Capitalizing on the latest high-tech trend, PSP Blender pspblender.com is providing the owners of Sony PSP with something irresistible—free PSP movie downloads.

“We have given extensive study to this rapidly growing market. These are the same people who download music and games. They do not like to pay for downloads one at a time, so that is why we have created PSP Blender. They want to pay once and then come back for downloads as often as they like,” explained Michael Stevens, creator of the site.

The company, which also owns a PSP Blender Blog site has found great success offering PSP games, music, and now movies through a one-time membership.

“We carefully studied what the consumers of PSP products want, and what they do not want. Our study revealed that they want a download site with a huge selection, a simple download process, and like most Internet shoppers, they want a good price. We studied market trends and realized that consumers would rather pay a one-time fee than pay monthly subscriptions or pay-as-you-go,” said Stevens.

The result of the market analysis is that pspblender.com delivers on all counts. Consumers can pay a one-time fee and then have access to over 100,000 movies, television shows, and other entertainment downloads.

PSP Blender members can even get a combination membership to download unlimited movies and games as well. The marketing approach seems to be paying off.

Gamers who purchased a PSP to enhance their gaming have discovered there is now much more for them to enjoy. The demand for PSP movie downloads is expected to grow rapidly as more and more consumers purchase the device.

In a recent survey by Ziff Davis, 36 percent of gamers said they plan to buy a PSP in 2006. Foss said that trend will increase, and the demand for all forms of downloads will increase as well.

PSP Blender provides access to the largest PSP DVD quality movies collection with over 100,000 updated movies available for members. With millions of games and music selections as well it is no surprise that traffic to the site is increasing daily.

Sponsored By PSP Blender

First and foremost we recommend that you do not update your firmware to 3.50 if you wish to partake in the homebrew scene. Once more information is available on special editions, custom editions, or 3.50 downgrades we will post details here.

Details about the update:

To coincide with the recent Playstation 3 V1.80 update, which amongst other things added Remote Play ability allowing anyone with a PSP to access their PS3 over the Internet, Sony has now also released a new v3.50 PSP firmware update, adding support for remote play over the internet, and RSS Channel Guide has been added as a feature.

Sony has announced the launch of the Go! Cam, a camera that will allow PSP users to take pictures and videos. The camera, that has a 180-degree vertical swivel base, is very similar to the PS3 eye camera. The edit software bundled with the camera will allow users to edit photos, videos and audio clips on the PSP. Apart from these functionalities, the camera also has an in-built microphone.

According to sources in Sony, considering a 4GB Memory stick Pro Duo, the camera will be able to store up to two and half hours of videos and over 40,000 photos. And that’s not all. Users will also be able to upload all the pictures and videos on to the internet directly from the PSP.

We understand that it may be difficult for Islamic kids to stop playing their PSPs just to complete their daily studies of the Koran. Malaysian student Ikhwan Nazri Mohamad Asran designed The Raise: PSP Islamic Content after seeing a similar version of the Bible.

“For some parents, when we talk about the Internet, all they see is porn, the bad things. When we talk about the PlayStation, all they see is gaming and spending too much time not studying,” Ikhwan said. “A mother can say, ‘Read the Koran first and then I’ll let you play games.’”

He created his service between classes with the aid of 10 student volunteers. The software will become available for the portable system after May 18 to download on Ikhwan’s site for free, instructions included.

No, as much as we’d like to see it happen, this isn’t some kind of monster emulation effort. Instead, an intrepid young — and we mean young: his YouTube display name is “obiwan222222″ – PSP Fanboy has managed to get his PlayStation Portable to act as a screen for his Wii using Sony’s LocationFree Player solution for the PSP. By patching through the PSP to LocationFree and by sticking what looks like a custom made Wii sensor above the console, the PSP can display the Wii’s output using its WiFi to connect to the internet video stream, and a spare Wiimote to control the cursor. Unfortunately, this solution is far from practical, as there’s an built-in lag of around 6 seconds: not something you want when playing twitch games. Besides the actual concept, the best part about the walkthrough video (which is after the break), is Obiwan22’s narration. One typical quote for you: “I am not some kind of genius. I just want to make a statement [to show] what you can do with your LocationFree Player!” Aww, bless.

The new PSP slims have been on the market for less than 24 hours but, if we’ve learned one thing from the Internet, it is that the hackers move quickly. Many have feared that the hardware update may make hacking much harder, but the firmware has already been dumped, and it has been confirmed that the system has 66MB of NAND memory, double that of the original PSP.

While Sony is mainly touting the extra memory as a way of decreasing load times in new and existing games, it will have the bonus side effect of giving hackers and homebrew coders much more memory to work with. Will we begin to see homebrew games taking advantage of the extra headroom and requiring the new PSP to play? Perhaps.

The hacking world moves fast. We’ll try to keep up.

It is recommended that PSP Blender members do not update their firmware to 3.10 for the time being.
Sony released their PlayStation Portable firmware update, 3.10 and now makes demos even easier to check out.

Sony announced the release of the Sony PSP firmware 3.10. It includes Conserve Memory to optimize your Internet browser to see more data while using less memory. Also included with this firmware update is Dynamic Normalizer in the sound settings allowing automatic volume adjustment settings for playback of music and other audio sources with variable output levels.

Sony is also making it easier to check out their demos. Demos are downloadable at the official Sony PSP site as well as at the PlayStation site.

Some of the demos that can be downloaded are Killzone: Liberation which is a third-person shooter putting players into 16 intense missions to rescue hostages from the evil Helghast. Other demos include Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2, both of which are set for release in the next few weeks.

Sony has signed a four yeal contract with VoIP company BT that would bring video and voice calls as well as messaging to Sony’s handheld, the PSP.

Using BT’s technology, PSP users will be able to communicate using wireless internet for now. The companies say they are working on PC, mobile phone, and fixed line integration for the future.

“The PSP is an excellent device for both gaming and communications because of its high quality screen and audio capabilities,” offered Steve Andrews, chief of mobility and convergence for BT.

“With over 8 million PSPs shipped across Europe, we are very excited by the opportunity to give customers a whole new communications experience, connecting and seeing friends across the world through BT’s technology.”

Sony also added that the service will begin in the UK, and then move to other regions.

“The opportunity to combine our market leading expertise with BT’s knowledge in communications opens up many possibilities and we look forward to bringing many exciting functions to PSP fans,” commented David Reeves, president of Sony Europe.

A piece of code referring to Skype has been found in the recently decrypted firmware version 3.10.

There is a rumour circulating that Sony is working to partner the PSP with Skype. Skype is a popular application that allows PC and Mac users to call one another for free based on P2P telephony technology.

A reference to Skype was recently found in a decrypted version of vshmain.prx from PSP firmware revision v3.10. It is worth noting that references to both POPS and GPS PRX’s were found in previous decrypted firmware versions and have both since emerged as new features included in subsequent firmware upgrades.

Less than two weeks ago, the internet was abound with rumours about Sony entering into a partnership with some new major software companies and at least one major ISP. This may well have been the smoking gun for an as yet unannounced union between Skype and the Sony PSP, although at present this is as speculative as the recent claims that Yahoo were a likely future business partner for Sony Computer Entertainment.

Unlike the DS the PSP is not equipped with a microphone and so would need a peripheral microphone in order to be used as a P2P telephony device. There have been a slew of mods that allow the DS to be used as a two way communication device and Nintendo themselves demoed an application of their own at E3 2005 (complete with lip synching Mario and Luigi avatars).

Considering the growth in Mobile games and the recently unearthed Nintendo phone patent, it seems that the major console manufacturers certainly have communication in mind as a key feature for the future of their devices. Sony may well be trying to ensure their future credentials in that area of the market.

First I must say that if you ever plan on playing homebrew applications on your PSP then it would be unwise to ever update your PSP firmware unless you know exactly what you are doing.

On to the story.

Sony’s added some neat perks for PlayStation Portable owners with its announcement of the 3.30 firmware upgrade.

The latest upgrade allows PSP users to play compatible games online, do a bit of web surfing, download podcasts and more. The podcasts will be available at more than 7,000 T-Mobile HotSpot locations, which include some Starbucks, Borders, Hyatt hotels and about 70 U.S. airports.

The promotional offer also includes six months of Wi-Fi access at the T-Mobile spots. When the six-month trial is over, PSP owners will have to pay for the service. To get the deal, PSP owners have to login to the network by March 28, 2008.

“ This new offer enables SCEA to take portable gaming and entertainment to a new level of mobility and convenience for PSP owners,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America, in a media release. “With T-Mobile’s service, we’re making it possible for the PSP community to connect in new ways and access the online content they want in more places than ever before. More and more PSP users are going online to challenge each other in multi-player games, and we can now make it more convenient to access online gaming as well as the Internet, showcasing the rich feature set that PSP has to offer.”

The first game on the online list is Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. More titles are expected soon.

The upgrade sounds like a good one that puts the PSP to greater use.

For a full list of 3.30 details, click here.