PSP Gets Firmware Upgrade, RSS Support

Sony has announced its latest upgrade to the firmware of its PSP handheld, taking the PSP's operating system up to Version 2.60, and adding features including WMA support and an RSS channel. In addition, this firmware upgrade continues Sony's incremental improvements that have blocked the ability of users to hack the console to run 'homebrew', emulated, or even pirate games installed on Memory Sticks. Unauthorized hacks such as these are currently impossible on Version 2.01 and upward of the firmeware. The full list of upgrades to the firmware are as follows: RSS Channel has been added as a feature, Simplified Chinese and Tradition Chinese have been added as options to encoding, Volume Adjustment has been added as a feature to LocationFree Player, and you can now download video data that supports copyright protection using the Internet Browser. Finally, the WMA format has been added as a codec that can be played under Music, though you must adjust a system setting to enable playback, and a connection to the Internet is required to do so. More information on the upgrade and a download link for it are available on the official PSP Update site, which notes: "This update is for customers who own PSP system model number PSP-1001 sold in North America."