b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

well-booked adj. Having access to a substantial number or a wide variety of books.

Media Boss is a softwear synching tool for the PSP that connects it to a windows computer. As you would expect from the people at Mediafour, who brought us MacDrive and XPlay, this is a good solid application with some nice features, but sadly they have already been out gunned by some other players in the market, namely PSPWare from NullRiver.

I dont know about you, but I really dont want to be managing playlists in multiple applications and then trying to somehow get the whole thing synced up. I have an iPod, so I use iTunes, although I did try some alternatives before I settled. The first thing I felt was missing from Media Boss was the ability to pull playlist information from another application or better yet all of the big four media players - iTunes, WMP10, Real and WinAmp. On top of which it is missing the ability to create its own playlists. Since I have over 4,000 tracks on my computer to choose from, picking from an endlessly scrolling list is painful.

Moving on to the video area, again the endless list of video files to choose from is not the best user experience particularly since the app doesnt give the option to view the files internal "title" tag. Since PSP's want to use a clunky file name structure it makes it a little hard to remember which is which. I did not try the video conversion tool as I have tried a few others and that all ended in tears, I will stick to PSP Video 9 thanks (even if its documentation and online support is unhelpfully geeky).

The Photos area is again fine, but again the endless list of files or even thumbnails is problematic. It would seem to make sense to either refine this a bit and/or allow it to hook up to photo managers, like Adobe's Photoshop Elements (as iTunes does). From all of this it would appear that the application was designed with a small number of files on the master computer in mind. Given that most people (me included) are not good at keeping things organised, and most of them have something (like a media player) doing some of the work already it would make sense to me to leverage that and not try and recreate it.

I will admit it, what I really want is a single sync app that will let me coordinate all of my tools and toys (eg phone, ipod, pocket pc, online calendar/address book etc and now my PSP). Surely there is a market for someone to build a basic app that allows plug ins for other systems to be developed.

On the positive side of Media Boss, the Games backup freature is a good idea and well implimented. Podcasts are also a good feature (although why not just use itunes or ipodder). The skin for the app is good looking. The program is stable and works well but all up its not that much smarter than the new Windows Sync tool. If you have a small number of files you want to manage, this is a good tool but as you start to build files I think it rapidly becomes quite limited.

People have occasionally, and I must say somewhat unkindly, accused me of playing games. I cant really say that I agree, unless of course they are talking about something as wonderful as the new Sony PSP in which case I am going to completely agree.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a prize that got me a couple of hundred dollars worth of equipment from Sony and rather than get a camera, I thought I would go for something new. The ad campaign for the Sony PSP had been EVERYWHERE so I was well aware that it had just been launch and, well, lets face it. I am an early adopter. And its been a LONG time since I bought myself anything new.

So this little, sleek, black piece of technology came into my life. And BOY am I glad it did! I don’t think any new piece of technology has changed how I do things since my first CD Walkman or my first mobile (cell) phone. This little puppy has not only a game console, but also a portable video player, a music player and a picture viewer with a few other bells and whistles hidden under the hood.

Games

The most obvious of the PSP’s features is that its a portable gaming console, and its a winner.

To start with its 4.3 inch, 16:9 Wide screen TFT LCD  running at 480 x 272 pixels in 16.77 million colors is clear, crisp and brilliant. The screen actually takes up the vast amount of the surface area, leaving just the edges for the game controls. It does a great job in just about any environment, although like all TFT’s its not at its best in direct sunlight. But then if its that sunny you should not be playing computer games.

In play the system is fast and responsive, which is a credit to both the console and the game designers. To date I have four games and they all rack up really well. The controls look like they are going to hard to handle, but in fact they are not. The console fits well into your hand and everything is easily reachable - and very playstation-ish, so if you are used to the larger console you will fine this a snap.

On the downside for the games department, load times can be a little long and there is no way to drop out of games and into another area (say music for the walk home from the train) and then back to the same point in the game.

I have also read some criticism that there are not many games available, but to be frank I feel like that’s a little whinging. the console is brand new, so lets give them some time. And at launch there were some GREAT games available. My two picks would be WipeOut Pure (and I am NOT a racing game person) and Medievil Resurrection (a port from a GREAT PS1 game with a few new pieces for the PSP).

One amazing feature of the console is that game updates are available for download. I had heard of this through XBox live, but never seen it in action. WipeOut Pure already has a bunch of them and they have been great. It certainly extends the reach of the games and gives them a much increased re-play life.

An interesting feature which sounds hot, but I havent yet tried, is wireless gameplay - multiplayer gaming over an 802.11b link. Sounds fun, but I need to find some other geeks to play with. Seemingly I spend too much time at the pool or the gym for the other geeks to like me.

I have had a couple of portable consoles, notably the Gameboy Advance, and while it was kind of fun it really didn’t come up to the standard of the PSP.

Video

Now I have to say that I have been very cynical about portable video players. They seemed like a fine and pleasant idea for traveling, and as a film maker I am interested in the technology but as a day to day use item, I was not convinced. Who wants to watch TV or a movie on a 4.3 inch screen.

So let me say this nice and clearly. I WAS WRONG

The screen is fantastic and given a reasonable quality of movie file the experience is amazing. And I have found myself watching interesting shows in the oddest of places - most especially on the step machine at the gym while doing cardio. BYO Cardio theatre.

There are some obvious issues with acquiring content, but with the release of videos on iTunes music store, and the inclusion of a DRM management engine in the PSP I am sure its not going to be far off that we will be seeing video services for the PSP. In fact TiVO recently announced in the US that they are adding a connector to allow recorded show to be sent to the PSP as well as the new iPod video. Clearly someone is paying attention to the volume of traffic on Bit Torrent. And given there is already an iPod video specific torrent site, clearly there is a demand for content.

In the meantime there are inexpensive and easy to use pieces of software, like Smart Ripper and PSP Video 9, that will allow you to make copies of your DVD’s in a format that will work on your PSP. Of course one would only make these sorts of copies in strict accordance with the copyright arrangements.

On the negative side, the video format requirements and the file naming is a little fussy. While miraculously not a Sony proprietary for.mat (its just .mp4) it does have some quirks. PSP Video 9 is the best way I have found to solve all of this and transfer to the device. There are a million options in the program, which makes it seem complex, the basic 0-2hr film format does the trick nicely.

Just as a side point, an interesting comparison on the screen of the PSP to the iPod Video.

The iPod wins out in portability (size) and battery life, but not on quality of video display.

Music

As a music player, the PSP is really pretty good. It supports playlists, ID3 tags (in some file formats) and does a great job of playing the music. It even supports some file formats (like AAC) not explicitly mentioned in the documentation. It is however a little bulky for a portable music device, particularly if you are used to an iPod. Likewise the file storage on it is dependant on Memory Sticks so its a little light on for storage for my tastes. It does a good job, for what it is, but I am not giving up my iPod as my music device.

And realistically given the size of screen you need for gaming and how big I would want a music device to be I am not sure that particular convergence is going to happen any time soon. As much as it would be nice to have a phone-music player-PDA/Organiser-game console-video player-photo viewer all on one handy, dandy package, there are some technical requirements for each that make it hard to merge them completely or well. Until we get to the point of something like roll out or foldable screens I suspect it wont happen.

If you are going to use your PSP as a music player and you do use iTunes, I would REALLY recommend PSP Ware as your connector. It allows you to just select your itunes playlists and sync them.

Brilliant!

I cant stand having to try and keep multiple sets of playlists in multiple applications. Its painful and seems unnecessary.

While I don’t like PSP Wares handling of video sync, it is great for all the other things it does.

Pictures

Interesting choice of additional functionality, and this one works well in line with a/ the strengths of the product (e.g. that wonderful screen) and b/ some of Sony’s other product lines, namely camera.

This is simply a photo viewer that reads pictures off the memory card and displays them. The plus here is that if your camera uses Memory Stick, you can just plug it straight in and go. Very sweet. Otherwise you can just load them from your computer onto a card and show them from there.

The thing that I see as missing here is a good sync tool. PSP Ware is ok, but it just syncs from a specified folder or folders. What I feel it needs (in addition)is the same sort of hook up the iPod has to Adobe Photoshop Album or iPhoto so you can manage your pictures there and sync them from where ever they are in your photo library.

Again, I don’t really want to be managing my photos twice.

It has the usual zoom and rotate tools and is a snap to use, so its a good handy add on. And if you were doing business where you needed to show clients photos all the time (say real estate) I can see a good argument for using the PSP daily.

Other Toys

The PSP also comes standard with a few other little tricks and toys that really do make it an outstanding piece of hardware.

The first of these is the wireless network link (802.11b) which allows it to connect to the internet for firmware updates and to browser the web. Sadly you cant sync via the wireless link - yet. Hopefully that is coming.

The on board web browser, is pretty much what you would expect from something with no mouse or keyboard, but if you were in a land of common public WiFi (e.g. San Francisco) this could be a great little email checker. For me at home it has come in handy as a portable remote control for me Sqeezebox.

The last toy to mention is a connector for the Sony “Location Free” player. This is a networked TV server for your house to allow you to view content from your computer on any TV. Now you can also stream it to your PSP. I didn’t even know that Sony had one of these doohickies, but it appears they do. Not a deal clincher for me, but neat. Most interestingly, this was added with firmware upgrade 2.5 - which shows they are actually proactively improving what the system can do.

UMD

An interesting, although not very surprising choice on Sony’s part, is that the PSP uses a proprietary standard mini-dvd type disc, a UMD (Universal Media Disc). A Universal Media Disc (UMD) is capable of holding 1.8 gigabytes of data on a medium a little over 60mm wide and 4 mm high complete with protective plastic sleeve, similar to the Sony Minidisc format.

To date, a UMD burner is not something that can be purchased for home use so I suspect that they are going to try and hold onto that piece of copyright protection for as long as they can.

It was hacked pretty much right away and the extracted games were on the internet for download, but cunningly Sony built in a firmware upgrade facility that means they have been able to block the hacked holes AND as new games are released they require the most recent firmware.

I am usually one for a little quiet hacking of things (strictly to understand how they work), but in this case I am perfectly happy to let my PSP be.

It seems like a good format for games, but to be honest I am not wrapped in it for movies. Sure the quality is great, but I am not paying AU$20-AU$40 for a movie that only plays on one device. Now if the soon to be released PS3 came with a UMD drive for movies, i would think it made more sense, but alas no.

Negatives

I have given the PSP a pretty good rave, but I think I should also flag the things I don’t like about it, and there are a couple.

The internal speakers are a little crappy, although I am not sure you can get something that small and have good quality. Certainly a good set of headphones works really well with the unit.

Currently there is no dock that connects power, sound and USB connection out of the unit, so it ends up sprouting wires everywhere.

Proprietary disc formats SUCK. They make me feel like Iam being ripped off. Fortunately it seems to be well supported at this point, but it would be good to see Sony playing nicely with the other children for once. With their recent embarrassment reguarding spyware MAYBE they will get down off their high horse.

The detractors are actually right, there is not a HUGE range of games available, but more are being released regularly enough to seemingly keep up with most of the demand. hopefully the platform will remain a good revenue earner for the publishers and the producers so they keep churning out good titles.

No internal storage, you need to have a Memory Stick to store even game saves. This kind of sucks given the size and efficency of the micro hard drives in the iPod Nano, but in the interests of keeping the cost down, I can understand Sonys strategy. Just remember to budget a couple of hundred for a good sized card. My advice, get a 2 gig, its worth it.

But thats about it for my gripes, and for a new piece of technology thats pretty good.

Wrap up

All up, this has to my great purchase for 2005, not that there have been that many given I am a poor student at the moment. I have loved using the PSP and do something with it pretty much every day. If you enjoy games and have down time to watch television when you are not near a set, this is the christmas gift for you.