podcasting on psp: firmware v2.6 released
The ability to run emulated classic games is something that I shall decide to leave behind (at least while the GBA is still working). On reaching this conclusion, it seems like well timed to update to the latest version of the PSP firmware – v2.6.
New features include a new RSS Channel feature under the Network menu icon – which is likely to prove the most useful addition since the introduction of the Web Browser in v2.0.
Now it is possible to subscribe to podcasts or any other audio file that is served by XML – so even while in the web browser, you can select an XML link and be immediately prompted to save to the RSS Channel.
Testing this with a few of my regular podcasts has proved to be successful – however it is necessary to note that the audio files are only streamed, not downloaded. On a broadband connection this causes no problems and audio streaming is constant. However failure to include a download option is one that is quite puzzling – even considering that the majority of podcasts do not contain copyrighted material.
Other incremental tweaks include the adoption of WMA media playback. Be warned that to full activate this will require you to authentication your PSP online to fully enable this.
So a year after it’s initial launch, the supported set of audio formats that the PSP supports has increased greatly – and let’s hope this continues with each major update (next on the wish list is full m4a support - without the hassle of renaming to mp4, and maybe even OGG) – a sign that Sony’s digital media strategy is finally starting to become a little more mature and less needlessly tethered to ATRAC3.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 01, 2005 at 8:10 pm.
