Sony is working hard to make the PlayStation Portable, its handheld competitor for the Nintendo DS, a more nimble and easy to use piece of hardware. The new Media Manager update for it allows users to access the PlayStation Store from the PCs they own in order to better organize and synchronize the content that they have for the PSP.

Recently, the device has received a minor firmware update, version 5.01, which allows the gaming console to download games directly via wireless hot spots from the PlayStation Store. Thus, clicking on a store link will get the user to the Media Manager home page, which is stored online.

Susan Panico, who is a senior director of PlayStation Network at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, stated that “The latest firmware update for the PSP provides today’s entertainment enthusiasts with a truly mobile entertainment device by enabling the downloading of content on the go. Because of the enhanced functionality, we felt it was necessary to expand the role of the PC application by giving users a means to further acquire and organize content for their PSP in a way that is intuitive and familiar”.

The PlayStation Portable has also recently received a new hardware version, called the PSP-3000. Sony announced it as a significant improvement over the Slim and the Lite, with a better screen and a built in microphone as the main new features. The version is out in Japan and some early adopters are already saying that it has some issues. The main problem is that the screen, which was supposed to work better in direct light, seems to display scan lines that are visible when using certain content. Sony declared that no software solution is available for the issues. Users will probably have to just get accustomed to the annoyance.