Internet Radio Meets PSP's New Firmware Update
Additional players land on the PSP and the firmware moves up a tick.
Published: March 19, 2008
Sony has released 20 additional internet radio players for its newly launched Internet Radio feature on the PlayStation Portable. That's 20 new stations to listen to while you're on the bus, train, or airplane. Now those desperately needing genres such as J-Pop, British, and Classical can be satisfied that Sony does listen.
Of course, in all the hubbub of internet radio, they also released their firmware update, version 3.93, which will expand support for PlayStation Network titles.
So why all the updates? It's simple: PSP owners love to listen to music. At least according to Sony they do. By their estimates, some 50% are using the device for music, which doesn't seem so out of line. It's no secret that PSPs are selling like hotcakes in both the East and West while software sales are still nowhere near what they should be. So owners must be using them for something. One could say movie watching but UMD sales haven't exactly been stellar either.
To satisfy that demand, Sony decided to include the Internet Radio feature back in December 2007, which streamed some 22,000 stations from AOL's SHOUTcast Radio and iceast.org's iceast at launch. Since then they've been updating the little machine that can do it all with new stations, just to satisfy that itch some sectors of the internet might have for music that can't be found anywhere else. That's fine by me, as it adds more features to a machine that is one of the best handhelds ever invented.
Of course, in all the hubbub of internet radio, they also released their firmware update, version 3.93, which will expand support for PlayStation Network titles.
So why all the updates? It's simple: PSP owners love to listen to music. At least according to Sony they do. By their estimates, some 50% are using the device for music, which doesn't seem so out of line. It's no secret that PSPs are selling like hotcakes in both the East and West while software sales are still nowhere near what they should be. So owners must be using them for something. One could say movie watching but UMD sales haven't exactly been stellar either.
To satisfy that demand, Sony decided to include the Internet Radio feature back in December 2007, which streamed some 22,000 stations from AOL's SHOUTcast Radio and iceast.org's iceast at launch. Since then they've been updating the little machine that can do it all with new stations, just to satisfy that itch some sectors of the internet might have for music that can't be found anywhere else. That's fine by me, as it adds more features to a machine that is one of the best handhelds ever invented.