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Techdigest: Both the PlayStation and PS2 received much needed makeovers during their lifetimes, but the good old PSP has yet to receive similar treatment. We know it will happen someday – in fact Sony Computer Europe’s UK Managing Director, Ray Maguire has already stated as much – Sony just hasn’t finished working on it yet. (…) But before the brainstorming finishes, we have a wish list of the changes we’d like to see in a new version.

10. Lose the UMDs
Come on Sony; why are we still mincing around with this defunct format? God knows, it’s not like it has gone down very well with the movie studios anyway, so bite the bullet and cut it off like a diseased hand. And think of the benefits – the faster load times, the increased battery life and the dramatically reduced risk of PSP shuriken injury. Better than that, it will mean there is sooo much more space in the unit for the other improvements I have planned.

9. Get spacious
Hopeful rumours of a PSP with more memory have floated around for years, but now that Sony is reportedly involved in talks with Amazon.com, MovieLink and CinemaNow to arrange for direct movie downloads, it is high time we thought beyond the limitations of what the Memory Stick format has to offer. Not to mention that it will be essential once we have implemented the above policy.

8. Up with WiFi
The PSP still proves to be surprisingly handy as an internet browser, even though it took Sony a couple of firmware updates to get the software up to scratch. Now let’s up the ante with faster wireless connectivity. Because 802.11b was like totally 2005. With a bit of a speed boost there’s no reason why the PSP couldn’t get its very own PlayStation Store browser too. Think about it – that’s more money for you Sony.

7. More power to you
Currently, you can expect between 4-8 hours of juice from your PSP’s battery. Not entirely lamentable I know, but then there’s the DS Lite’s phenomenal lasting power – I’m pretty sure I still haven’t charged mine up since I bought it (slight exaggeration there). Surely we can do better than this by now, and it’s not like the screen is so staggeringly bright that it can sucking up all that much juice. And while we’re on the subject…

6. Brighter, Brighter, BRIGHTER!
I live in Scotland but, believe it or not, there are occasions when the sunshine breaks through the perpetual gloom oot on the moor. And on those occasions, I still want to immerse myself in a virtual fantasy land. I just want to do it outside. While that X-Black coated screen can be staggeringly nice to look at, the dingy lighting and highly reflective surface usually means you end up ogling your own slack-jawed face instead of seeing what you’re doing.

5. No more console ports, please
A quick look down the UK’s games chart for the PSP paints a pretty depressing picture. This handheld has been reduced to latching on to cross-format titles with little to no original thought going into designing games tailored to the portable medium. A lot of the blame lies in Sony’s non-committal to first-party development on the PSP; luckily the company now aims to correct that mistake in the near future. A good start might be working out what on earth happened to Gran Turismo 4 Mobile…

4. Bluetoothtastic
Phones have Bluetooth, laptops have Bluetooth, sat navs have Bluetooth and headphones have Bluetooth. Hell, even somebags have Bluetooth. Why not the PSP then? I want caller ID on my PSP, I want to make calls and browse my phonebook, send and receive files and generally geek it up in a plethora of wireless interconnectivity. And hey look, the PS3 has Bluetooth, so I’m seeing a clear opportunity for the PSP to double up as full blown wireless controller, and not in the limited sense of the PS3′s Remote Play. Which brings me smoothly to my next point:

3. Remote play, shmemote play
Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty keen on the PS3′s remote play system which, for the uninitiated, lets you access your PS3′s XMB (that’s menu to you and me) to browse content, track friends, compose messages and even stream music and video. It’s a good start but let down by the fact your PS3 has to be on and set to the Remote Play option before you can begin. Give the PSP the power to turn your PS3 on and off. Let me browse content while my flat mates are getting repeatedly pwned at Resistance. And if it eats up their bandwidth, who cares? It might encourage them to buy their own damned console. Grr.

2. Touchy feely
Anyone who thought the six-axis was a bit of a rip off of the Wii remote is not going to like this: why not have some touch screen functionality? I’m pretty sure there is still space in the gaping hole left by the UMD tray for a stylus and it will do wonders for internet browsing. Of course, that could also mean that the PSP could lose the awful analogue stick completely. But if that’s still too limiting, why not have full set of six-axis motion detection to boot? Pop that in your pipe Nintendo.

1. Cross-platform gaming
Microsoft has been hinting at cross-platform Xbox, PC and Windows Mobile gaming for a good long while, but Sony now has two perfectly powerful systems in place, ready to make Microsoft’s musings a reality. Time I think for Sony to turn the tables and make Microsoft play second fiddle in an online setting for a change. And PlayStation Home looks like it might be the ideal testing ground for just such an idea; the PS3 can act as the main programming platform for your own virtual home, while the PSP could simply let you hang out in your pad and check out others while you’re away form the main console.

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I4U: This is a pretty cool gadget from Sony Ericsson called the HCB-120. This device is a Bluetooth speakerphone that is intended for use both at your desk and in the car. This looks really cool and perfect for geeks like me who eschew landlines and use cellular only.

The speakerphone has a clip on the back that allows you to secure it to your sun visor in the car like a garage door opener. The display has a sensor built-in that flips the caller-id info to the correct orientation for desktop or car use.

The obligatory controls for call pick up and hand up are included as well as a volume knob. Talk time is a claimed 24 hours and standby time is 300 hours, which is pretty impressive. Unfortunately the device doesn’t recharge via USB so you’ll need yet another outlet to charge the device. Story, image and first complaints/comments via Gizmodo.

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Akihabara: Japan is a country where you’ll have the pleasure to learn how to take a bath again. We tend to shower more often nowadays to clean our nice muscular bodies, or in my case the nice love handles… but taking a bath remains fun, and a bath with music is even better.

So JVC has thought about a floating DAP with a radio function, and blue LED which is good for Zen Spirit. This DAP has a SD port and 256MB of internal memory, supports MP3, WMA and WMA DRM (= shit). It has slightly more than 15 hours of autonomy with 4 AA batteries, and weights 260g.

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TWICE: Bluetooth is getting a technology boost to make it easier for devices to “recognize” one another and to conserve battery energy.

At the CTIA show, The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced a new specification that requires fewer steps to pair two Bluetooth devices. It also increases the battery life of devices such as keyboards and mice by up to five times.

With the new standard, users do not need to enter a personal identification number but receive secure encryption automatically. “For example, pairing a Bluetooth headset and mobile phone is as easy as turning on the headset, selecting ‘Add Headset’ from the phone menu, and then watching the phone confirm it has found, connected with an encrypted link and paired the headset,” said the group.

Users can also now hold two devices together within close range to start the pairing process.

The new standard is called Version 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate).

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Engdaget: Panasonic has finally announced pricing and availability for its 2007 plasma HDTV lineup, including new 1080p models in 50- and 58-inch sizes.

Bulking up the current PZ700U line is the PZ750U series, which adds a new “Studio Reference Mode” (to provide consumers with the exact same color reproduction used on reference monitors in film editing studios), a pro setting mode (to even further calibrate the set), 3 HDMI jacks, and a ‘special’ black chrome look.

All that 1080p beauty will cost however, with the top of the line TH-58PZ750U carrying a price of $5,499.95 (around €4,100).

If missing out on the reference quality color is acceptable to you, the TH-58PZ700U (pictured above) is due next month for a mere $3,999.95 (around €3,000).

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Reuters: Canon said on Thursday it plans to appeal an expected court decision in the United States regarding the SED TV patent dispute against Nano-Proprietary Inc.

Canon expects the ruling in the first trial to go against it after the court judged earlier this year that a license agreement Canon had with Texas-based Nano-Proprietary didn’t extend to the use of the technology by Canon’s partner Toshiba.

Tokyo-based Canon expects that ruling to come in late April, President Tsuneji Uchida said at a general shareholders meeting.

The dispute involves Nano-Proprietary’s technology used in surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SED), which are said to generate brighter images and consume less energy than existing LCDs and plasma panels.

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Mobileguerilla: Not so many iPhone stories since the announcement at MacWorld, but here’s something for our European readers. According to an article in the Guardian (…), Apple is getting ready to make a deal with a ONE European network, who will get exclusivity over the iPhone. Industry insiders are reporting that Vodafone is most likely to get it.Apple needs to make up its mind before the end of the year, when the official European launch is planned to take place.

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Yahoo: Coming soon to a minivan near you: Satellite television. DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group on Thursday announced limited satellite TV service for its 2008 Dodge and Chrysler minivans and several other models, continuing its plan to turn the family cruiser into a living room on wheels.The company, which invented the minivan, is teaming with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. to bring three channels — Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network — to the next generation of minivans, as well as the 2008 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum, Jeep Commander and Jeep Grand Cherokee. (…)

It also works on a screen in the dashboard, but don’t think for a minute that you’ll be able to watch SpongeBob while driving.

For safety reasons, the TV channels won’t show up in the front unless the vehicle is in park.

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T3: Hot on the heels of its first UK-bound Blu-ray player, Sony has unveiled two items that would partner it up quite nicely.The first is the Bravia D3000 series, a new model of LCD TV available in 32, 40 and 46-inch versions. The screen is capable of handling the 24 frames-per-second 1080p video mode output that matches the frame rate of real film exactly, and has all-new Motionflow +100Hz technology to double 50Hz material’s refresh rate and cut down on juddering during movement. It has three HDMI connections too, so hooking up all your new HD kit is easy.

Second is something that you can put your shiny new D3000 on – the RHT-G800 stand. This three-shelf stand can accommodate a 46-inch or smaller flat screen TV, but the clever part is that Sony has squirreled away a surround sound system inside it. Connecting up to your Blu-ray player or PS3 via HDMI, it has seven speakers, including two subwoofers, and creates virtual surround sound using Sony’s S-Force PRO system.

Both items will launch soon. Prices are yet to be confirmed.

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Heise: There will likely be no labeling in the near future of low-radiation mobile handsets. On Wednesday the majority of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of the Bundestag, the lower chamber of Germany’s Federal Parliament in Berlin, rejected a proposal by the opposition Liberal party (FDP) to ask mobile phone manufacturers to commit voluntarily to indicating by way of a label the radiation levels of handsets. The opposition Green Party’s proposal to make such labeling mandatory was also rejected.

The representatives of the parliamentary groups of the ruling Conservatives claimed there was no well-founded link between mobile handsets, the electromagnetic radiation these produce and sickness and disease in humans. In addition they pointed to difficulties that might arise in the domain of international competition, if such labeling were to occur. The ruling Social Democrats (SPD) stressed that research did not at present indicate that there was a danger. Among other institutions the Federal Office for Radiation Protection lists on its website the SAR values of specific handset models. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) indicates the amount of radiation energy the head of a person using the phone absorbs on average in relation to his or her body mass.

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T3: B&Q has pulled out all the stops in time for summer and delivered the finest garden gadget we’ve ever seen. A tune-toting grilling machine!

The Memphis Barbecue combines the two great loves of any self-respecting bloke: rock and roll and flammable materials.

At a shade under £230 (about 340 euro) it’s a touch on the pricey side for a bog-standard flesh-furnace, but then it is powered by two gas burners, powerful enough to char anything you care to throw at it.

Music comes courtesy of a hidden speaker in the 50′s style cooker’s front panel, while your player hooks into an MP3 adaptor ’round the back. Grab one before the neighbors do, and treat yourself to a little bit of steak, rattle and roll!

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Techdigest: There’s an ever-growing number of premium range DAB radios, most (for some reason) with wood finishes. And the latest is the Vita Audio R2 DAB radio.

In fact, there’s actual two finishes here – the walnut wood one and an even more expensive ivory lacquered finish. Both are essentially just radios – DAB and FM, with clock alarm, snooze and sleep functionality, along with an output of 20w.

The company points out that you can attach your MP3 player or other audio gadget to the amplifier for speaker output, but essentially it’s still just a radio, albeit a very stylish one.

And you’ll pay for that style – £219.99 (324 euro) for the walnut unit and £249.99 (368 euro) for the ivory.

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