psp web browser: hands on test
The newest version of the PSP firmware is now available for download for Japanese consoles (if you are downloading outside of the PSP's network update, the installer is multi-language; and reports confirm that installation is successful with USA consoles).
Although many are holding off this upgrade (due to its locking out of any emulator programs), Forenoon Filings feels that the emulators that are available are still not on par with many of the real consoles (in terms of game speed and general stability), plus the fact the system that currently holds most interest (the SNES) is already available in portable form!
Onto the new features: The most publicised is the web browser. On completing the upgrade process and restarting, the first thing you will notice is the new globe icon on the main menu to the right of the game icon. You may speculate if Sony is planning on adding new features to this menu. On loading for the first time you are prompted for a WLAN to use. From here on you are free to navigate to your first page of choice. URL entry is done is a similar manner to other text entry on the PSP - using an on-screen keypad, but there are helpful preset internet phrase additions such as 'http://www.' and '.com' to speed URL entry.
Webpages load in good time, although initially it is a little difficult to tell when loading is complete - the small animated circle (bottom right of screen) needs to be made a little more noticeable to make its relation to load progress clearer. Media rich pages that grab ads from other pages cause the most problems as well as Flash enabled pages.
Many standard browser features are included (setting character encoding, bookmark, cache and cookie management), and because of limited screen space - a choice of display modes to select how larger pages are squeezed onto screen.
For imaging and photos, you can now set custom wallpapers that are remembered after powering off and you can even select the theme colour if this month's hue doesn't take your fancy! But don't forget that this console is Wi-Fi enabled - so Sony have now included the ability to transfer any stored image by Wi-Fi to another PSP.
Music playback was the strongest area, so not much has changed here - however supported for AAC, Sonicstage and Wave formats has now been added.
For Tiger users, you will be happy to know that H.264 encoded MPEG4 (also known as AVC) is now an officially supported format!
Going forward, the race will be on for a unified method of content delivery. The software and hardware infrastructure has now been inaugurated, but PSP owners may wonder where they can point their browsers to get optimised video and photos for the PSP's 480x272 screen. The average user will not be to keen to spend hours cropping and converting these kinds of file to the right file format and dimensions.
Whether its an independent publisher or Sony (who could easily leverage content from their own media arm), this will be the next milestone for the PSP.
Although many are holding off this upgrade (due to its locking out of any emulator programs), Forenoon Filings feels that the emulators that are available are still not on par with many of the real consoles (in terms of game speed and general stability), plus the fact the system that currently holds most interest (the SNES) is already available in portable form!
Onto the new features: The most publicised is the web browser. On completing the upgrade process and restarting, the first thing you will notice is the new globe icon on the main menu to the right of the game icon. You may speculate if Sony is planning on adding new features to this menu. On loading for the first time you are prompted for a WLAN to use. From here on you are free to navigate to your first page of choice. URL entry is done is a similar manner to other text entry on the PSP - using an on-screen keypad, but there are helpful preset internet phrase additions such as 'http://www.' and '.com' to speed URL entry.
Webpages load in good time, although initially it is a little difficult to tell when loading is complete - the small animated circle (bottom right of screen) needs to be made a little more noticeable to make its relation to load progress clearer. Media rich pages that grab ads from other pages cause the most problems as well as Flash enabled pages.
Many standard browser features are included (setting character encoding, bookmark, cache and cookie management), and because of limited screen space - a choice of display modes to select how larger pages are squeezed onto screen.
For imaging and photos, you can now set custom wallpapers that are remembered after powering off and you can even select the theme colour if this month's hue doesn't take your fancy! But don't forget that this console is Wi-Fi enabled - so Sony have now included the ability to transfer any stored image by Wi-Fi to another PSP.
Music playback was the strongest area, so not much has changed here - however supported for AAC, Sonicstage and Wave formats has now been added.
For Tiger users, you will be happy to know that H.264 encoded MPEG4 (also known as AVC) is now an officially supported format!
Going forward, the race will be on for a unified method of content delivery. The software and hardware infrastructure has now been inaugurated, but PSP owners may wonder where they can point their browsers to get optimised video and photos for the PSP's 480x272 screen. The average user will not be to keen to spend hours cropping and converting these kinds of file to the right file format and dimensions.
Whether its an independent publisher or Sony (who could easily leverage content from their own media arm), this will be the next milestone for the PSP.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 10:04 pm.
