Wednesday 26 January 2005

Connect Four

The European release of Sony PSP will be supported by a new download service. The PlayStation-branded download platform will initially be used as a marketing tool to offer PSP users free additional game levels and upgrades. Music and movies will follow. I'm wondering if the service will be a retooled Connect? Connect has yet to emerge from the shadow of iTMS and iPod. The latter has displaced the Walkman and forced Sony to repackage existing hardware and software (VAIO Pocket Music Player) to very limited success.

Universal Media Disc (UMD) leads the HDD and Memory Stick Duo technological triumvirate. Whether or not consumers have an appetite for yet another optical format remains to be seen.

Sony has already confirmed that a browser, email client, word processor and spreadsheet update is in development for PSP. These applications were withheld from last month's Japanese release and may debut with the US and European launch. The XMB GUI looks intuitive and owes a stylistic debt to Mac OS X Aqua.



Whilst Apple and Sony are commercial competitors an alliance has been forged concerning high-definition DVD. Following the enigmatic appearance of Sony President Kunitake Ando, at Macworld, industry observers speculate that there maybe more going on than meets the eye!

After an exhaustive search on various forums, I've decided to order Sony's small wonder (it can serve as an external USB HDD/portable media centre and automounts on Mac OS X). And, as a fan of Capcom, I'm eager for a slice of Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (incorporating characters from Darkstalkers and Vampire Savior arcade franchises).

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