Yoshiko Hara

EE Times

(07/22/2005 9:03 AM EDT)

TOKYO — The new version of the PlayStation Portable operating system will support Internet browsing, transforming the game console into a multimedia entertainment player.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Friday (July 22) it will begin offering version 2 of the PSP operating system on July 27 in Japan and later outside Japan. Introduction to the European market is scheduled for September; the European model will also include the new operating system.

The new OS will support a browser compliant with HTML 4.01. The browser will not support flash functions. The PSP browser will be able to access the Internet in wireless hot spots using a wireless LAN. Internet access can be programmed into game software, which is expected to expand the number of PSP game titles.

Sony has shipped a total 5.07 million units as of July 20, 2.33 million units in Asia, including Japan, and 2.74 million units in North America. Along with the hardware sales, a total 1.12 million game disks have been shipped thus far. In addition to game disks, the number of audio/video disks are also growing, especially in the United States, where 4.3 million disks were shipped, including 1 million Spiderman game disks packaged with the game gear.

In August, Sony plans to expand the production capacity from the current 3 million disks monthly to 5 million disks per month.