PSP firmware v2.0 and white PSP on the way
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Jul 21st 2005 at 9:29AM }
Sony revealed a gleaming white PSP edition at a Playstation Meeting event in Japan today, as well as the v2.0
firmware upgrade. The white PSP will hopefully do something about hiding those pesky fingerprints which are quite
obvious on the current black model. However the real news is about the firmware. If
past upgrades are anything to go by, v2.0 will
indiscriminately disable all the PSP homebrew hacks out there. On the bright side, the new firmware adds WPA (wireless
security standard) support, an official Sony web browser and a wireless photo swapping feature. Also in a possible
Japan only release, Sony have added a new feature called Portable TV which allows wireless video transmission to the
PSP. The new firmware will be out in Japan on Wednesday. Crazily Sony aren't releasing the white PSP until September
15th. That's a full two weeks after the PSP launches in Europe! Why the wait for white?
[Via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gizmo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
" v2.0 will indiscriminately disable all the PSP homebrew hacks"
... and launchers ISO hacks too, i think :(
Brent @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
won't be affecting me any more. my PSP's circle button quit working yesterday. PSP's are awful quality anyway. fortunately I paid $40 at best buy for a warranty. So when I get a new one to replace this one, you can find it on half.com
thank god I didn't get rid of my DS :)
CorporateWhore @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Yes ... thank god ... phew, the world is safe.
Tesla @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
And once again we have fanboys posting bogus comments like Brent here. I hate reading forums with news of one specific system and then fanboys start saying how the supposedly sold the current system of topic and how good another one is. Nintendo fanboys are the worst type of rapid dogs because the high quality games the DS has are far and few between. Guess they don't have any games to play so they just bash a superior system. How about we talk about the topic here Brent?
Soo, enough flaming of fanboys here...
Version 2.0 of the firmware already?! Wow, Sony jumped on the ISO hacks pretty quick. Good for them, bad for us who actually want to run homebrew games and aren't downloading ripped PSP games. It's a shame so many are interested in running ripped PSP games because it hurts those who want to run homebrew apps.
I hope they start enticing users to actually upgrade by including those interesting features like streaming video and the browser to the US market. The only upgrades have been security ones so far.
Russell Christensen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
I hope there is a price drop!
Frank Fink @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
I want to buy a PSP (when they drop in price, I'm too poor), buy man that white one looks terrible!
The black is so sleek and styling, the white makes me cringe.
ByeLaw @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Telsa, you complain about fanboys but then you do the same yourself!! Hypocrisy???
ByeLaw @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Telsa, you complain about fanboys but then you do the same yourself!! Hypocrisy???
cbroz91 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
I agree...the white does look bad. It says Sony is releasing a web bowser! Awwww...that one of the main reason's i bought wipeout pure. O well...at least the game itself is good. I also hope Portable TV isn't a japan exclusive.
cbisquit @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Interesting that #4 should bring up the annoyance of unrelated fanboyism and then trash the DS with a useless aside about the number of quality games for that system.
I just bought a PSP because of PVNC and ScummVM and every game I've played from a UMD other than lumines sucks. I mean they might as well call this thing the Portable Race Sim Rehasher.
No, I'm not going to sell it back because it is an awesome and beautiful piece of hardware and I don't need the money, but the games aren't exactly a great selling point.
Kyle Palko @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Wow cool, I'm so glad that its finally out. However I already knew about this. I found out about an hour ago ^_^ What else is amazing that its releasing on my birthday, yay, Sony is giving me the best birthday present I could get for my PSP - a browser.
Brent @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
hey #4, sorry if I offended you, just venting some frustration since my psp broke. hope i didnt ruin your day
Tesla @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
ByeLaw and cbisquit if you cared to actually read my post you would have seen that my compaint it was about fanboys who post on the thread for another system that has absolutely nothing to do with the actual topic. It wasn't about fanboys in general. I openly admit I'm a Sony fanboy, but I don't go around purposely posting on any Nintendo or Microsoft threads off topic saying Sony is better.
Brent, don't worry, you didn't ruin my day, you just got added to my list of id10ts, that's all.
OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Homebrew stuff hasn't been available on PSPs with firmwares newer than 1.50 forever anyways. 2.0 won't change anything.
And I still won't update. I value having portable emulators on a big, high quality screen with long battery life (when not ever accessing the UMD drive, PSP battery lasts me at least 8 hours) much, much more than I value any PSP game.
ALH @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
How weird that a white DS looks like an angelic nymph but a white PSP looks like a fugly whore..The black is so sexy it hurts...white will go the route of the pink GBA methinks? ;)
mr.karmalicious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
I'd like to be added to Tesla's list of 'id10ts,' as anybody who he adds to it is undoubtedly smarter than him.
Sheikh Yerbouti @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
Is Wednesday's firmware 2.0 update only a Japanese release?
Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
that white psp is the ugliest piece of equipment sony have ever even threatened to release..
kiingarthur @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
It'll match my iPod.
Jason Zeidan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
What are you guys talking about?? That white PSP is HOT!!!! It's so hi-tech and iPod-sy, and it's much nicer than my ugly black one.... I never liked the color of my PSP (I wished it was white actually), and now Sony shows it, right after I bought the black one. Anyway, I'm glad the new white one isn't a fingerprint magnet. And you are all wrong guys: that white PSP is so sleek it hurts!!
Besides, at least you can make it out in a picture, coz it wont look like a black rectangle.
Justom @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
How advanced do you guys think this is?
sleepstick @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
No way I'm losing 1.5 until the brew-masters catch up with the latest release... playing RBI Baseball & Punch Out anywhere is priceless. Why doesn't Sony realize Homebrew adds huge value (and love)? After Lumines, my PSP was a paperweight until NesterJ came along, now I can't put it down.
White? ZZZzzzzz
kiddanger @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
agreed, white is mad hot.
and agreed psp= paperweight. at least until GT4, and GTA are released. or until i get my short circuit umd in the mail, johnny 5!
and if the web browser doesnt disconnect every two minutes like wipeout pure, and they release the tv streamer here, i will upgrade.
Philip Wesley @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
A white PSP should help the sales of the PSP in Japan, as should the web browser. As for disabling homebrew? Well, eh. Aside from Doom on the PSP, there hasn't really been anything homebrew wise that catches my eye.
I think the September release is the help the PSP avoid being drowned by the Game Boy Micro in Japan. That may sound obnoxious, but that is probably the reasoning for the delay. The Game Boy Micro's launch schedule is supposed to be place it in the Japanese market around that time. Since the PSP will be facing off against a "new" device that offers full customization, offering a vanilla PSP would be a good idea. Kind of like the "New Hat" in that Simpson's "Malibu Stacy" episode.
The upgrade is scheduled interestingly too. There's a Nintendo Retailers Meeting planned in Osaka for next week. I think the 2.0 upgrade is meant to garner the PSP some news print that week to offset what Nintendo will be showing off at the Retailers Meeting.
Personally, I would rather have a Green, Blue, or Red PSP instead of a White one. (Or better yet, remember that sexy blue camo Neo Geo Pocket Color? That was hot.) I would also like it if they just released the unit BY ITSELF without the crappy headphones, and crappy card. I have a 512 Memory Stick Pro Duo, and I have better headphones already. I think many people would rather pay for JUST the unit at a slightly lower price. $200 is a perfectly acceptable price, I think.
Nice to see a white color for it though. Maybe later on, they could do a sports bundle with a blue one? That would be kinda neat. (Props if you took that as the insult it was.) Also, the PTV thing is nice. The PTV and Web applications are a great way to emphasize the PSP as "not a game handheld" and distance it from competing products.
What would make this whole thing more interesting is if Nintendo announced a MicroDrive Option Pak and a web browser for the Nintendo DS at their retailer conference. That would make for an interesting counter attack.
Clever use of Gundam for the PS3 at the meeting, Sony. Gundam = Sales in Japan, NEVER FORGET THAT. I can think of a certain portable that Sony makes.. that NEEDS a few good Gundam games. Hint. Hint. Hell, I'd settle for some sweet Macross loving.. so.. howaboutit?
Brendan Shaklovitz @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
when is the update gonna be released? it said on the 27th and it's already the 27th and no update! can anyone post here or email me if they know anything else?
nobody @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
its only the japanese one thats out right now.
man am i glad i went on holiday to usa. am about one of 10 people in uk who has a psp.
by the way, does anybody know when about the us release of 2.0 is?
rajitha @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
yo n one who needs thr firmware go to this site http://www.playstation.jp/psp/update/ud_03.html
it a japanese site but its good all u do is clik download i did it the firmware is amazing im from canada and guess wat who the hell wants to wait this is all u gota do download it and then open ur psp on ur computer and go to the folder called psp after that ull c a folder called game open it and u mite c a folder called update if u dunt dun worry jus make one and name it update in calpital letters and put the downloaded file off the site to the folder called update i jus wanna help evry one who doesnt wanna wait so here it is hope evryone liks it all i wanna say is its amazing oo yeh and i need help i cant find the ptv on it does ne 1 noe??
rajitha @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
omg the meeseag i jus sent its te firmware 2.0 jus to answer ur question and if u wanna wait u noe if ur a patient guy ull b wait fukin 6 months.... aww well ur decision i hope evryone liks the site i posted earlier
The AntZ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
well all I can say is i have been so waiting for them to open the AVC/H.264 compatibility, but then when i heard about it NOT using all of its screen cause of its propriety laws and their stupid file formats, all i can say is thank god i didnt buy it, and still i was soooo looking forward to it, Sony YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF, Am I the only one on this one?
RJ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
hey guys the white psp does look Sleek and its just cool when nobody else has one you know (unlesss its pink), i know some of you think its ugly and some butter up their oppinions with the figerprint thing, but it looks GOOOOOD. anyway i havent bought a psp yet but im thinkin about it, u can buy a white one on ebay buy it wont play us Movies for it but it will play all the games... did anyone here try that update off the jap site rajitha posted?
Rai @ Dec 18th 2005 9:41PM
"Its only the Japanese one thats out right now.
Man am i glad i went on holiday to USA. am about one of 10 people in UK who has a psp.
By the way, does anybody know when about the US release of 2.0 is?"
Umm, there are atleast 7 people In my school ALONE who have had a PSP since may.
I live in london.
I know tons more online.