Sony has launched a video portal with content preformatted for PSP called “p-tv.” No, there is no complete collection of Beat Takeshi’s Castle on it; apparently that’s still what BitTorrent and the 3G Converter tool are for.
There is apparently a requirement to download from the site directly to the PSP via a USB cable, bypassing the interim PC in an attempt to preclude piracy. Are there areas on the Memory Stick that can be placed off limits to being read as a normal storage device? Does the user get to set that partition, or is it possible to have some proprietary app arbitrarily get all Manifest Destiny on your MemStick and land grab the bulk of space there?
There is apparently a requirement to download from the site directly to the PSP via a USB cable, bypassing the interim PC in an attempt to preclude piracy. Are there areas on the Memory Stick that can be placed off limits to being read as a normal storage device? Does the user get to set that partition, or is it possible to have some proprietary app arbitrarily get all Manifest Destiny on your MemStick and land grab the bulk of space there?
Heh. Well I'm of mixed minds. My first reaction was to think "Leave it to Bwana to think that Sony can do no right and look for the paranoid interpretation." My second reaction was to think "What a terrible article - Most broadband connections aren't that much faster than 802.11b anyway." Then I realized they were quoting somebody and I don't know what to think. This whole explanation doesn't make a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteItem the first - I suspect most usage of this will be direct PSP download. I wonder if Sony has numbers about how Wipeout content is downloaded?
Item the second - the downloads are not going to be 1 Gig files - that's ridiculous. The whole point of the new codec is making smaller files. Remember that Sony ships PSP with a 32Meg Memory Stick. Files will likely be at most a couple of hundred meg.
Item the third - Memory Sticks support MagicGate so I suspect that's what will prevent you grabbing the file back off the Memory Stick. To the extent that MagicGate really works of course, but all DRM is just handwaving.
Item the fourth - I'll be COMPLETELY DUMBFOUNDED if the PSP doesn't let you delete the video from the device's own OS screens - you can manage all other files on the stick and you can certainly delete video with the 1.5 firmware. Hysteria about "Maybe Sony is going to take over my Memory Stick and never give it back" is crazy. Keep in mind that the PSP doesn't really lose any functionality if you never connect it to a PC. The one exception to date was you couldn't get media onto the stick without one - either a USB connection or a card reader. This version of the OS closes that loop.
Does anyone know when the 2.0 rev is supposed to be released in the states? I've been mildly reluctant to download the Japanese ver.
ReplyDeleteAugust 12.
ReplyDeleteI do not intend to bash Sony at every turn; I am just baffled why they would want to prevent easy access to material that they are already giving away for free.
ReplyDelete