psp 2.0 web browser
It’s a rainy day here in MA, and rather than do anything good with my life like actually get off my ass and apply to grad school, I decided to update my PSP’s firmware to version 2.0. I had been holding off on that because it cruelly kills off the loopholes in the PSP’s operating system that allow third-party software like emulators and such to work; but the desire to play with the Sony wi-fi browser pretty much overwhelmed my need to play 1995-era SNES games. So beep-beep boop-boop and it was upgraded.
Sony’s browser is nice. Very pretty indeed; the rendering is fast and accurate, and the UI is thoughtful and solid. The wide screen and the analog pointer control make for pleasant reading. There’s, get this, tabbed browsing and podcast support. Text entry and handling is an issue, though; there needs to be a text AutoFill function, and if someone came out with a little mini-USB keyboard for this thing I’d totally grab it because entering text on this thing is like entering your high-score initials in Donkey Kong. Over and over.
Also nice in this 2.0 firmware update: the ability to play AAC “.m4a” audio files, and the ability to play H.264 video files off the memory card. That is all quite lovely, Sony, thank you. I’m almost forgetting how you tried to make us all use that wretched ATRAC3 format a couple years ago. If you want even more gruesome detaiil regarding 2.0 features, here’s a good overview.
I kind of miss my emulators and DOOM and whatnot, but I have a laptop for that, and having a genuinely usable, tiny portable wifi browser that I can throw in my backpack while biking is totally worth it.
~jeff