Filed under: Cellphones

We hate to see a nifty technology like FOTA (firmware over-the-air) getting such a bad rap early on in the game, but in the same breath, our mommies always told us “measure twice, cut once” — and we think that’s an imminently appropriate adage in the aftermath of Sprint’s recent attempt to re-up Fusics already in the field. It seems the firmware update, pushed just a couple days ago to customers’ handsets, quickly and efficiently bricked each and every one of them. The whole situation is a full order of magnitude more frightening than Nokia’s similar experience with the E70, seeing how Nokia’s update was optional and at least required the user to manually perform the upgrade. Naturally, Sprint’s pulled the bogus firmware and is offering a free replacement to affected customers, but it’s still a shame that they’ve cost Fusic owners a trip to the Sprint Store.

 

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Peripherals

If you’re still rocking a digital camera older than the recently unveiled Nikon D80 or lineup of Canons, for instance, the lack of SDHC support may have you a bit down on your luck. Apparently Casio and Pentax aren’t wasting any time in making sure their customers are kept happy, as both companies have released firmware updates for a few popular shooters that sport SD slots. Pentax Japan is hooking up the *ist DL, *ist DL2, *ist DS, *ist DS2, and K100D (K110D to soon follow) with SDHC support, while Casio is upping the ante on its EX-S500, EX-Z600, and EX-Z850. So if you happen to own one of these select models, and you can’t resist the urge to drop some coin on those pricey (albeit spacious and speedy) SDHC cards, be sure to do your duty and treat that digicam to its respective upgrade first. While these may be the first few cameras in which SD 2.0 support is granted retroactively, we don’t imagine the list will stop here — so, dear camera manufacturers, what’s the holdup anyway?

Read - Pentax Firmware Updates
Read - Casio EX-S500 Firmware Update
Read - Casio EX-Z600 Firmware Update
Read - Casio EX-Z850 Firmware Update

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

You wouldn’t necessarily think that San Diego’s annual Comic Con would be a hotbed of videogame news, but this year’s event proved different, as Sony revealed a number of exciting future plans for the PSP. At a seminar called PSP University (man, we sure wish we could have spent our college years at that institution), company execs confirmed that the portable console will indeed work as a remote for the PS3, and that the upcoming firmware update will support RSS video feeds for the built-in web browser. Furthermore, Sony is apparently in talks with wireless providers to provide more Nintendo DS/Wayport-like hotspots for online gaming, and is also looking at ways to bring downloadable movies to PSP owners — which sounds to us like another foot in the grave for the almost-dead UMD. Not all the news here is good, however, as those folks expecting a Sony-branded keyboard for their console will likely be in for a disappointment; in fact, the company has no plans whatsoever to improve text entry on the PSP at all. Other new info centered around games and demos, and since that’s not really our bag, we’ll leave those details to other fine publications like Joystiq and PSP Fanboy.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

If you shelled out over $1,000 for Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player only to discover that the picture quality wasn't as impressive as you'd expected, fear not: it looks like a faulty-but-fixable chip may be responsible for the sub-par video. After noticing a "softness" in each of the titles he viewed with the P1000 -- especially compared to the performance of Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player -- Perfect Vision editor Scott Wilkinson initiated a chain of events that has culminated with Samsung VP Jim Sanduski confirming that there is indeed a hardware problem with the initial rollout. Apparently, the machines have been leaving the factory with the Genesis scaler chip's noise-reduction circuit enabled, and after comparing a repaired unit to one out of the box, Wilkinson agrees that the fix does indeed result in a sharper picture. Future P1000's will be shipping with noise-reduction disabled, and luckily for current owners, Samsung will be releasing a firmware update that you can download, burn to disc, and pop into your player. So the lesson we've learned here is: early-adopters beware, because even though this problem has a relatively easy solution, next time you may not be so lucky.

[Via HDBeat]

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The PSP 1.50 to 1.00 downgrader we mentioned the other day has been released. The usual precautions apply, since you can brick your PSP whenever you write to your PSP firmware.

1. Find someone with a 1.0 PSP and get them to install the downhelper program from the downdater download.
2. Copy the downhelper100 folder to /PSP/GAME/ and start the program.
3. It will dump your flash and your ipl to the memory stick. After finished, the program will exit.
4. Send the folder created at the root of your memory stick called “DOWNDATER” to someone with 1.50 to allow them to downgrade using the Easy downgrader app.

You probably shouldn’t attempt this unless you know what you’re doing and have a good reason for going down to 1.0. – Jason Chen

1.50 to 1.00 Easy Downgrader Released! [QJ.net]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

So if you made the “mistake” of upgrading your PSP to firmware version 2.5 or 2.6 just to find out that your precious homebrew would no longer load, it seems you now have a questionably-legal way to downgrade back to version 1.5 and all the emulation fun that goes along with it. Several forums dedicated to Sony’s portable console are reporting that hackers using the handles Dark_Alex and Hitchhikr have succeeded in creating a workaround that exploits files from the 1.5 updater to overwrite the current firmware, although owners of so-called “TA-082″ PSPs are warned not to attempt the procedure unless they fancy a bricked device. Furthermore, since you’re required to either download the necessary 1.5 swag or get it from a friend, you’re probably breaking some anti-piracy laws here, so of course we can’t put our stamp of approval on this hack. That’s all for now, but the battle between Sony and the homebrew community is far from over, so keep your eyes peeled for the next installment in this exciting saga.

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Filed under: Gaming

So we've been fooling around with our Xbox for the last few days since we got the big spring '06 360 update, and we haven't really noticed any issues; everything has been downright snappy, and the new interfaces and options have been rather useful. But it might appear not everyone got off so luckily. According to MaxConsole and Xbox 360 Fanboy, a number of users are experiencing major issues with their 360, including problems with saving, freezing, skipping, or long load times in NHL 2k6, GRAW, Burnout, Half Life 2, and Oblivion -- but it sounds like the noise has died down a little. So now that we've had a little more time to really see what's up, what say you, 360 users? Any issues worth mentioning that seem out of the ordinary?

[Via MaxConsole]

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Filed under: Portable Audio

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Filed under: Gaming

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Filed under: Laptops

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Storage

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Portable Audio

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Filed under: Handsets, Software, Palm, Windows Mobile

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Filed under: Gaming

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Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA, Misc

We hate to see a nifty technology like FOTA (firmware over-the-air) getting such a bad rap early on in the game, but in the same breath, our mommies always told us “measure twice, cut once” — and we think that’s an eminently appropriate adage in the aftermath of Sprint’s recent attempt to re-up Fusics already in the field. It seems the firmware update, pushed just a couple days ago to customers’ handsets, quickly and efficiently bricked each and every one of them. The whole situation is a full order of magnitude more frightening than Nokia’s similar experience with the E70, seeing how Nokia’s update was optional and at least required the user to manually perform the upgrade. Naturally, Sprint’s pulled the bogus firmware and is offering a free replacement to affected customers, but it’s still a shame that they’ve cost Fusic owners a trip to the Sprint Store.

 

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