PSP Store planned for autumn

Sony plans to plug one of the most obvious holes in its online offering by introducing a PSP online store to deliver content directly to its customers.

"I think the advent of a long awaited and quite frankly long overdue ability to deliver a downloadable service for the PSP will help us out a great deal," Jack Tretton, SCEA president, said at a Gamer's Day event in the US.

Tretton was referring to the fact that while PSP can access certain content through its various Internet features (the web-browser being the most obvious), it lacks anything like PlayStation 3's online store (a hub for premium and free downloadable content and demos). The PSP also has a diverse range of media playback options, fuelling speculation that Sony might attempt an iTunes Music Store equivalent.

"Hopefully we'll have it out there by the fall," he said, offering no further details.