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Over on Dark AleX's website, it seems we're about to give a fond farewell to the kernel that's been a part of the homebrew scene for the longest time: the 1.50 kernel.

Alek, one of the admins of dark-alex.org, posted a recent entry detailing the means by which one could adapt what they know into the 3.xx kernel era. In his entry, he writes,

Due to the almost sure probability to abandon 1.50 kernel on future releases 'cause of better compatibility and security on 3.xx/4.xx, some new devs were asking me how to port their knowledges to 3.xx kernel, and of course also their own apps.

He advises them to visit this particular ps2dev entry by CpuWhiz (external link) in the hopes of porting what they've already done to 3.xx functionality. Furthermore, he explains,

But anyway, does this change to superior kernels is necessary? Indeed it is. It allows a greater range of thinks (sic) that can be done, plus solving tons of problems on 1.5 kernels. Therefore, having the oportunity (sic) to use this ones with the actual cfws, why not to do so? Open to debate.

It's an exciting time for the homebrew scene, seeing as there's new technology coming out and people are learning to adapt to the new ways of doing things. While most people will certainly miss what can be called "the good old days," we can certainly look forward to what homebrewers have in store for us using the newer kernels.

[Via QJ]

With the code for Sony's official PlayStation Portable Firmware 4.0 already decrypted, it's only a matter of time before the next custom firmware finds its way into the community. To prove this point, homebrew developer Mathieulh recently revealed some of the new features that will be added into the upcoming Custom Firmware 4.00 that Dark AleX and team M33 are already working on.

One of the new features include an in-XMB recovery mode, which will allow users to change their settings straight from the PSP's main menu screen. This is definitely beats rebooting your PSP and entering recovery mode the normal way.

The other feature is the inclusion of savestate support for UMD games. Users will now be able to save their progress at any given time during gameplay and be able to load their game at that point after restarting. It has not yet been confirmed if the savestate feature will be integrated directly into the firmware or will be released as a separate plugin.

Sony ushered in the next update to the PlayStation Portable, and if you haven't already checked, you'd find that you've been prompted to update to the spanking brand new PSP firmware 4.00. Now while it's a major step up in revision number, the update seems a little too conservative.

Aside from getting a new Internet search feature, media buffs on the PSP will also get the option of slowing down or speeding up playback of movies. According to the official changelog, you'll be able to do so by using the up and down buttons on the D-pad.

[Via QJ]

Well, you should all know I'm a big fan of Sony's ingenuity. Their latest cool product, the Rolly, a robotic music player, is now available in the U.S.

I now have a site dedicated to the Rolly, with a Rolly Blog and Rolly Forums. If you have a Rolly, or are curious about it, check it out at MyRolly.net!

Best,

-Auri

Ok, now is what most of you have been waiting for, as well as the M33 team to once again come out with their cfw, the PSP FW 4.00. So thats the good news, the bad news is that the only known update to come in 4.00 is the Google search embedded directly in the XMB. Quite depressing huh, for a X.00 FW to have this upgrade, anyway lets hope their will be more things to look forward to =) (example will be this one)

Now, for the not so juicy details:

What can we expect from FW 4.00? According to Lempel, the upgrade will have a new Google Internet Search feature, accessible straight from the XMB. It uses Google's algorithms so it will return the exact same results as www.google.com.

The feature returns a search history recall of 20 items. Of course, you'll need to be connected to the Internet via a wireless access point or Wi-Fi hotspot before you can actually Google something.

Another feature inlcuded in Firmware 4.00 is the ability to speed up or slow down the playback speed of videos stored on the unit's Memory Stick. All you need to do for this is to press up or down while playing the video.

The release date is not set yet, at least not to the public, so just hang on with your current firmwares for the moment until Dark_AleX and group brings us 4.00 M33.

Animefreak345, homebrew developer, has again released PS-CoverFLow 3.0 with many features. Users can now expect some new visual elements such as a visualizer and progress bar. The option to customize the colors in the PS-Coverflow user interface is now finally available as well.





New features:

GRAPHICS
- changed a bit
-cleaned up side menu some
-Visualizer
-progress bar
-customizable config file that can customize just about everything that has a color to it.
-or use internal theme/config generater under settings
-battery percent instead of bar
-several psp style system messages have been added. makes it look cool.
CODE
- recoded it all and compacted it =]
--faster loading speeds for everything!!!
--almost 3000 total lines of code
MUSIC
-CoverFLow slightly improved
-music browser has directory support
-SMART next/previous song switcher (music browser)
-supports /MUSIC folder and /PSP/MUSIC folders
-ID3 support under music browser now, appears only while mp3 playing.
-timer and song time
-visalizer
-progress bar
-if you press select under the coverflow media player switches music info modes (its pretty cool)
-shuffle mode can be activated by square and play the next song with r (not in the coverflow player mode)

Photo
-its finally implemented.
-if image too large it will tell you ( so use resize to 480*272 mode, press triangle.)
-if image displayed press select to exit the image

FILE BROWSER
-with music and photo support.
-launch lua files
-will add launching of pbp,iso,psx soon.

USB
-added that mode
-mem stick, UMD, flash1-3
-if no umd switches to memstick
-flash support disable. (dont want you bricking ;p) will enable soon for you.

SETTINGS
-system info
--displays your psp information
-theme/config generator, customize and make themes.

And, what is due for the future:

-save themes/config as a save data
-launch pbp, iso, psx
-improve coverflow
-improve visualizer
-improve media player
-improve more stuff
-if you have wifi you can download album art
-game support
-internet browser

Installation:

Copy all contents of the .rar archive into the ms_root. the game has to be in ms0:/PSP/GAME or else it will not work properly.

IMPORTANT: you must have at least on image in ms0:/PICTURE/covers/ folder to run the coverflow or else it will not work.
and you must have your music under ms0:/MUSIC

Hi all,
pslim200 here, there is now a new download page for PSP Blog. Currently it is hosted on Freewebs. Not all downloads have been linked so do be patient with us.
Link:
http://www.freewebs.com/pslim200

Enjoy!

View comments to check status of freewebs download section

The latest release by Red_Squirrel, Alternative VSHMenu v5.0 now has additional support for CFW 3.95 GEN. So for those who have already upgraded to CFW 3.95 GEN will now have an additional utility to add to their PSP.

Background info:
It is an Alternative VSHMenù that has ALL same functions of the M33 VshMenù and other utilities such as to power off and to sleep the console, to activate and to disactivate M33 VshMenù from dashboard or to make screenshot of XMB!

Features
v5.0

CF 3.90M33
-Possibility to hide the MAC address in System Information page (like CF 3.93/3.95GEN option!)
-Now PSP will be rebooted if you change CXMB, MAC or M33 VSHMenù options (to enable the changes!).

CF 3.95GEN
-Added Hide MAC Address option.
-Changed "M33 NET UPD." line in "NETWORK UPD.".
-Added GEN Updater under NETWORK UPDATE option.
-Changed "M33 VshMenu" line in "SELECT KEY ".
-Added VSH Recovery under SELECT KEY option.

BOTH
-Possibility to enable/disable CXMB plugin directly from the VSHMenù (read the CXMB installation in CXMB_readme.txt to know how it works)
-Now config file will be saved in flash1, so if you decide to flash the A.Vshmenù, Memory Stick will not be required!
-Added a Slim Flasher
-Because of lack of time, language translations will be released in next update.

The ongoing online petition for Assassin's Creed for Ubisoft to bring it to the PSP has exceeded the 20,000 mark and ongoing(currently at 22,763). Many would like for Ubisoft to bring this superb game to the PSP as Ubisoft is thinking of porting it to the Nintendo DS. If you're one of those who have not signed the Online Petition why not sign it now?
Sign Petition for Assassin's Creed for the PSP

The petition:

To: Ubisoft

We, PSP ( Playstation Portable ) owners would like Ubisoft to release their immensely popular new IP; Assassin's Creed on the PSP.

Considering the success that Assassin's Creed has seen on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, we feel it is a slap in the face for PlayStation Portable fans to see the Nintendo DS getting Assassin's Creed in early 2008. If this is the kind of treatment Ubisoft plans to show its loyal PSP fans in the future, than i for one will go elsewhere for my gaming needs. Hopefully Ubisoft follows in Capcom's footsteps and realizes that its fans are important. Not only is Assassin's Creed possible on the PSP but it will be a great success as a portable game. Furthermore, the PSP has the processing power to recreate the Assassin's Creed universe in all of its glory. Considering all of the assets are already in place to be used, this is an opportunity for Ubisoft to demonstrate what a great company they are. That they too care for their fans. So please, bring Assassin's Creed to the PSP.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned