14 DAY TRIAL // Sony's ready to unpack their sack of gifts, turning into our favorite Japanese Santa, as we've just got word that they'll be releasing the 3.80 PSP firmware update on December 18th. That leaves us about 4 days to have with the present update, while getting ready for a couple of brand new features, which will specially please the Japanese owners of this gaming device.
Among the new functionalities that come with the 3.80 firmware, Sony included a streaming Internet radio player, also allowing the RSS to support OPML and pictures. Meanwhile PSP-2000 owners which also have 1Seg tuners will be able pull a "Tivo" on their console, recoding Japanese mobile television shows even when they're not near their PSP. Also, Japanese users will also be getting support for PlayStation Spot, available at BB Mobile Point.
The disadvantage of programming your PSP to record you favorite sitcom or concert is that you won't be able to play games, watch other shows or surf the web, while the console's recording. In case you're not familiar with the 1Seg services here's good old Wikipedia, breaking it down for you:
"1seg broadcasting uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video and HE-AAC audio encapsulated in MPEG-2 Transport Stream. 1seg, like ISDB-T also uses QPSK for modulation, 2/3 FEC and 1/4 guard ratio. Total bit-rate is 416 kbit/s. Maximum video resolution is 320x240 pixels, video bitrate is 220-320 kbit/s. Audio conforms to HE-AAC profile, with bitrate of 48-64 kbit/s. Additional data broadcasting using BML (EPG, interactive services, etc) occupies the remaining 10-100 kbit/s."
So, it seems that we'll be once again heading towards a multimedia universal device future, as now the PSP will also be used to watch TV shows plus listen to the radio, surf the web, play games, take pictures, chat with other folks with the add of some VoIP apps...