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U.S. PSP 2.0 update coming August 12th
Already available in Japan, U.S. PSP owners will have a taste of web browsing and other new features in less than two weeks. Update: Sony has announced that the update has been delayed until "during the week of August 15th".
Portable Internet
Bringing the Internet with you is easier than ever with the new PSP 2.0 Firmware upgrade. A new Cross Media Bar (XMB) icon will be added to your PSP. That new globe-shaped icon will be called NetworkӔ and will feature easy, one-button access to the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection. With all of the elements you'd normally expect with an Internet browser such as bookmarks, Forward button, Back, button, Refresh, Home, History, and active cursors, consumers will have the Internet at their fingertips.
Personalize Your PSP
One of the coolest new features that comes with the upgrade is Wallpaper, which will allow people to customize and create their own backgrounds on the PSP's much talked about 16:9 TFT LCD widescreen display. Users can take any image such as a favorite sports car, celebrity, family member or game character that will be the first thing seen when firing up PSP or scrolling through entertainment options. PSP owners can use their favorite personal picture or image from their favorite Web sites just like if there were on a home PC!
Video
Home movies become widescreen cinema quality experiences as the new upgrade supports the codec known as "AVC" will allow users to view their video files through the PSP video player. AVC is the same open standard, high resolution, widescreen format used in UMD Video. New video features makes viewing UMD movies even easier. A new "Go To" function will allow users to skip to any part of the movie by the second, minute, or even hour. This feature would be especially useful when searching for a specific part of a clip within a movie or video. Rather than having to play straight through a UMD video, a new A-B Repeat function will allow users to continuously loop during a select time period. 4:3 Screen mode will be added as a saved video data playback feature to provide more options for viewing stored videos. Expanded audio options will be added as a saved video data playback feature.
Audio
MP4 (AAC) and WAV (LPCM) formats will be supported by the PSP music player.
Image
Image transfer between two PSP will be made easier via a new infrared feature. PSP owners will have the ability to easily share their digital images without the use of wires or swapping their Memory Stick PRO Duo media. PSP will support additional formats including TIFF, PNG, GIF and BMP enabling users to view a variety of images through the PSP image viewer.
Networking
New icon added to the XMB will enable users to connect to Wi-Fi networks (including those that employ a WPA-PSK (TKIP) security mechanism) for Internet browsing. Setting up a Network Connection will become easier due to improved navigation and controls and a redesigned look and feel.
Language Support
Additional language support includes a Character Set that will be added to support display and recognition of character for each system language. Korean will be added as an optional system language, and input modes will be added to the On-screen Keyboard allowing users to activate special characters for certain languages.
