The new PlayStation Portable media player has been launched by Sony, adding PlayStation Store support and other changes. The new version of Media Manager allows you to organize and sync your music, photos and other digital content. The media manager will allow you to download and manage content purchased from the PlayStation Store and is available to download free from here.

Eric Lempel’s post on the PlayStation.Blog states:

"Today we are launching a new version of Media Manager for the PSP that allows you to organize and sync your music, photos and other digital content. The new media manager also grants access to the PlayStation Store through the PC and is designed to accommodate the expanding functionality of PSP. With the recent PSP firmware (v 5.01) update which gives you direct access to the PlayStation Store and the new media manager you have multiple ways to get content and manage it.

The new Media Manager is available as a free download at http://store.playstation.com.

Consumers who own the retail version of Media Manager (v2.5) will be able to upgrade to the online version of Media Manager PRO (v3.0) for free. To download the new media manager go to http://store.playstation.com."

Walkthrough Video:

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Hi everyone. We have upgraded the XTREME PSP website to be available over a secure HTTP connection (or HTTPS). If you prefere, you can now access the site using https://www.xtremepsp.com. We hope you feel more secure using the new URL. Of course, if you prefer to use XTREME PSP as normal, you can still access the website using the regular address (without the HTTPS).

In other news, we are approaching the public beta of PSP M4M. We will be opening up the website for full public access within the next few days so be on the look out for that.

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With the recent PSP Firmware update (v5.00), a few bugs were found on the system, notably when downloading from the PSP PlayStation Store to large Memory Stick PRO Duos (8GB or 16GB), which reports that you don’t have enough free space available. As a result, Firmware v5.01 is now available to download to fix the problem. A message on the PlayStation.Blog confirms that the update will fix the aforementioned bug.

"PSP firmware update 5.00 added direct access to the PlayStation Store, and we’ve since found an issue related to larger-capacity Memory Stick PRO Duos, which we’ll be addressing with a new update (5.01). When downloading content from the Store to a PSP with an 8 GB or 16 GB Memory Stick Duo media inserted, you may see a message indicating that the media does not have enough free space, even when sufficient space exists."

You can download the update using the Network Update feature from the PSP [Settings] menu.

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The first official PSP Store update is in, and it’s somewhat disappointing. There is nothin new for Europe and the US have received a small update, consisting of a new game demo, two new downloadable games and a PS1 classic. Check out the list below.

European Additions:

• Nothing new for Europe

US Additions:

• Game Demos
  • Lego Batman: The Videogame Demo
• Downloadable Games
  • Dead Head Fred ($14.99)
  • PQ2: Partical Intelligence Quotient 2 ($14.99)
• PS1 Classics
  • Sno-Cross Championship Racing ($5.99)

A short one minute of the new PSP PlayStation Store has been uploaded on to the PlayStation.Blog. Grace Chen shows off the basic look and feel of the native PSP PSN Store and what you can expect to access. According to a forum post on the SCEE PlayStation Forums, the new PSP and PS3 firmware updates will be released tomorrow. See below for the video and a updated list of new features.

Changelog:

• Direct PlayStation Store access to the system – PSP owners will be able to download games, demos, trailers, and other game-related content anytime and anywhere that their PSP is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi – no PC or PS3 required.
• On-screen keyboard ? A full-size, on-screen keyboard will be added to make text entry during Web browsing easier and more convenient.
• Sleep timer ? During music playback, a sleep timer will enable users to shut off their PSP after a specified amount of time.
• Video-out ? The PSP-2000?s video-out feature will be able to display PlayStation format software (classics titles) at the full-screen size of the TV that the PSP is connected to; the feature will also support interlace displays.

Eric Lempel, over at the PlayStation.Blog has confirmed that PSP Firmware 5.00 will be released soon. Lempel also confirmes that Firmware v5.00 will include PlayStation Store support, adding a new menu to the XMB. The PlayStation Store will allow users to download games directly to their PSPs instead of using a PC or PS3. You will be able to use your existing PlayStation Network login (whether PC or PS3) and you will be able to manage your account directly on the PSP.

With the PlayStation Store coming to the PSP, the PC PlayStation Store will be down for a while to revamp the store. You can use your existing PlayStation Wallets to purchase items from the store too. A video demo of the store will be released by Sony soon. In other changes, a sleep times has been added to the music player and a full screen keyboard option has been added. The XMB background has also been redesigned.

More details on the new features will be available once the firmware update goes live.

It’s been confirmed on the Japanese PlayStation website. PlayStation Portable firmware 5.00 will be released some time next week and feature PlayStation Store access as we previously reported. The launch date for other regions is not yet known but it is expected to hit the US and Europe around the same time. Firmware 5.00 will be required in order to access the PlayStation Store. Estimated launch for firmware 5.00 is October 15th 2008, when the PlayStation Store for PSP goes live in Japan.

The image above shows the new PlayStation Network icon on the XMB, similar to the PlayStation 3. It is not yet known if the PlayStation Store can be accessed on older PSP models, but our guess is that it will definitely be compatible with the PSP-2000 model.

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The new PlayStation Portable model (PSP-3000) is released next week with rumors suggesting that PlayStation Network access will be included. In order to keep older PSP models up-to-date, a new firmware version is expected next week. Several sources are reporting that a new firmware update is imminent, but whether it is firmware 5.00 or 4.20 remains to be seen. Around the same time, a new firmware version for the PlayStation 3 is also expected to be released.

Until Sony confirm this story, it should be taken as a rumor. We will bring you more details on this story as we get it.

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