Maximum PC psp RSS Feed

Blu-Ray Movies to Come Bundled with PSP Version

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:18:54 -0500

Sony will now bundle PSP-compatible Digital Copy movie files with select Blu-ray titles. Both the high definition version and the Digital Copy for the PSP will coexist on a single Blu-ray disc. Sony was shipping Digital Copy files on a separate DVD-ROM disk till now. This announcement may not transport everybody into a state of ecstasy because not everyone possesses the desiderata for making this news worthwhile.

To transfer the Digital Copy file from the Blu-ray disc to a PSP, it is necessary that you also own a PS3. Godzilla and The Ugly Truth have been announced as the first Blu-ray titles to have this feature. In related news, the PSP GO is just hours from its tepidly-to-much-awaited launch.

Image Credit: Joystiq

Custom Firmware Rocks! How to Hack Gadgets with New Software

Alex Castle, Norman Chan, and Dave Murphy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:30:00 -0500

While we're big fans of the proven awesomeness of open-source software, we don't automatically download every free application that's labeled as an open-source project. What make more sense is the use of open-source as the tool that effects some kind of massive or otherwise unreachable change in a common device. Case in point is open-source firmware, named not for any philosophical belief behind its creation, but because few would want to heft the banner for these changes themselves. After all, creativity comes from a wide range of sources and inputs--as does software testers. You sure wouldn't want to be the one person working on third-party iPhone firmware, bricking device after device in a quest to add additional functionality that Apple didn't first design.

But that kind of unintended funcitonality is the sole benefit to open-source firmware. Throw those aspirations of community membership and open-source allegiance out the window: You want to increase the power of your device akin to a Sim tinkering his or her hardware to gain mechanical skill points. There's no shame in that. In fact, you can accomplish much by adopting third-party firmware in place of standard manufacturer packages. For example, building increased sound codecs into your MP3 player of choice, or adding on-screen level meters to your digital SLR. You can even turn your router into a bridge, perfect for extending the range of your neighbor's wireless signal so you can thieve his connection from additional locations in your apartment. You can also brick your device.

We jest, but only partially. For the danger of running third-party firmware--safe as many of the packages can seem to be--is that you could render your device of choice unusable. It happens to "real" firmware upgrades; it can happen to "unofficial" firmware upgrades as well, only I venture that you'll probably find more problems in the latter scenario than with a manufacturer's tried-and-tested update. But still, the benefits can often outweigh the risks, especially if you're looking to extend your legacy devices with additional features. An entire ocean of open-source firmware fixes awaits your perusal -- we take a look at some outstanding examples of open-source firmware, and teach you how to install them on your own gadgets!

MP3 Players

For most people, an MP3 player serves a pretty narrow purpose: it plays music, maybe a video here or there if you’ve got a newer model, and might have a handful of applications. All in all, though, MP3 players are rarely treated as anything more than tiny, portable jukeboxes, which is a shame, because as gadgets they’ve got the potential for so much more. That’s why, in this article, we show you how to install custom Rockbox firmware and breathe new life into your trusty old MP3 player.

Sony's PSP

For as long as Sony’s PlayStation Portable has been on the market, it’s been a juicy target for hackers. With burly hardware (for a handheld) and a gorgeous screen, it just begs to play homebrew, and lots of PSP owners have cracked their devices to do just that. Unfortunately, Sony has had other plans for their handheld, and has released dozens of firmware updates and several hardware revisions to make it harder to hack the PSPs handheld.

As such, there’s no one hack that works on all PSP, and in fact some PSPs are completely unhackable. There is, however, one fairly easy method that works on most consoles, which is what we illustrate in this article.

BIOS

OpenBIOS and Coreboot are two examples of the open source world's answer to proprietary BIOS firmware. Flashing your motherboard with either of these can be an anxiety-inducing process, but you should be able to tap into faster loading speeds if you're successful. Everyone wants a speedy, netbook-style BIOS loadup, right?

Routers

Third-party router software has been around for a while, but we can’t help but keep recommending it to users who want to add undocumented features to their home network. Our favorite router firmware package is still Tomato, which we favor for its compatibility with a wide range of router brands and models, user-friendly interface, and powerful feature set. We show you how to upgrade your router’s firmware to the newest version of Tomato and then configure the Quality of Service settings to manage your network traffic.

E-readers

Yes, you can even get open-source firmware for your electronic reader. The pickings aren't vast, but firmware like OpenInkPot can update your device with new settings and better performance, as well as give you access to additional software reader options, eliminate the necessity of DRM for your device, and even add Wi-Fi capabilities to a network-incompatible E-reader.

Point and Shoot Digital Cameras

We love point-and-shoot pocket cameras for their small size and ease of use, but we lament their relatively paltry feature sets when compared to more expensive DSLR models. The good news, for owners of the popular Canon PowerShot cameras, is that your consumer-grade gadget can be upgraded with custom software to endow it with professional features like RAW image recording and live histogram feedback. CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) is an easy-to-install software package created by a savvy group of programmers to supercharge the Canon PowerShot. We show you how to safely install and configure this free firmware add-on with no risk to your camera.

SLRs

The Canon 5D Mark II camera is pretty impressive in its own right, given the kind of video that this full-frame, digital SLR can shoot. But don't let it be said that accomplishment ever got in the way of open-source innovation. That's where the open-source firmware package Magic Lantern comes into play. Amongst the features it adds to this jam-packed camera include on-screen audio meters (ideal for the amateur filmmaker), manual gain control, zebra stripes, and crop marks for different aspect ratios.

Digital Media Players

Western Digital's WDTV is kind of like a magic media streaming box. You plug any USB storage device (Flash key, portable hard drive, etc) into its two USB ports and it'll play any movie, picture, or audio file that it finds, outputting your media to your big screen TV via HDMI. Western Digital has done a great job updating its own official firmware to boost compatibility with almost every media format you can think of (yes, including MKV packages with subtitles), but the open-source offering takes the WDTV's functionality even further. B-Rad's WDLXTV firmware adds support for USB optical drives, USB hubs, limited ethernet connectivity, custom GUIs, and an application package that turns the WDTV into a mini-server!

Anything Else?

This is just a brief introduction to the world of open-source firmware. Hopefully it's gotten you stewing about all the different electronic devices you can hack in the comfort of your own dwelling. But just in case you need a little more inspiration, is anyone else out there running open-source firmware that deserves mentioning? Leave a comment to help flush out the list for your fellow readers!

How-To: Hack Your PSP the Easy Way

Alex Castle — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:41:46 -0500

Is my PSP hackable?

This hack, which doesn’t require any hardware modification, has two limitations:

1) It doesn’t work on 3000-Series PSPs. If you’re not sure which hardware-revision your PSP is, check the sticker on the bottom, it should say something like “PSP-1001”. If the number following “PSP” starts with a 3, you’re out of luck. Unfortunately, no one has developed a hack which works on 3000-series PSP, so you’re pretty much boned if you have one.

2) If you have a firmware installed that’s more recent than version 5.03, this hack won’t work. To check what firmware is installed on your PSP, turn it on and go to Settings->System Settings->System Info. If your firmware version number is greater than 5.03, you can't use this method to hack your PSP. There is a way to hack more recent firmware, but it’s significantly more difficult, involves modifying hardware, and is beyond the scope of this article. If you want to know how to do it, do a web search for “Pandora’s Battery.”

So how do I do it already?

First, plug in the PSP and make sure that it’s fully charged. This is vital because you’ll be screwing with the firmware on the device, and losing power and shutting down during a firmware flash is one of the quickest ways to brick your precious handheld.

Next, make sure that you have a large enough memory stick to run the hack. You need at least 512 MB of space on your memory stick to perform the hack, but if you want to load it up with homebrew apps, you'll need more space than that. If you're looking to upgrade from the dinky memory stick included with most PSPs, you can get a 4 or 8 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo off of Amazon on Newegg for around $15 or $30. If you do get a new memory card, you need to format before beginning the hack, which you can do by inserting it into the PSP and selecting Settings->System Settings->Format Memory Stick.

Now, if your firmware is any version below 5.03, you need to upgrade to the official 5.03 Firmware. To do this, first download the 5.03 firmware update here. Next, plug your PSP into the computer, and turn on USB mode from the Settings Menu. Now, on your computer, access the PSP like you would a USB drive, and place the file EBOOT.PBP that was in the file you downloaded earlier into the folder /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/. Make the UPDATE folder if you have to.

Now disconnect the PSP from the computer. In the Games menu, select Memory Stick, then choose to run PSP Update ver 5.03. You will have to agree to some terms of service and such, and then the PSP’s firmware will be updated to version 5.03. As with any firmware update, it’s absolutely vital that you not screw with the PSP while this is going on, or you will ruin it.

For the next steps, which will install custom firmware on your PSP, you will need a couple of files, all of which are contained in this archive http://thesdf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=489.

First, you will need to load ChickHEN onto the PSP’s memory stick, which allows you to run some homebrew apps on a PSP. Open the ChickHEN folder in the archive you just downloaded. You will notice that it contains a file called h.bin, and two folders, called PHAT and SLIM. Copy the h.bin file to the root of your PSP’s memory card.

Now, if you have a “fat” PSP (1000 series) open the PHAT directory, and copy the image called “eggsploit.tiff” onto your memory stick in the directory /PSP/PHOTO/. If you have a “slim” PSP (2000 series), open the SLIM directory and copy the directory inside, called “ChickHEN” to the memory stick in /PSP/PHOTO.

Now you’ll load Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher onto the memory stick. This is what will actually flash the new, custom firmware to our console. Open the archive you downloaded earlier, and navigate to the Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher folder. Inside is another folder called RECOVERY; copy this folder into /PSP/Game/.

Those are all the files you need for the firmware hack, so exit USB mode and disconnect your PSP from your computer. To start up ChickHEN, go to the Photo menu, then select Memory Stick. If you have a SLIM PSP, click on the ChickHEN folder. Otherwise, select the .tiff image you copied over. This corrupted image contains the code which will install ChickHEN on your PSP when you attempt to view it.

If it works, your screen will briefly flash green, then it will reboot. If it doesn’t work, and just crashes your PSP without the green flash, don’t panic. Whether the hack works or not seems to be largely random, so just keep trying until it works. It can require a little bit of patience; we didn’t get the green flash until our eighth try. Once you do get the green flash and reboot, go to Settings->System Settings->System Information and check to confirm that your System Software has been updated to 5.03 ChickHEN R2. If it has, you’re ready to move on.

Next, go to the Games menu, then select Memory Stick, and run Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher. It will warn you that you’re about to mess with the PSP’s internal flash memory. Choose to proceed, then select Install CFW from the menu that loads. Next, choose to reset your settings. Now, Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher will install the 5.0 M33 custom firmware onto your PSP. When it’s done, it will prompt to you press X to shut it down. You’ll have to boot it back up yourself.

And that’s it! You’re now running the M33 custom firmware!

But what can I do with it?

Play Homebrew apps, of course! There’s a vibrant scene of programmers making homebrew apps for the PSP. You can all sorts of homebrew apps online, including games, custom themes, utility apps (like browsers and e-book readers) and more. You can find sizeable repositories of legal homebrew here and here.

Rip DVDs for Playback on Your iPhone, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, AppleTV, or Any H.264-Enabled Player

Will Smith — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0600

It’s hard to believe in the iTunes era of blink-and-you-miss-them CD rips, but in the mid-90s, ripping a CD was a time-consuming process, fraught with peril. Ripping a single disc to 128kbps MP3 could take 8 hours on a 200MHz Pentium! Fast forward a decade, with faster hardware and better software and CD ripping is so mainstream your mom does it.

Ripping DVDs and transcoding the video stored within into more efficient formats involves an order of magnitude more scary math than ripping audio CDs. A machine that will rip the latest Miley Cyrus CD in moments could take hours to extract and convert your copy of AVP to an iPod-friendly format. However, with the right software, a quad-core equipped PC, and a little know-how, you can cut your disc rip time from hours to 20 or 30 minutes. There are still plenty of tricks and traps for first-time rippers, but we’ll show you the basics, then walk you through the secrets of ripping power users everywhere.

However, the first thing you need to decide is simple: what player are you ripping your discs for? Are you ripping for a portable player, like the PSP or iPhone? Would you rather stream to device in your living room, like the Xbox 360, PS3, or Popcorn Hour? Are you simply interested in making an archival-quality DVD rips, in case you lose your collection? More likely, you’re probably looking for a combination of all three of these things. We’ll show you how to rip your DVD to a file suitable for streaming that consumes a fraction of the disk space of a DVD but maintains full video and audio quality. Then you can take that file, and convert it for whatever other devices you might have, like a PSP or an iPod. For the purposes of this story, we're going to focus on DVD rips. Getting ahold of unencrypted high-defintion video legally is still pretty tricky. We'll update with Blu-ray ripping info as ripping Blu-ray gets easier.

With the preliminaries out of the way, let’s get started.

Determining Your Target Player

There are several different factors that determine the compatibility of your ripped video files. The resolution of the video, the video and audio codecs, the container format used, and even more esoteric things like the framerate can affect whether your video will work on your device of choice. If you just rip discs as you need the content and then delete files afterward, simply rip to the target of choice. However, if you want to build an archive of ripped movies, we recommend that you use open, widely-supported codecs and containers at the native resolution of the DVD, and then transcode the files as you need them to lower resolutions and bitrates. Naturally, we’ll show you how to do both.

Your player selection also impacts your choices when it comes to audio tracks and subtitle support. While the most common container formats, mp4 and mkv, support multiple track and subtitle streams in one file, few players will work with multiple audio tracks, and an even smaller subset will work with subtitles. That means you need to rip a single audio track—typically the main movie’s English soundtrack—and burn the subtitles into the video, rather than leave them as separate streams inside the container.

Bitrate is a little trickier. Most hardware players will handle whatever bitrate you select, especially if they're designed for high-definition playback. Both consoles and the AppleTV support high-definintion files, so they're more than capable of playing DVD-resolution video at whatever bitrate you choose. However, the higher a bitrate you choose, the larger the file will be. From our testing, we found the sweet spot for most movies to be around 2000kbps average, but we cranked it up to 2500kbps for movies with a lot of action. If your hardware supports high-profile H.264 (Xbox 360, PS3, and the Apple TV do, but many portable players don't), you can get away with a lower bitrate. With 1.5TB hard drives available for about $180 now, we'd rather rip at a too-high bitrate to ensure maximum quality video than save a few hundred MB of disk space.

We typically recommend ripping to the MP4 container, it’s widely supported on both streaming devices and portables. Furthermore, the tools for manipulating the streams within the file are established and easy to use, which makes it easy to transcode your video to a less supported format for a specific player.

A Word About Subtitles

Typically, DVDs include multiple subtitle streams that serve different purposes. Nearly every DVD has some English subtitles, even non-foreign language movies. It’s important that you understand the difference between subtitles and closed captions. Subtitles are simply the dialog from the movie written across the bottom of the screen. Closed captions include subtitles, but they also include audio cues that help people with impaired hearing enjoy the movie fully.

While closed captions are present on almost every disc, many English-language movies also use subtitles to show what a character speaking a foreign language is saying. On some discs, these subtitles will be hidden in a separate stream, while in others, they’ll be mixed in with the closed-captions, but marked so that the DVD player only shows the proper captions. Regardless, it’s crucial that you get the proper subtitles for all the films you rip. Otherwise, you’ll never know what Jabba or Greedo are saying in Star Wars, and watching a long expository scene in another language without the benefit of subtitles sucks.

In practice, the first English subtitle track is typically the one that includes subtitles and forced or otherwise, while the second subtitle track is the one that includes closed captions.

Bypassing Copy Protection

The first thing you’ll need to do when ripping a DVD is remove the copy protection. Most discs use a variant of the Content Scrambling System (CSS), but many also use other techniques to make it more difficult to extract the video from the disc. Although DVD ripping apps, like HandBrake and AutoMKV aren’t updated as frequently as new copy protection schemes come out, there are a pair of utilities that are dedicated to stripping copy protection—AnyDVD (€49, www.slysoft.com) and DVD43 (free, www.dvd43.com).

Both apps do a fine job, although AnyDVD justifies its high price by bypassing new forms of encryption extremely quickly after they appear. Both of these apps serve as on-the-fly disc decrypters, stripping copy protection before your ripping utility or playback software even knows the disc is present. Want to rip an unencrypted disc to hard drive? It’s as easy as copying the contents of the disc’s VIDEO_TS file to your hard drive once you’ve installed AnyDVD or DVD43. Regardless, before we continue, you should install one or the other of these apps. AnyDVD is free to try for 30 days, while DVD43 is always free.

Ripping Your First Disc

For simple, high-quality rips of any kind of content, it’s tough to beat Handbrake. We like Handbrake for a few reasons—its built-in presets make it very easy for anyone to use, it does a good job of detecting the proper video, audio, and subtitle selections, and it has never failed to successfully rip a DVD, and we’ve ripped hundreds of discs.

To rip your first disc, drop it in your drive and click the Source button in the top-left corner of the Handbrake window. If you’re using AnyDVD or DVD43, you can safely ignore the prompt asking for the location of VLC. If you aren’t, you’ll need to download VLC. Unless you have multiple optical drives, the disc in your DVD-ROM should be one of the listed options. If it’s not, select the choose a folder option and navigate to your optical drive. Handbrake will take a minute or two to scan the contents of your disc, and will do its best to determine the appropriate titles and chapters on the disc. Handbrake’s generally spot on for movie DVDs, although you’ll probably need to manually select the proper chapters and titles for discs that contain TV shows (more on ripping TV shows here).

After Handbrake’s familiarized itself with your disc, you need to select the proper output preset. For streaming to or playback on, the Apple Universal preset is terrific. It looks great, and works great on the iPhone, newer iPod Classics, and the Apple TV. For streaming to the PS3, Xbox 360, or pretty much anything else, we typically recommend a modified PS3 preset. If you don't care about the details, you can just choose Handbrake's default PS3 preset, which uses the H.264 video codec to encode your disc’s video at its native resolution using 2500kbps variable bitrate that’s also compatible with the Xbox 360. It automatically downmixes your disc’s 5.1 audio to a 2.0 Dolby ProLogic II stream.

Once you've selected a preset, make sure that both the two-pass encode and the turbo first pass options are checked on the video tab. Then flip to the Audio/Subtitles tab and ensure the proper subtitle and audio selections are checked. If the movie includes some subtitles, you should select the first English subtitle track and check the Forced Subtitles Only box. If you’re not sure, it’s best to go ahead and check it. Don’t worry, if the disc is mastered properly and there are no subtitles, it won’t affect your rip at all. Once you’re happy with your settings, you can press the + button in the preset window to save your profile (we recommend giving it a different default name than the others). Unfortunately, caption settings aren’t saved in presets, so you have to manually set them each time you rip another disc.

Before you can start the encode, you need to tell Handbrake where to save the finished rip and what to call it. You can save the resulting file anywhere on your hard drive. Once you’ve done that, press the Start button, and your encode will start. Depending on the number of cores you have and the speed of your processor, encoding could take anywhere from 40 minutes to several hours.

Ripping Multiple DVDs at Once

Because the transcoding process takes a lot of time and monopolizes your CPU, it’s helpful to queue up several discs to be transcoded at a time when you’re not using your PC. You can do this by copying the full DVDs to your hard disk and then queuing several movies in Handbrake to transcode one after the other.

If you’re using AnyDVD, you can start the DVD ripping tool by right clicking the tray icon and selecting rip DVD to hard disk. Tell the app where to save the disc’s contents and click copy. You can do this for as many discs as you have hard disk space to hold. Then open Handbrake and click the source button. Point the app to the folder that you copied your discs to, and select the first one. Instead of selecting Start when you’ve selected the proper profile and tweaked your audio and subtitle settings, click Add to Queue. Repeat this for each disc you’ve copied to your hard drive, and press Encode when you’re ready to start transcoding.

Ripping TV Show DVDs

Ripping TV shows is a little trickier than ripping a single large movie, but it’s similar to the procedure we just outlined for queuing multiple discs. Different studios use different techniques, but the basic idea is the same. First you need to load your DVD in Handbrake. Then, find the individual episodes in Handbrake’s source section. The easiest way to to find episodes is to look at the playtime for each chapter or title. Typically 30 minute TV shows are around 23 minutes and hour-long shows are about 46 minutes. Once your settings are right and you’ve found the right titles, you can add each individual episode to the queue. Make sure you assign each one a unique name, or Handbrake will overwrite the old episodes as you rip new ones. After the episodes have been ripped, you’ll need to make sure that each one is properly named, frequently the first title on the disc isn’t the first one that’s listed in the menus.

Converting Your Ripped Files to Another Format

By now you should have quite a few movies and TV shows ripped in a high-quality archival format. However, many devices won’t play videos encoded at this resolution or bitrate. Lucky for us, Handbrake makes it easy to convert videos to other formats. All you need to do is load the video you want to convert using the Source menu, and then choose the appropriate preset or output settings for your player and transcoded away. You can even queue multiple files for conversion.

Playback and Streaming

Now that you’ve ripped your DVD collection, how do you stream the videos into your living room? The easy way to stream MP4 files to your Xbox is to install the Zune Marketplace software, which you can download at Zune.net (whether you own a Zune or not). Once you add the videos to the Zune software and enable sharing, you’ll be able to open them using any Xbox 360 on your home network.

If you want to stream to a PlayStation 3, it’s a little more complex. Fortunately, we have a how-to that explains exactly how to use TVersity to stream video from your PC to your PS3, Xbox 360, or any other UPNP-enabled device. It can be a little tricky to get TVersity running properly, especially if you’ve installed a ton of codecs on your system.

We’ve also heard great things about PacketVideo (formerly known as TwonkyMedia). We haven’t tested Twonky since the 4.4 version came out, but it has strong reviews from the community and might be worth trying out. It offers many features that are comparable to TVersity, and is reportedly easier to install and run to boot. If you’ve had trouble getting codecs working with TVersity in the past, PacketVideo is a great option.

If you just want to watch the videos on your PC, there are lots of options. If you have a recent version of WinDVD or PowerDVD, either of those apps should play the videos with hardware acceleration to boot. A good free alternative is VLC, which should play pretty much any video file you throw at it.Or, if you don't mind fiddling with lots of codec incompatibilities, you can install one of the codec packs that float around the Internet, like CCCP, and play your movies in Windows Media Player or Media Player Classic.

Now go enjoy your movie library!

Web News, Mid-June Edition (Updated with the Latest FF3 News)

Mark Edward Soper — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:56:57 -0500

Help Firefox 3 Set a New World's Record - Download It Today!

Today (June 17) is the official Firefox 3 Download Day, and you can help set a new world's record for the most software downloaded in a single day by pledging to download it (and then downloading it when it's available). As of posting time, the US was in the lead, but Poland was in second place.

Firefox is pulling out all the stops to spread the word, including social network sites, website buttons, and much more. Here's how to get involved. Signing up for Download Day is also the best way to find out when FF3 actually launches, as the official Firefox download page was still listing Firefox 2 this morning. Mozilla will email pledgers when FF3 is ready to rumble.

Update: 11:17AM PDT

The Firefox Download Day website (spreadfirefox.com) seems to be a victim of its own success - it's been down much of the time since FF3 launched (10:00AM PDT). If you want your download of FF3 to count towards the world record, keep checking the website if it's down. However, if you don't want to wait, you have two options:

- Download it from the Firefox FTP site.
- If you installed RC3, keep using it. According to ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, "it seems that the RC3 and the final build are identical - the MD5 hashes match up exactly "

Update 2: 11:45AM PDT

If you're lucky enough to connect to the download page through the Firefox Download Day website (spreadfirefox.com), make sure you're being offered Firefox 3. For some reason, I was offered Firefox 2.0.0.14 the first time I got as far as the actual Download Day page (direct link here). However, the second time worked, and I'm now downloading FF3 (and helping Mozilla to a new world's record)!

Note to Firefox: Next time, make sure you have enough infrastructure for the job!

New AVG Malware Scanner Distorts Website Traffic Measurements

Malware scanners are supposed to be good for the web - or are they? Our friends at The Register report that the new AVG LinkScanner malware scanner (a part of AVG version 8 antivirus), which checks search engine results before a user clicks on them, is making a hash of website traffic stats. Some websites are reporting traffic increases of 80%, but unlike actual clicks, no human eyeballs are seeing the pages - and, to make matters worse, website owners must pay for the extra traffic, even though they're not getting actual page views, ad clicks, or anything else. Web site administrators will want to read on to page 2 for more technical discussions of how LinkScanner works and why it's a pain.

To learn how to disable LinkScanner, and for some suggested replacements, see this LockerGnome posting.

Find PSP Strategy Guides Without Touching a PC

The Inquirer.net reports that the PSP (PlayStation Portable) is about to get Google-enabled. The forthcoming v4.00 firmware update adds Google to the XMB interface. Another bonus in the v4.00 update is the ability to use the up or down directional buttons to change viewing speeds of videos being played back from a Memory Stick PRO Duo inserted in the PSP.

Sony LF-V30 LocationFree Base Station

Michael Brown — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:25:07 -0500

Which consumer product first enabled any PC with an Internet connection to remotely control a set-top box or DVR and stream live or pre-recorded television to it? If you answered “Slingbox,” you’re mistaken. It was actually Sony’s LocationFree TV.

So how did a startup manage to swoop in on one of the world’s best-known television manufacturers and steal a TV-related market right out from under its nose? Simple: Slingbox had better marketing, tighter focus, and a superior product. Sony is now introducing its fourth place-shifting device, but it’s no Slingbox killer.

The LF-V30 offers component-video input (and pass-through) to accommodate high-definition TV, but the image that’s streamed is downscaled to QVGA (320x240). In spite of that relatively low resolution, the image quality is excellent. The Slingbox Pro is wired for high definition, but you must purchase a dongle separately in order to make use of it. On the other hand, the Slingbox Pro also has a built-in tuner, so a remote user can stream unencrypted TV without forcing homebound viewers to watch the same channel.

Most of the features we liked about Sony’s older video-streaming products are still here: It can operate as a wireless client on your network (all Slingbox models must be hardwired), or it can stream while hardwired to your router or switch (and act as a wireless access point). The LF-V30 has two IR blaster ports, so it can control a whole bunch of hardware. Its front-mounted IR receiver can “learn” your remote control with a single button press. And it’s the only device capable of streaming video to a PSP.

Sony puts one copy of its LocationFree client in the box (and bundles the $30 software with its VAIO notebooks), but pig-headedly insists that consumers buy another copy for streaming to each additional PC. But what really saps our enthusiasm for the LF-V30 is the absence of a smartphone client. For that, the Slingbox remains the only game in town (Monsoon Multimedia’s mobile client for their HAVA Gold, reviewed in our March issue, is still in beta.)

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 9, 2007: Sony has just confirmed to Maximum PC that they intend to drop the $30 license fee the LocationFree client and will make the software available for free on their eSupport website, possibly as early as the end of November. They're also working with a third-party software developer to create a mobile client for Windows Mobile 6.

Sony LocationFree TV LF-B20

Michael Brown — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:38:44 -0600

The LocationFree TV LF-B20 offers a number of improvements over Sony’s earlier video-streaming effort. A few of the new model’s features are superior to the Slingbox Pro’s, but this product is no match for Sling Media’s latest release.

Surprisingly, considering the source, the LF-B20’s two biggest shortcomings are its video quality and the convoluted process you must go through to set it up. The latter problem can be attributed to the LF-B20’s flexibility: It can operate as either a wireless client to a wireless router (meaning you don’t need to hard-wire it to your router) or a wireless 802.11a/b/g access point in its own right. But there’s just no excusing the inferior quality of the LF-B20’s streaming video.

There’s also no excuse for Sony’s continued expectation that consumers should pay $30 for each additional PC on which they wish to install the company’s LFA-PC2 player software. And despite the claim of “Windows Mobile” compatibility advertised on the LF-B20’s box, no such software was available at press time. (Third-party developer Access has announced, but not shipped, a $20 Pocket PC client.)

On the other hand, the LF-B20 boasts a few features we’d like to see on the Slingbox Pro: We dig the fact that we don’t necessarily have to hard-wire it to our router, of course, and we also like the infrared port that can learn commands from any IR remote. And Sony’s device has two IR emitter ports to the Slingbox’s one—although Sony provides only one IR blaster in the box. And if you want to watch TV on your PSP, Sony’s LocationFree TV products are your only choice. But without a built-in tuner, homebound and remote viewers have to watch the same channel.

Month Reviewed: February 2007
+ BROADBAND: Supports Sony’s PSP; can function as a wireless access point.
- DIAL-UP: Cables not included; each additional client costs extra; PDA and smartphone support not yet enabled.
Verdict: 7
URL: www.sony.com