 CNet reviews Sony PSP web browser
 CNet reviews Sony PSP web browser
A CNet review has recently highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the new official PSP web browser bundled with firmware v2.0.
Strengths-*The browser looks great, displaying crisp images and reproducing colors very accurately.-*Typing isn't quite the pain it could have been: Sony has augmented its standard cell phone-style input system with a few shortcuts, giving common strings such as http:// and .com their own special keys on the virtual keyboard. Furthermore, the PSP will remember every address you type, so you'll never have to tap in a long, complicated URL more than once.-*JavaScript works like a charm--I tested out several of the toolkit-type utilities on link.-*You're given the option to reshape the browser's display window, in much the same way that you can resize video clips during playback. This helps avoid the dreaded left-to-right scrollback while reading articles, though it usually garbles the page's layout in the process.-*You can easily save images from the Web to your Memory Stick Duo, and subsequently use them as wallpaper on the PSP's main menu; customizable wallpaper is another perk of the v2.0 firmware.-*This one's late breaking: the PSP Web browser supports podcasts, downloading the relevant MP3 files to your Memory Stick's Music folder.Weaknesses-*I'm on a reasonably fast connection at work, but I still had to wait a good 5 seconds before images started popping up on the pages I visited. Once the images began to load, my cursor would freeze in place until they were finished downloading. This sort of thing isn't a problem on a computer, where you can still read plain text and click links without images, but the PSP's small screen made the wait a bit more frustrating.-*There's no Flash support yet. A bit of a nitpick, sure, but for the time being, you'll have trouble navigating Flash-heavy sites.-*Pages that "prefer" Internet Explorer won't always work. For example, I tried to author this blog entry using my PSP but couldn't access our posting interface. In the end, this probably saved me a lot of tap-typing, but I can hardly reward my own laziness.
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Hopefully this will give PSP users enough information to decide whether the official PSP browser is incentive enough to upgrade their firmware version.* Those in Europe eagerly awaiting PSP - the decision won't be yours - your PSP will come preloaded with this browser. http://www.PSPHome.com/index.php?do=viewarticle&id=274 | 
