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umd posts

Kohjinsha PA series tablet ships in November, value not guaranteed

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 26th 2009 at 9:27AM

Kohjinsha had a slew of portables on display at CEATEC earlier this month, including the classification-bending PA. Its design fits in somewhere between a MID and a tablet netbook, with its 4.8-inch, 1024 x 600 touchscreen and 1.33GHz Atom processor, but now we're learning that it's price roughly equates to a netbook and a MID. The device hits Japan early next month for ¥69,800, about $770. That's certainly not cheap, but if you need one elsewhere you're probably going to need to go through an importer, and their prices are ¥79,800 and up. That's about $870. Yikes.

Android-based ODROID handheld available for pre-order

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 29th 2009 at 1:06PM

Hard Kernel has just announced that the developer version of the ODROID Android-powered portable gaming device is available for pre-order as of today. The device features an 833MHz Samsung S5PC100 processor (same as the iPhone 3GS), 512MB of RAM, and a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen. Sadly, there's no integrated 3G, but WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and mini-HDMI output is supported. The Android OS 1.5 runs off a 2GB TFlash card, with an 8GB SD card supplied for storage. Also included are a download/charger cable, serial console debugging board and batteries. Going for about $320, this bad boy is expected to ship on November 5th. If all goes well, you can expect to see a consumer version sometime in December for around $250.

[Via SlashGear]

Sony America abandons UMD-to-PSP Go "good will" program, offers 225 games at full retail price instead

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 28th 2009 at 6:16AM

You know that UMD-to-PSP Go conversion program? Ain't gonna happen. The "good will" program that would have provided free (or at least heavily discounted) digital copies of games already purchased on UMD discs has been scrapped. A spokesman for SCEA said, "We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time." Adding insult to injury, the PSP Go Rewards program offering 3 free games to European UMD owners will not be offered in the US. That's the bad news. The not so bad news is that 16,000 pieces of digital content will be available for the US PSP Go launch on October 1st. These include 225 downloadable games (full PSP titles, PSN exclusives, UMD legacy titles, and Minis), 2,300 films, and 13,300 television episodes. Still, not quite the "at least 300" digital games we were expecting. So US PSP owners, still planning to "upgrade?"

Read -- UMD-to-PSP Go program scrapped
Read -- 225 games at US launch

PSP Go refused by game retailer as Blockbuster fiddles

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 16th 2009 at 8:21AM

Do you run a brick-and-mortar store that primarily sells media? Yeah? Then lean in real close, we've got a little trend that you may have overlooked. The physical media you carry -- be it films, music, or games -- is going digital and moving on-line for direct-to-consumer downloads. Still, Dutch gaming-house Nedgame has a statement on its website saying it will not be selling the UMD-less PSP Go. It lists six reasons framed in a way that makes them sound like they're fighting for the rights of the consumer. However, as a seller of gaming media that boasts two new store openings on its home page, the primary beef likely stems from the shop's inability to sell physical media to the download-only PSP Go. Maybe a search on the tag Blockbuster could help with expansion planning?

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Android-based ODROID handheld gaming concept debuts, hurts our eyes

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 1st 2009 at 12:23PM

The gadget underground has been buzzin' with clandestine chatter relating to Android MIDs lately, and now a company called Hardkernel is concocting a handheld game platform and media player based on the open source OS and the same processor as the iPhone 3GS. And you know what? This is a pretty cool idea for a device, even if the company's website leaves us frightened and confused. ODROID is a 3.5-inch (320 x 480 capacitive touchscreen) concept that sports a 600MHz Samsung S5PC100 ARM Cortex A8 CPU, HDMI output (720p), composite video output, microSD and SD card slots, and WiFi b/g. We're not entirely sure when (or if) this thing will see the light of day, or for how much, but you'll know as soon as we do. Promise.

[Via SlashGear]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXXIV: JXD1000 PSP clone has no UMD drive, shame

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 28th 2009 at 9:14AM

Sony may or may not have given up on the UMD format, but it's safe to say that KIRFsters never really got on board in the first place. There's a long and storied line of PSP knockoffs, and none have had room for little spinny discs. This latest one doesn't either, but it will play 720p video in a slew of formats, serve up game ROMs in a variety of flavors, tune in FM radio, and take two megapixel pictures. It sports a 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 screen, which won't do much justice to those 720p vids, but with only 8GB of storage there's not much room for high-def content anyway. Just $88 gets you one, but if you order 15 you can save a whole buck!

[Via PMP Today]

Seemingly solid PSP-4000 rumors give new hope for UMD fans

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 26th 2009 at 8:29AM

Put away black mourning clothes, PSP owners, there's life yet in them thar UMDs. When the PSP Go was announced it seemed like there was little time left for the plucky (and generally disliked) format, and indications that Sony had planned to ditch it "since the very beginning" were further nails in its apparent coffin. But now, according to a particularly reliable tipster (who accurately predicted the PS3 Slim in June, right down to the inclusion of proper buttons), there's a PSP-4000 inbound that will still sport a UMD drive. According to the tip this new machine will live along-side the Go, but little is known beyond that... other than it's apparently "nothing to actually get excited about." Tell that to the kids with the Lumines discs rattling away in the spokes of their bicycles.

White PSP Assassin's Creed Bloodlines bundle to sell for $199

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 16th 2009 at 2:38PM

Did anyone else think that Sony would have finally killed off the UMD movie for real by now? Guess again, suckers. The company just spilled some more details on that Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines PSP Entertainment Pack, and in addition to that sexy white PSP-3000 and 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, your $199 will get you an as-yet-unnamed feature film on UMD. Yes, even as Sony tip-toes into the future with the PSPgo, it's still trying to peddle movies on a garbage proprietary format no one ever really wanted and that most studios have stopped supporting. Old habits die hard, we suppose. Video after the break.

Continue reading White PSP Assassin's Creed Bloodlines bundle to sell for $199

Sony exec says UMD-less PSP was "always the plan"

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 2:39PM

Well, it's no secret that plenty of folks have been talking about a UMD-less PSP since day one, but it looks like that's been the case behind the scenes at Sony as well, at least according to the company's head of product planning, Naoya Matsui. Speaking with GameBusiness.jp, he said that Sony has "planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning," but that if "we'd simply released the hardware, there wouldn't have been much for everyone to enjoy," adding that Sony "needed to prepare the right environment for it first - things like the transferal of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as Media Go." Matsui further went on to explain that Sony also had to wait until the "delivery of digital content was on par with the delivery of physical media," which it obviously thinks has now finally happened.

[Via Joystiq]

Sony working on "good will" program to give digital copies of your UMD collection

by Ross Miller posted Jun 4th 2009 at 7:03PM

We just sat down for an interview with Sony's John Koller, who among many other interesting tidbits and factoids (more on those later) assuaged fears that our giant UMD library would be entirely forsaken. While light on details -- they're still figuring it out, he said -- there will be a "good will" program by which owners of current disc-based titles will be able to obtain digital copies for use on the PSP Go -- "a set number of titles for a set period of time," to be exact. He couldn't confirm all games, or at least all your personal collection, would be transferrable -- that might have to do with the number of digitized games they'll have at launch, which will be at least 300 but not the whole back catalog -- but despite calling it a short-term program he did say, should you receive a new UMD game later down the line, you should still be able to make the digital transfer. As for price, we're still looking to confirm something there, but they wouldn't be putting so much effort into the program if it wasn't at least for a discount, if not free.

If you happen to like your discs, Koller said UMDs aren't going by the wayside so long as the PSP is still around, but he expects digital to start taking an increasing share. Looking to the future, he confirmed all first-party titles and most third-party titles (by the developers' own volition, not a mandate) will be available as digital downloads day and date with the UMD hard copies, and yeah, despite the reduced shipping and manufacturing costs, it'll be for the same price, too.

Sony PSP Go announced -- $249, no UMD

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 2nd 2009 at 2:09PM

Just as expected, Sony just announced the PSP Go at E3 just now -- Haz Kirai called it the "worst kept secret at E3." The slider handheld has a 3.8-inch LCD, built-in Bluetooth and 16GB of internal storage, all in a case 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the original PSP-1000 -- a weight savings we're guessing is directly attributable to the loss of the UMD drive. That's right, the Go doesn't have a UMD drive -- games will instead load in through the Memory Stick Micro slot or over PlayStation Network. That's not the end of the classic PSP, though -- Sony says it will "live on." New PSP titles will be distributed through both UMD at retail and online simultaneously -- Sony's beefing up the desktop client and renaming it Media Go for easier access and syncing with Playstation Network media, but you'll be able to get PSN content directly from the Go as well. The PSP's music features have also been beefed up with a new auto-playlist feature called Sense Me, which sounds a lot like Pandora or iTunes Genius playlists, and there's a new video delivery service being rolled out.

Don't expect the loss of UMD to lower the price, though: the Go will be $249 when it launches on October 1 in North America and Europe and November 1 in Japan. Sony's showing demo videos with both black and white versions, but that's not confirmed yet -- we'll let you know.

Update: Check the full PR here.

Update 2: Sony has just blasted out the detailed specifications. Here are the highlights:

Approx. 128 x 16.5 x 69 mm (width x height x depth)
Weight: 5.6 ounces (including batter)
CPU: 333MHz
64MB memory
3.8-inch display (480 x 272 resolution)
Built-in stereo speakers and microphone
802.11b WiFi
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
USB 2.0
Memory Stick Micro slot
Analog video out
16GB storage

UMD-less Patapon 2 officially released for PSP, another brick in the wall?

by Laura June posted May 5th 2009 at 10:15AM

Joystiq reported back in April that Patapon 2's release would be a UMD-less affair, and now it's officially here. The followup game is now available as a digital download on the PSN, and as a redemption code voucher in retail locations. The sans-UMD format is a United States only test for Sony, and certainly leads us to wonder if that UMD-less PSP could possibly, potentially be in the works. The $19.99 title is available today, disc-less PSP available in your wildest dreams.

Sony VP Ray Maguire claims UMD 'wasn't brilliant' for third parties, forgets we're living in the present

by Paul Miller posted Mar 11th 2009 at 4:04PM

Apparently the folks at Sony Computer Entertainment UK are experiencing some time anomalies of late, with Senior VP Ray Maguire talking about PSP's much-abused UMD format in the past tense. It might not be the biggest blunder on earth -- he stated that "The UMD model wasn't brilliant for third parties," and it certainly hasn't been -- but with rumors all over about Sony dropping the format in the near future, it's not looking good for those little ill-fated discs. Maguire went on to add, "The downloads side of it will increasingly become a bigger part of its future," so it looks like either way we know where Sony's emphasis lies, and we won't be shedding too many tears if / when it comes to pass.

[Via Joystiq]

PSP 2 is ready and UMD-less, claims Earthworm Jim developer

by Ross Miller posted Feb 26th 2009 at 7:22AM

We've lost count on the number of times we've heard from a friend of a coworker of a cousin whose girlfriend's stepfather happens to work at Sony and they're all but ready to launch a UMD-less PSP in 17 different color options bundled with a portable version of Street Fighter IV. Typically, we remain skeptical, but when it's veteran developer David "I made MDK and Earthworm Jim" Perry, we'll give him the floor to speak. Earlier this week, his Twitter account updated to say he's heard the PSP 2 is done and minus that disc drive. He later reaffirmed that comment to GameDaily, saying he can't reveal his source (naturally), but he feels certain UMD is gone. Is his source bunk? He's certainly a guy who'd know a guy, but we've heard this story far too many times to take a leap of faith now.

[Via Joystiq]

Read - David Perry's Twitter
Read - GameDaily

Compal showcases prototype UMPC running Windows CE

by Darren Murph posted Jun 14th 2007 at 7:39PM

Although it's still proudly donning the proverbial prototype badge, a nifty machine from Compal was spotted at Computex running Windows CE 5.0 in favor of the battery-draining XP or Vista. Simply dubbed the UMD (Ultra Mobile Device), this ultraportable supposedly pulled double duty as a smartphone and even played nice with HSDPA. Internally, it featured a 532MHz Freescale i.MX31 processor, 512MB of NAND Flash memory, 256MB of DDR RAM, a 4.3-inch WVGA display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, hot keys, built-in speaker and microphone, a 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera, SIM card slot, and a miniSD slot to hold excess media. Additionally, it boasted USB connectivity, a headphone jack, a meager five-watt power consumption rating that enabled nearly five hours of battery life, and the obligatory media playing and Skype-friendly applications that you would expect on such a multifaceted device. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell whether Compal will come through on bringing this thing to market, but we're sure there's a niche that would be all over it should it eventually roll out.

[Via Wired]