PSP gets PS3 connection

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Latest firmware update enables remote play and game downloads

Sony today unleashed its latest periodic firmware update for the PSP, but this one is more than just another necessary chore you'll have to undertake before you can play new games. The version 3.00 update adds Remote Play functionality, which enables the handheld to connect with the PS3 and stream music, video and images from the console. PSP owners can also use the PS3's web browser (if for some reason the PSP's just isn't enough), or access the PlayStation Network to check messages and update their friends lists.

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For now, the feature only works if the PSP is near a Wi-Fi-equipped PS3 (read: the $600 model), but Sony has announced plans to make the feature usable from any wireless hotspot in the future.

The 3.00 update also adds a long-promised PSone emulator to the PSP, which will eventually enable gamers to download the games through the PS3's PlayStation Store, and then transfer them to the PSP via a USB cable. The initial batch of games is expected in the next few weeks, and they'll be priced between $5.99 and $10.99, with file sizes that top out around 550MB.

Finally, the update adds new functionality for those who use the PSP's RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feature to grab online content: a timer that enables the handheld to regularly download RSS feeds while it's in sleep mode.

To grab the update, just fire up the PSP's Network Update near an internet hotspot, or clickhere.

November 21, 2006

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.