More Details on new PSP Model

Sony’s Press Conference yesterday finally revealed details of the new PSP model, however not all the improvements were covered. Kaz Hirai, SCE President, announced that the new PSP will be 33 percent lighter and 19 percent slimmer. He also mentioned that the battery will be more efficient, game loading has improved and also the ability to output video to a TV. What he failed to mention was some of the other improvements, such as removal of the Infra-Red port.

Since the Infra-Red port has been removed, the Wi-Fi switch has been relocated to the top of the PSP, near the USB port. The UMD drive no longer has an eject button, instead, you need to pull open the drive. The old PSP has a lock in the drive allowing the UMD to be locked into place once inserted, the new model however does not have this. This is one of the reasons why the new model is much slimmer.

Game loading has improved by allowing data to be temporarily from UMD, reducing load time during game play much like the PS3. You can now also charge the PSP using the bulit-in USB port, so the console can charge while you transfers files to and from your PSP (only available in USB Connection mode).

Naturally, the new model PSP will come with the latest firmware version pre-installed. The firmware will include options to change the TV display settings much like the PS3 display settings. We also speculate that tougher security measures have been placed on the motherboard, preventing firmware downgrading. While most of the features are great additions, we were disappointed to hear that no onboard storage has been added making the Memory Stick Duo an essential requirement for any portable gamer.

Product Codes

• Piano Black PSP (PSP-2000 PB)
• Ceramic White PSP (PSP-2000 CW)
• Ice Silver PSP (PSP-2000 IS)
• Battery Pack, for PSP-2000 model only (PSP-S110 / PSP-S110 U / PSP-S110 E / PSP-S110 G)
• Headphones with Remote Control (PSP-S140 / PSP-S140 U / PSP-S140 G)
• AV Cable, 2.5m length (PSP-S150 / PSP-S150 U / PSP-S150 E)
• S-Video Cable, 2.5m length (PSP-S160 / PSP-S160 U)
• D Terminal AV Cable, available in Japan only (PSP-S170)
• Component AV Cable (PSP-S180 / PSP-S180 U / PSP-S180 E)