Sony busts out version 2.0 of PSP firmware + new ceramic white PSP

We know that your friend who has a friend whose dad works at Sony sent you a pic of a white PSP months ago, but this is the real deal: Sony officially announced a new white PSP, as well as version 2.0 of the console's firmware, at the PlayStation Meeting 2005 in Japan earlier today. The update will be free, natch, and besides almost certainly disabling any and all homebrew hacks (you know how Sony rolls…), v2.0 of the firmware will add WPA (finally!), a legit web browser, a new mode for wirelessly swapping pics with other PSP users, and support for a new service called Portable TV for transmitting video directly to a PSP (this one might only be for Japanese users). Firmware 2.0 should be available in Japan this coming Wednesday, with the new white PSP due out September 15th.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this one in]

[brumm @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

But, will it add support for WPA?

[RIPS @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Why???? Jus cus its white! I think it looks good.

Would it be nice to live in a world where color didn't make a difference..........

[Ro @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Why oh why does Sony bother changing their
Firmware to disable current "Hacks" ?

Should they not be encouraging development on
top of the PSP ?

I'm certainly not buying one until there is a
Stable and good MAME port. I'd say thousands of
other people feel the same, waiting for thier
own personal "Killer App" that makes up their
mind to buy one of these expensive toys.

[Suntory @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I prefer the black one, but this new color will solve some of the complaints about the fingerprints -- will be more difficult to see...

[splob @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

*hopes they fixed the dust problem*

[rc51 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Mmmmmm, white psp. Mmmmm, good! Mmmmm, will
go with my iMac. Must buy on Sept . 15th!

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Here's a clue, Sony. It's not about the color. You're acting like people aren't buying this thing because it's black. No. Ditch the included memory stick, headphones and case, up the QC on the screen and drop the price by $100. There's your answer if you want to get rid of the stacks of old PSP's I see piled up at every store I visit these days. (I know they're "old" because the boxes always look like they've been through a war - these are not newly-stocked systems.)

A new color is not going to accomplish anything. You've got more fundamental problems with the PSP to deal with.

[semi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

so good things do come to those who wait... �179 for this baby...its all worth it!

[Drewsef @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Picking up some design tips from Microsoft, eh Sony?

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Well, they finally matched the unit with the remote cable and earbuds.

Too bad the people that bought black ones didn't get the same consideration.

To be fair, they should've done the black ones on there so we could trade with 'em.

[Cem @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

wow, this white PSP looks stunning. I'm glad I don't have a PSP yet... this white one is on my wish-list now :)

[TZK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I doubt there will be WHITE available soon after the JP release. Maybe for xmas :-D

Im torn about updating the firmware, but a "legit" web borwser sounds interesting. WHtever legit means.

[Moosey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

That's funny. You'd figure they'd include black headphones with this one. Y'know, just to keep things consistently tacky.

[Kesey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Um...Jeff (#8), have you read rc51's (#6) comment?

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Yessssss!!!!!

The only reason I didn't buy the PSP up until now was because it was black. That's it. That's how I determine my personal computing and gaming choices: the color must be white, not black.

Thank you, Sony, for making your PSP accessible to myself and the other 9 people who this matters to!!!

[SpineDoc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Man that white PSP looks almost as fugly as an ipod, sigh guess Sony wants in on the brainless cult.

When will this 2.0 firmware be available in the US?

[Chu Chu @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

You people who say "color doesn't matter" just don't get it.

These things are fashion accessories. How they look is just as important (maybe even moreso) as how they perform to most people on this planet. You are in the distinct minority if you don't care how it looks.

You're the same people who are baffled by how popular ipods are nowadays given the availability of other "technically suprieror" mp3 players from the competition.

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

but will PSP 2.0 still have dead pixels? :)
If so, I don't care what damn color the thing is!

[mrdelayer @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

#16: firmware upgrades for the PSP always have the same MD5 hash. you can just download it from sony's website and slap it on your PSP.

[Sushi X @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

1/2 of the sales of the DS is directly due to the many different colors of the system and nothing to do with the quality/quantity of games available. Think they should have came out with the white system closer to winter and made it a special addition only to be sold in the winter...would have made for a good marketing ploy.

[dave @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

sept 15 for u.s. or japan only?

[Dolomite @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I was always on the fence about getting one of these, but now it comes in white I'm sold! It will match perfectly w/ my iPod and iBook.

[rodents @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

i'm not giving up my homebrew just for the browser..

[Lane @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I'd love a browser. I have v1.5 but haven't yet tried any homebrewed apps (just got my PSP a couple of weeks ago).

can anyone point me to a homebrewed app that is worth keeping the old firmware and not upgrading?

[ACE @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

DAMN im one mad son of a gun i bought my psp on july 8 two weeks later they come out with a white one damn i have bad timing well it doesnt really matter a psp is a psp i have version 1.5 and i own some emulators they run slow if i wanna play pokemon ill take my GBA out the closet and pop in ruby or sapphfire im defnilitely going to upgrade to a 2.0 WEB BROWSER and PORTABLE TV does anyone know would it cost to use the web browser i like to know

[snac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I bet they planned on white all along, but because it looks too much like a future-hyped iPod they put the black one out first.

(which makes it alright).

[Nate @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

That has got to be a really ugly PSP ugg ill stick with my black one!

[triplight @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

#16, tell us what people with brains, like yourself, use for DAPs. I'm currently shopping and would like something easy to use, with software that handles file naming and management automatically, that updates the player with my entire library when I plug it in, supports MP3, and is well-made. iPod/iTunes seemed like a reasonable choice until I read your post, and now I'm in a world of confusion along with the rest of the lemmings.

I await your wisdom and guidance.

[rotten_fruit_fan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

You're looking at this the wrong way. Sony isn't trying to choke homebrew apps and nintendo console emulators (I'm sure they love those), they're trying to choke PSP piracy, which unfortunately uses the same doorways homebrew apps use.

For now, I think it's more convenient to just keep the old firmware and enjoy the homebrew efforts. When the killer PSP games that demmand an upgrade start getting here, it's time to choose one or the other. Unless, of course, you really like browsing, then by all means go for it.

[rebigulator @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

*sigh, would have been nice to have the ability to listen to music while browsing photos, or other menus...

can't have everything i guess, but most of the new additions in v2 look very nice indeed.

[ECM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

#20: didn't realize you were privy to Nintendo's sales numbers by color...

[Max SMoke @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

My PSP has a SNES and NeoGeoCD emulator that run at 30fps to 60fps. The GB and NES emulators run even faster! So if you're emulator is slow, get a better one, or try changing you settings to use the full 333Mhz.

And I couldn't care at all about a V2.0 Web browser! There's already FTP and Telnet for the PSP, it's only a matter of time before somebody does a Firefox port for a PSP. And unless I learn Japanese, their video service sounds both expensive and useless. Short of the upgrade supporting Flash, I couldn't care at all. I bet Homebrew does Flash first!

So, for those of you that took the *Speical* bus to school, let me break it down for you like this, DON'T UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE! It ain't worth it! Make Bit-Torrent your new friend and turn that $250 doorstop into something TRULY worth the money!

[Max SMoke @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

My PSP has a SNES and NeoGeoCD emulator that run at 30fps to 60fps. The GB and NES emulators run even faster! So if you're emulator is slow, get a better one, or try changing you settings to use the full 333Mhz.

And I couldn't care at all about a V2.0 Web browser! There's already FTP and Telnet for the PSP, it's only a matter of time before somebody does a Firefox port for a PSP. And unless I learn Japanese, their video service sounds both expensive and useless. Short of the upgrade supporting Flash, I couldn't care at all. I bet Homebrew does Flash first!

So, for those of you that took the *Speical* bus to school, let me break it down for you like this, DON'T UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE! It ain't worth it! Make Bit-Torrent your new friend and turn that $250 doorstop into something TRULY worth the money!

[Qwijibo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Damn! I already bought one. They should really make all the colours available at launch. I want this one but cant friggin afford it lest i sell mine. HMMMMMM? SELL SELL SELL!

[Bob S. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I loves me my homebrew -- got a dozen apps on my 1.5 PSP. (I have no use for a browser or any 'net connection, since I have a Sidekick.) But ironically, let's say that maybe someday there are a few new games for the PSP -- I know, I know, it's like dreaming about having a White House not filled with criminals, but it *could* happen -- it sure would be easy for me to think, "Hey, let's play that new game on my white PSP" and "Hey, let's play Yoshi's Island on my black PSP." If I'm willing to drop the extra two bills to have a second unit, sure I'll go with the new one.

[Ryan Green @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Okay the summary misses about half of the points here. Ran the thing through babelfish and found out even more awesomeness:

AVC/H.264 playback via Memory stick! YES! more movies on a stick!

AAC Playback: No more rippin my stuff back to mp3 from iTunes.

[Umar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Yea, i can careless about the new white psp....i love the black one already, got so many apps and emus on it..especially the psp/ps2/tv remote..also you can play new games on psp even if it requires an update to a newer version, beacuse of the NO update hack which you can dl and slap onto your psp and run it.. so I guess black psp isn't really missing out on anything big and good...

PSP Hacks,Emus,Appz www.pspupdates.com

[xej @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I don't particularly like the White PSP... I <3 my black one and I CANT WAIT for 2.0! This is the best (PSP related) news I've heard in a LONG time.

[cameron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

sweet, it will come out on my birthday. Hmm, a white psp or the new video iPod? Decisions, decisions. If the damn games for the PSP weren't 50 bucks a pop i would get one right now, but until then.

[Spyvie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Proprietary Suckers Platform

Now in �Alternative Lifestyle White�
(not that there�s anything wrong with that)

[EdZ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Got mugged recently, so i no longer have my trusty 1.5 PSP. I'll probably be saving for another one until they come out in the UK, but i'll still import one. Why? I want to run homebrew apps (mainly an ebook reader, but lots more besides like VNC). Plus I HATE the 'X to select, /_ to cancel' scheme.

[Chu Chu @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Don't cry spyvie... since you can't afford one of your own you are just going to have to mug some kid on the school bus and take his.

[PiratePete @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Sorry guys that v2.0 firmware upgrade isn't worth the code it was written in. Keep you v1.5 fireware and try some emulators or better yet download and try some psp games yourself. The whole psp sceen is moving so fast I'm sure that a great homebrew web browser will be made (Or ripped from v2.0) soon enough for us v1.5 users. So keep your v1.5FW You'll be glad you did!

[Thunder @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I hate how much better care they take with Japan gamers. And they've sold more in the U.S., yet we still don't get anything special like that.. Tha Really sucks SONY!

[Phlogiston2312 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

The problem fundamentally with the PSP IMHO is the memory that is required. They only use a PROPRIETARY memory format, that happens to be through the roof in price if you actual bills to pay, esp. for the decent sized DUO sticks

[Twist @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I think I like the original version better (and I am a Mac user) but I would have to see the white version in person to be sure. I wish I could afford a PSP but so far there is no killer app for it IMHO. The biggest draw for me so far is the emulation stuff so I would want to avoid the 2.0 firmware.

[otakucode @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Phlogiston2312: Rite Aid has 256MB Memory Stick Pro Duos for $20 after rebate... the only ones that are expensive are the really large sticks like 1GB or, god forbid, 2GB.

And theres no way in hell I'm upgrading my firmware. I've just got my PSP the way I like it... nice emulators that run at full speed (the guy saying they were slow is a moron who doesn't know how to change a simple setting apparently) and all my favorite games on there. I already beat The Guardian Legend on the NesterJ NES emulator, and I'm playing through Final Fantasy 2 on the port of SNES9X.

I'll upgrade when I can bring my emulators with me. I honestly would have paid $500 for a PSP if they came out with one that ONLY ran these emulators and nothing else.

[KitNBootz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I made the mistake of updating to 1.51 and I've been regretting it since. I've turned down further upgrading but I'm looking around and NO ONE has broken 1.51 or 1.52 yet so I'm sort of stuck in the middle.

I really don't have much choice. I can't run homebrew on 1.51 since the l33t hax0rz can't rap their little brains around cracking 1.51. The only way I can get content (web browser not of WipEout hacked), unfortunately, is to go with the 2.0 upgrade. *sad*

I really hope they crack 1.51 before this 2.0 hits US shores. Otherwise, I'm forced to go to 2.0 if I want something to do on my PSP outside of waiting MONTHS for killer games to come out! *angry*

[Spaz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

"but will PSP 2.0 still have dead pixels? :)
If so, I don't care what damn color the thing is!"

Um.... Firmware can't fix the deadpixels. The dead pixels is a problem with LCD screens, not the PSP's firmware.

[tao @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

It's my humble opinion as a product designer...

Black tends to look cheap and generic (just look at Xbox), while White looks fashionable and futuristic.

Can we get it in the US or Japan only?