PSP films on Mem Stick Duo

Sony has come up with another way of encouraging consumers to buy 1GB and 2GB Memory Stick Duos - and has, in the process, demonstrated how PSP movies can be distributed in rights-managed digital format without resorting to UMD discs.

The Memory Stick Entertainment Pack consists of a 1GB or a 2GB Memory Stick Duo - which will work in the PSP as well as Cybershot cameras, Handycam camcorders and Sony Ericsson mobile phones - along with a DVD that you can use to unlock one of four PSP-formatted Sony films.

Once you've inserted the disc into your PC, you can input the unlock code that comes with the Pack, and select one of four films - Hitch, SWAT, The Grudge and XXX: State of the Union - to transfer to the Memory Stick Duo for playback on the PSP. Sony says this will be the only way to watch them.

Although more focused on the Memory Stick Duo than the actual film content, this is still fairly new ground for Sony, which has witnessed sales of films on UMD briefly spark and then dwindle since the handheld's launch.

A spokesperson for Sony UK was not able to immediately available to confirm European plans for the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack.

However the Packs will be available in the US next month for about $60 and $100 respectively for the 1GB and 2GB bundles.