The Hindu Business Line : Play, Simply Play

A ROAR erupts from the crowd, the gaudy lights of the rock show are so real that you are transported to the concert. Only, the sound is too clear, too heady to be `live'. The pitch of the song rises — the lead guitarist begins his solo. You press a button, the volume increases by two notches, the better to hear the strumming with.

Ah, the bliss of watching `Iron Maiden' play on a lazy Sunday afternoon while I slouch on the sofa! The gadget, balanced precariously on my knees, is the Sony Play Station Portable (PSP).

The PSP is primarily a gaming device, with interesting additional features that tempted me to try them. You can play songs and videos; flip through pictures you took on your digicam or that you downloaded from your PC; and even log onto the WWW!

It is quite an all-in-one gadget: a digital music and video player, a gaming station and a flash drive, which can be used for storing information and photos. Its sleek body is highlighted by the 4.3-inch 16:9 LCD TFT (thin film transistor) screen with a 480 x 272 pixels resolution. Whatever the viewing angle, there is no loss of clarity, nor any glare on the screen.

The PSP's black, shiny face is balanced on both sides with a directional pad on the left and a similar keypad, with small diagrams of mathematical figures on the right, which are Sony's way of teaching school kids geometry.

The triangle, a circle, an X and a square are the `Enter' keys. A thumb stick that resembles a speaker also sits on the left.

This has been positioned badly, and is quite impossible to use without disconnecting some bone in your palm, so I would advise you not to bother. Above the device are two glass buttons that can be used as extraneous menu buttons, for example, to select the next song or the previous one in the collection.

The top of the PSP also sports an Infrared and a USB 2.0 port that you can use to connect to your PC or Mac. If you have a digicam, then that USB connector will be compatible.

The computer identifies the PSP as a storage device, hence you can exchange files between the gadget and your computer easily.

I copied some songs from my computer onto the device. The August 2005 v.2.0 firmware upgrade enables the PSP to play WAVs and AAC-encoded song files along with MP3s. If you own a portable music player, you will know how wonderful it is to have music while travelling.

One disadvantage of the device is that it reads only Sony's proprietary Universal Media Disc. Called UMDs, these MiniCD-like discs store up to 1.8 GB but are not a recordable storage format. The slot has been neatly positioned to open at the top. You slide the disc in and click it shut to hear, almost immediately, a tiny whirring noise indicating the disc is running.

I placed the Ridge Racer UMD into the slot. This car-racing game was quite similar to NFS, only with poorer looking cars. The game is enjoyable because it does not confine you ergonomically. The racing music is quite catchy and sends the adrenalin pumping. You can increase and decrease the volume using the Volume +/- buttons at the bottom row.

While taking a breather between tracks, you can go to the main menu by hitting the Home button. The World Tour Soccer UMD didn't interest me much, but for fans of the game, the graphics and the spontaneity of the commentator are impressive.

The device has three different backlight settings, which can be browsed by clicking on the `square' button.

The volume is adequate and, at maximum, envelops a small room. The PSP's image viewer offers a simple slideshow that opens most image file formats — JPEGs, TIFFs, PNGs, GIFs, and BMPs. You can also zoom in to the pictures (the device re-focuses pretty fast) and rotate them too. You can also make the one you desire your wallpaper.

The Lithium-Ion battery is quite long-lasting and can be powered with the adaptor provided. The DC-in 5V connector slot has been hidden elegantly in a corner of the PSP. Once it is charged, a small LED turns from red to green.

To turn the PSP on, slide the switch labelled `Power' forwards, then let it slip back. The switch doubles as a `Hold' while playing music or a video.

If you feel the need to check your e-mail while waiting at the airport, then whip out the PSP and log on to the Internet. The PSP has built-in Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) and the set-up procedure is simple, requiring only few inputs.

The device allows you to save multiple wireless configurations so that you can connect from multiple locations without needing to repeat the setup each time.

Once you're Wi-Fi enabled, you can access the Web using the PSP's onboard browser. The soft-keyboard is quite tricky to use, and could irritate the user in emergencies. This application supports tabbed browsing, Javascript, and CSS, though Flash support is still lacking. With Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) connectivity, you can also play online games by connecting directly to the Sony PSP server. For this, you need to register on the Web site.

This slick gadget is a must-buy for gamers. New and upcoming games are Exit by UbiSoft, Fifa Street 2 and Fight Night Round 3 by Electronic Arts.

In March, get ready to take on 007: From Russia with Love. Music UMDs and movies such as Spiderman 2 are also available at Sony stores. This month, MGM's The Pink Panther will be available, and in February, Fox will release the wacky comedy `There's Something about Mary' in UMD.

At Rs 19,900, the PSP makes a great gaming device and an efficient PMP (portable mediaplayer) for youngsters. With it, you will have access to entertainment right in your (be warned — bag/jacket, not pant/shirt) pocket.

preethij@thehindu.co.in

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