PSP 1.5?

[bapenguin]

The Digitimes (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060220PR205.html) is reporting that Sony is planning on releasing a version of the PSP with 8 Gb of NAND flash ram.

According to market sources, Sony plans to release a version of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) using NAND flash from Samsung Electronics in the second half of this year.

The PSP will feature 8GB of NAND flash, the sources stated.

Although recent reports stated that Sony would opt not to use NAND flash in the next version of its PSP, and would instead use a microdrive, the sources indicated that Sony was stalling to negotiate better pricing from Samsung.
This is tricky because NAND memory is measured in Giga-bits, not bytes. So technically this would only be 1 GB of memory. Not exactly usable for much media storage or anything.

[Dr Quincy]

The Digitimes (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060220PR205.html) is reporting that Sony is planning on releasing a version of the PSP with 8 Gb of NAND flash ram. This is tricky because NAND memory is measured in Giga-bits, not bytes. So technically this would only be 1 GB of memory. Not exactly usable for much media storage or anything.

Has it been confirmed that the stated capacities are in Giga-bits and not bytes? A difference of 7 gigabytes is fairly substantial.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Being able to at least save your game with onboard memory would be great.

[Klade]

Would this be used to house any type of non volitile information? Or would this simply be used to store the game data from the disk so it wouldn't have to spin as much?

And I think it must by gigbits since 8 normal gigs would have to cost half as much again as the handheld itself, even assuming they get a big discount.

[Xaerin]

Has it been confirmed that the stated capacities are in Giga-bits and not bytes? A difference of 7 gigabytes is fairly substantial.

The quote shows the use of the big B on GB which would suggest bytes. Unless it's another Sony "typo" :rolleyes: Hereafter to be known as a Hypo.

[bone_matrix]

See, they need to pull a Nintendo. If they were to redesign the system, then add memory into the system, then release it cheaper, people would care. Right now I sorta feel screwed, especially because I only got a POS 32 MB card with my PSP.

[crashedout]

I have been waiting for an update to the psp to compete more with ipods. This could be it. Throw in a real browser and ebook reader and you have all the bases covered.

[Roc Ingersol]

Would this be used to house any type of non volitile information? Or would this simply be used to store the game data from the disk so it wouldn't have to spin as much?
Yeah, that's what NAND flash is for. Non volatile data storage.
I'd imagine: movies, music, photos, saves, downloadable games, etc. I wouldn't even be surprised if it were 8 GBytes. Sony does seem to be intent on competing with the video ipod.

Flash memory is actually bad for caching data, as it has a comparatively short rewrite lifespan.

[ChaosDent]

8GB of internal memory would be a very big step in making the PSP an attractive video alternative to the iPod. Combine this with decent TV out and a wave of good games and I'd be very interested.

[Neverborne]

8GB of internal memory would be a very big step in making the PSP an attractive video alternative to the iPod. Combine this with decent TV out and a wave of good games and I'd be very interested.

Emphasis on the wave of good games.

[lost]

Seems a little early to be pulling out a second version. Aren't a lot of the fairly early adopters going to feel a bit done?

[Lord Dongkey]

Don't early adopters always get just a wee bit screwed? Buggy hardware, less content, buggy software, newer better versions come out cheaper later... etc?

[Kamalot]

Gawd, I hope they get the PSP 1.5 right. It needs a screen that does not ghost. It needs better battery life. It needs faster loading times. It needs a better analog nub. It needs buttons that aren't misaligned.

Having said all that, the hardware is plenty powerful. What it needs above all is excellent games for the system. Adding a few gigs to play some music won't make people give up their iPod Nano. It won't make anyone who has the first PSP happy. Most of all, it sure as hell won't fix the sorry-ass GAME situation.

If the biggest problem is the lack of compelling software, throwing more hardware at the problem won't fix anything.

[PacerDawn]

IMHO, that is deceptive business practice. I checked out the Samsung site and all references to NAND memory are in giga-bit. They describe 8Gb as "1G x 8 bit NAND Flash Memory", so it's basically just 1 gigabyte. The two (GB and Gb) are close enough that they someone would not immediately notice a difference, which is exactly what Samsung is hoping. On the site they do spell out the "bit" (so "8 G-bit") but that is still way too confusing to the average consumer.

This kind of thing happens way too often and really needs to be cracked down on.

[ChaosDent]

Samsung is selling their flash RAM to manufacturers, like Apple, almost all of whom describe their devices in Gigabytes. They are not advertising "G-bit" memory to consumers.

[bapenguin]

Here's the article (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/c0602/29c02/29c02.asp&articleid=29614&guid=4AAC860C035F47C0AEDC4509265DA7F0) I used as reference as well. It's definitely Giga-bit not byte. Thats a misprint by the article linked.

It should be noted that right now 16Gb chips are the max. Granted you can couple them together. But you'd need 4 16Gb chips at about $54 a chip to get the 8 GB claimed in the article.

[bgivnin]

Don't early adopters always get just a wee bit screwed? Buggy hardware, less content, buggy software, newer better versions come out cheaper later... etc?

Isn't this kinda how all new hardware works for video games and especially PC hardware? I mean, the DS has been out for a year and I waited until Thanksgiving to get one when Mario Kart came out. What happens 2 months later? DS Lite announced.

I got a PSP for my birthday last may and what happens almost a year later? New hardware rev.

It's just the state of the industry. Something comes out, then a few months later, a 'version 2' comes out that's better for whatever reason, plus it's cheaper/easier/quicker/etc to make.

[UnderHero5]

It's just the state of the industry. Something comes out, then a few months later, a 'version 2' comes out that's better for whatever reason, plus it's cheaper/easier/quicker/etc to make.

If they add that much flash memory to it, you damn well better believe it ISN'T going to be CHEAPER!

I personally think this is more of a rumor. I don't see Sony making the PSP even more expensive than it already is. Plus it would put a dent in their Memory Stick sales.

[Dag-Sabot]

Im desperate for any news that will convince me to dust off my psp, other than to ship it off to someone who would give me a measly 50 clams for it.

[rein]

Im desperate for any news that will convince me to dust off my psp, other than to ship it off to someone who would give me a measly 50 clams for it.

That kind of talk is getting old. The PSP has games now. Just upgrade your firmware to 1.5 and play some of them.

[miah]

The fact that the default memory stick doesn't have enough space to download all of the wipeout tracks annoys me greatly. The other thing that really annoys me is sony's memory stick, because ya, I want to go out and buy more portable memory formats that are usable by only one piece of hardware that I own.. It would be awesome if I could just plug in one of the several usb flash sticks that I've got.. Greed is such a great thing for companies, release a product and then force everybody to buy proprietary versions of standard equipment.

[Kamalot]

The other thing that really annoys me is sony's memory stick, because ya, I want to go out and buy more portable memory formats that are usable by only one piece of hardware that I own..

Silly Goose!

The idea is that you go out and buy a Sony camera, a Sony MP3 player, a Sony laptop and a Sony diswasher so you can transfer your memory stick between them.

Forget about buying your products based on quality, performance, features or price; just look for the memory Stick logo on the box.

[Kamalot]

I don't see Sony making the PSP even more expensive than it already is.

Oh Yes They Would...

http://kamalot.blogspot.com/2005/10/psp-in-pickle.html

It has recently been announced that Sony will be promoting a PSP bundle entitled, the PSP Giga Pack. The new promotion is priced even higher than the standard PSP price at $299 and includes the 2.0 firmware update

[Major Dan]

Gawd, I hope they get the PSP 1.5 right. It needs a screen that does not ghost. It needs better battery life. It needs faster loading times. It needs a better analog nub. It needs buttons that aren't misaligned.

Having said all that, the hardware is plenty powerful. What it needs above all is excellent games for the system. Adding a few gigs to play some music won't make people give up their iPod Nano. It won't make anyone who has the first PSP happy. Most of all, it sure as hell won't fix the sorry-ass GAME situation.

If the biggest problem is the lack of compelling software, throwing more hardware at the problem won't fix anything.

MORE GAMES! MORE GAMES! Not more hardware! :( :mad: :(

I agree by the way.

[Snipee]

I enjoyed my PSP for the amount of time I had kept it. I owned it for about 2 weeks before I decided to go ahead and resell it back to gamestop...it bored me...along with my DS but...Im mainly a pc, console guy anyways.

[crackeriah]

Gawd, I hope they get the PSP 1.5 right. It needs a screen that does not ghost. It needs better battery life. It needs faster loading times. It needs a better analog nub. It needs buttons that aren't misaligned.

Amen. I think the PSP has huge potential, but the 1.0 hardware just sucked (for all the above reasons). I sold mine back, and I'm annoyed by the $100 loss I took...but I would consider getting another in the future if they can fix those problems and sell for under $200.

[TrackZero]

This is tricky because NAND memory is measured in Giga-bits, not bytes. So technically this would only be 1 GB of memory. Not exactly usable for much media storage or anything.

I'm sure someone already pointed this out bap. But if it's bits, then you mean "Gb", not "GB". ;)

[BloodPack]

Wow I knew they were gonna do this right from the start. I told my friends not to get it because in 6 months to a year they are gonna re-release it with more memory...dam Sony bastards had this idea from the start, instead of just making the original product superior.

[Dag-Sabot]

That kind of talk is getting old. The PSP has games now. Just upgrade your firmware to 1.5 and play some of them.
Oh sorry its the first time i said anything about it. I guess im not the only one thats a bit underwhelmed, and suckered now that theres a new one coming out.

[bobbler]

I'm gonna have to say this story is a bunch of nonsense.

The flash deal Sony and Samsung made was for 4-8gbit flash chips (512-1gb per chip), which are for their Mp3 players... the deal is on the rocks right now because Sony wants lower prices on the NAND, because it can get lower prices per gbyte by going with an HDD -- there has been mention of a flood of NAND flash on the market this year and prices have fallen already because of it. The Sony/Samsung flash deal might not even go through (it was quite a substantial order too, about 1/5 of Samsungs total NAND production capacity... hence the market flood/price drops if the deal doesn't go through).

Digitimes is running with a rumor with little actual information to back it up.