PSP gets WMA, RSS support

By Tom Bramwell Published 29 November, 2005

Firmware update for US/Japan.

Sony's released another software upgrade for PlayStation Portable, adding RSS support, WMA playback, simplified Chinese language support, and the ability to save DRM'd video direct to Memory Stick from within a web browser, much as you might do having purchased it on the PC.

Right now the update's only available to folks in Japan and the Americaland but should be accessible through Sony Europe's Yourpsp.com Flash aberration at some point soon (click Help & Advice, then PSP System Software Update is linked from the centre-bottom of the applet).

It's also worth noting that if you install 2.60 you will be even more cut off from homebrew development, assuming that sort of thing interests you, and that while this new firmware does add a degree of WMA support, it doesn't currently allow WMA9 Pro, WMA9 Lossless or copy-protected WMA playback. Finally, slightly oddly, you'll apparently need a net connection to enable WMA playback in the first place.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • tonynibbles #1 6 years ago

    RSS support - thats a good thing.

    All I need now is a new PSP, with a working screen :(

  • bionutz #2 6 years ago

    no copy-protected wma playback but still need a net connection to enable it???
    tards!

  • Razzajazz #3 6 years ago

    RSS Support is a very good step. Whether or not you think Sony have failed to deliver so far on PSP games (I do), and whether or not you think they are only releasing these updates to screw up the homebrewers (I do), you have to admit that the frequency and content of the OS updates are impressive! Well done Sony!

    /Goes off to set up EG RSS feed on PSP

  • gibbondrives #4 6 years ago

    just tried the RSS support. It doesn't seem to do News feeds, only RSS feeds containing audio (podcasts). It might do video too, but obviously only PSP formatted video. Nice to see podcasts work then, just a shame that news feeds aren't supported, you spend more time waiting for the PSP to render web pages than reading the headlines.

    Further delving I find that it streams the audio, and does not download it to Memory Stick, but it does it with little to no buffering.

    More: Yes you do have to reconnect to the net to get WMA working. Under System Settings there's a 'WMA Support' option. Click it, you go online, it displays some t&c's and as soon as you accept, it's enabled.
    Edited by 3 at 29/11/05 @ 12:43

  • Xerx3s #5 6 years ago

    *g* next thing you know, the xb2 will support the psp.....

    Whats that? It does?.....

  • Hunam85 #6 6 years ago

    WMA playback now... whats going on between ms and sony... first the 360 talks to the psp, now the psp wants to play microsoft formats

  • onyxbox #7 6 years ago

    *g* next thing you know, the xb2 will support the psp

    you mean Dreamcast 2.0

    ;-)

  • tengu #8 6 years ago

    "you mean Dreamcast 2.0"

    Phhhf, it wishes.

    And there's no way I'm ever upgrading the good ole' PSP above 2.00 anyway. Not a chance.

  • sp1n3 #9 6 years ago

    I would imagine that the need to go online is so that they don't need to bundle a WMA license in every PSP.

    I don't see it as a 'tard' step at all... Just business I guess.

  • Sorb #10 6 years ago

    Does it come with a root kit?