PlayStation Portable

MacDailyNews reported Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today that the first week sales of the PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system generated more than $150 million at North American retailers, outpacing the launch week sales for any other product in the space. Additionally, demand drove the sell through of over 500,000 PSP Value Packs in the first two days alone

PostGazette described several "hacks", but none of them involve modifying the hardware or installing unlicensed software on the PSP (which would void your warranty), though the last two require that you install software on your PC.

• Web Browser - The PSP comes with a built-in Wi-Fi antenna that lets you to play games with other PSP users nearby. It also connects to the Internet but there's not much you can do with that connection -- the gadget has no built-in e-mail program or Web browser. However, the game "Wipeout Pure" contains a rudimentary Web browser. It's only there to access a single page, containing game updates, so to gain access to the wider Web a bit of trickery is required. You need to be close to a Wi-Fi hotspot for this to work....
• Watch Your Movies - The PSP can play movies from a Memory Stick, but only in the MPEG-4 format, which is used by some digital cameras. Here's how to convert your movies and get them on to the device. You'll need a USB A to mini-B cable, available at electronics stores for around $20. For a 90-minute movie, you will probably need a 512-megabyte Memory Stick...
• Read e-books - One day, you're going to be tired of all those games. Classics of world literature to the rescue! Getting e-books on the PSP is quite a process because the device doesn't read text files or PDFs. Here's how to get around that....

SlashDot said "Volksport has created a new script that allows PSP owners to access IRC from the PSP. The script requires the use of the Wipeout Pure Web browser hack in order to get the PSP online. Once that is done, all you have to do is access this Web page (as the script is server side), and you will be able to chat on the official PSPIRC project IRC channel. Users are currently limited to the PSPIRC chatroom. The script also features virtual PSP keyboard support."

CnnMoney said Other "hacks" include a way to transfer TV shows recorded by the TiVo digital video recorder to the PSP, a program for reading ebooks and a viewer for comics downloaded from the Internet. Much of the new PSP functionality comes from using the Web browser built into the racing game "Wipeout Pure," which was meant to go to a Sony site. By changing some of the PSP's network settings, the browser can be pointed to an Internet portal. A number of people have already set up such portals, formatted to fit in the PSP's screen and offering links and a place to enter Web addresses. The technology blog Engadget has rounded up a number of those links.