Posted Jul 12th 2007 12:32PM by Tom Samiljan
Filed under: Audio/Video, Video Games, TV
Source: www.switched.com

Apple may have its iPhone, but Sony is doing its best to make the PlayStation Portable (PSP) a more compelling buy for lovers of all things portable entertainment. Yesterday, the company unveiled an updated version of its handheld gaming device, which is about 19 percent slimmer and a third lighter than the current model (about 3/4-inch thick and almost 1/2 pounds heavy).

Besides size and weight, the main improvements are longer battery life, more onboard memory, and the ability to play games, pictures, and movies on your TV (thanks to a video out slot).

Sure, pretty much every portable media player from the versatile Archos 704 to the user-friendly iPod already offer video out capabilities, but we still applaud Sony for adding these improvements to the new PSP. It’s another bone thrown to the numerous folks who bought into the Sony eco-system (and its proprietary UMD discs for movies) when they bought the PSP years ago (and let’s not forget that the PlayStation 2 is still the world’s best-selling game console.)

The new device’s lesser size and weight also help make it seem more like a fun portable, rather than a delicate, expensive toy. Add to that a raft of cool new games announced yesterday, including ‘Wipeout Pulse’ (the popular futuristic hovercraft racer returns!), ‘echochrome‘ (an intriguing 3-D scroller featuring stick figures and minimal graphics), and ‘SOCOM: Tactical Strike,’ and the PSP might just have a chance at keeping up with Nintendo’s more successful DS handheld.

For the hardcore fans, Sony will also release the Star Wars Battlefront PSP, a limited edition ceramic white PSP emblazoned with a Darth Vader silk screen, as well as a silver-colored Daxter PSP.