! Sounds like Sony forgot that but hopefully, it can be fixed.

[tanoshii]

Oh guys, one more thing!

The AAC files I made with iTunes and copied to the MemoryStick don't show up on the PSP menu.

I was perhaps too optimistic about this appearing in the feature list... sigh.

←

AAC files made in iTunes works fine... the PSP only recognises files with a .mp4 extension. Rename each file to *.mp4 and it'll play fine. I haven't tested out whether all bitrates work, but 128Kb-encoded AACs plays without any problems. Playback quality is top-notch.

I have one huge complaint about the browser - the thing crashes all the time with the message "There is not enough memory" when trying to access some of the more complex webpages. Makes me wonder why the programmers didn't choose to use Memory Stick space as temporary RAM for the browser. But hey - it is a free upgrade after all, so I guess I can't complain too much. Here's hoping that they will continually improve the browser over time.

OH and finally a tip for those who find that the pages take forever to load - turn off the WLAN Power Saving feature in the PSP's Power Save settings menu.

[Leon]

Try changing the suffix to .mp4 or .aac - let me know if that works. I work for a different Japanese company and they put AAC playback into one of their devices (a phone). It took me a lot of effort to convince them to recognize .m4a as an AAC suffix but eventually they did, thank goodness. The whole point to support AAC is to get unprotected iTunes support! Sounds like Sony forgot that but hopefully, it can be fixed.

←

Thanks for the tip, you and Mr Happy (tanoshii)! Edit - yeah all my AAC files play now, 128 and 192.

Methinks it's not too hard to guess which company that is

Edited July 27, 2005 by Leon

[Leon]

BroadBand Watch reports on the PSP browser (part 1 of 2) :

-- the max. number of tabs is 3. They got this summary screen to display - I have no idea how to call it up:

http://bb.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/parts/im...-10501-7-2.html

-- browser identifies as Mozilla/4.0 (PSP (PlayStation Portable); 2.00)

-- can't be used to access/purchase from ATRAC-based online music services (mora, etc)

[Ishiyoshi]

For those planning to update non-Japanese PSP, I would like to report that I've applied the Japanese firmware on my US PSP and it works just fine; no playback problems with Region 1 UMD Movie.

[atrain]

great pics leon.

[Hyena]

After snooping around in the directories on my MSPD in my PSP I found a folder called "BROWSER" within another folder called "SYSTEM". Within the Browser folder there is an html file named "bookmarks" which holds all your bookmarks for your web browser.

I thought you may be able to edit it and put in more bookmarks, to avoid the tedium of using the PSP key entry in the browser. Unfortunately, any editing that you do to the folder will be undone once you start up the browser again. Maybe the text inside the HTML file that read: "This is an automatically generated file. It will be read and overwritten. Do Not Edit!" Should've been a hint. ;P

[Leon]

For those who don't know, the browser is NetFront (again)

[Christopher]

Anyone try pogo.com's games on this yet?

[blackdragon777]

You CAN use the PSP web browser offline. I confirmed this by making a simple Javascript Calculator for the PSP.

On your memory stick under PSP directory, make a new directory called WEB.

In that directory, place whatever html file and graphics you want.

From there, in the PSP browser, type the following address url in.

file:/PSP/WEB/whatever.html

You can download my JavaScript PSP Calculator here.

http://www.jujikasoft.com/PSP/calc.html

Then just follow my previous directions and on your PSP web browser go to

file:/PSP/WEB/calc.html

file:/ will access files on your memory stick.

We might be able to get an exploit working on 2.0 by playing with this.

-- Brandon Fogerty

http://www.jujikasoft.com

GOD Bless you Always my friend!!!!!!!

[Christopher]

Welcome, black! That's a really cool contribution to the community! Do you mind if I mirror the link (with the appropriate credits) in our downloads section?

[blackdragon777]

Welcome, black! That's a really cool contribution to the community! Do you mind if I mirror the link (with the appropriate credits) in our downloads section?

←

Go ahead. That`s what it is there for my friend!

-- Brandon Fogerty

http://www.jujikasoft.com

GOD Bless you Always my Friends!!!

[pata2001]

For those planning to update non-Japanese PSP, I would like to report that I've applied the Japanese firmware on my US PSP and it works just fine; no playback problems with Region 1 UMD Movie.

←

How about Region 2 UMD movies? I just ordered a PSP, but I didn't think about movie/music regioning. If I flashed the US PSP with Japan firmware, can it play Region 2 UMDs? It sucks that not only movies, but Sony also region-lock UMS music too. I don't know if I should cancel my order and get a Japanese PSP instead.

[Ishiyoshi]

How about Region 2 UMD movies? I just ordered a PSP, but I didn't think about movie/music regioning. If I flashed the US PSP with Japan firmware, can it play Region 2 UMDs? It sucks that not only movies, but Sony also region-lock UMS music too. I don't know if I should cancel my order and get a Japanese PSP instead.

←

Unfortunately, region restriction on UMD Video will remain regardless if you flash your US PSP with a Japanese firmware.

[tooterjes]

Miscellany

The wallpaper feature is nice. When you're viewing a pic there's now an option to set it as wallpaper, in the "view" you specify. I'm using an 1024x768 pic, the first time it popped up was the whole view, i.e. there are 2 black bands to the left/right due to the aspect ratio. It asked me if I wanted that. I went back, zoomed the pic to fill the screen, and set that as wallpaper.

This might be placebo effect, but I think the GUI overall is a bit more responsive.

There are no additional display modes for my video stored on MemoryStick.

←

[mercury_in_flames]

ive asked once, but i need 100% clarification, will a JP version psp play UK UMD movies>?

Edited January 12, 2006 by mercury_in_flames

[Ishiyoshi]

ive asked once, but i need 100% clarification, will a JP version psp play UK UMD movies>?

Yes, 100% guaranteed.

[mercury_in_flames]

YESSS haha wont say for certain, but i will seriously be thinking of getting one come pay day this month

[Ishiyoshi]

YESSS haha wont say for certain, but i will seriously be thinking of getting one come pay day this month

You will totally enjoy the PSP. Putting the games aside, the beauty of AVC movies and LocationFree TV feature alone is a big plus.

[mercury_in_flames]

for 259 pounds you can get a 2gig memory stick along with the value pack version of the psp. hmm, will seriously have to think about it. but at least i know its just a case of when