By 1) PSP Firmware v2.1 has been released! This is an update for v2.0, which was released about a month ago. This update is a waste of time for everyone and includes absolutely no changes that you will notice. Sony has released v2.1 because of the recent exploit that is allowing all v2.0 owners to downgrade their unit back to v1.5. By going back to v1.5, you will now be able to use homebrew applications and games. (NES, SNES, ect.) All this new update does it block the ability for you to downgrade back to v1.5. While installing it says “Security Fixes,” but there are no known security issues, therefore it is only locking up your unit. Sony’s main reason for this is that they do not want to be involved in any lawsuits for creating gaming devices that supports pirating games. All PSP owners DO NOT update your unit to v2.1 for any reason.
Related: Downgrade PSP v2.0 to v1.5
2) Sony announces a new Memory Stick called the M2. This new memory card is much smaller than the Memory Stick Duo Pro, which is currently used for the PSP. These new “M2” cards can store up to 32GB of files and has transfer speeds of 160MB/s. This new card will be competing with the new miniSD cards, which is also suppost to have high capasity storage features.
3) Hybrid’s don’t save money – Autoblog has posted an article about the costs and savings of purchasing a Hybrid Car. According to their calculations, in the long run it buying a hybrid won’t save you any money yet, unless gas prices increase a lot more. (Note: Skatter Tech has an exclusive on the new Lexus IS 250, which will be posted soon!)
Link: Autoblog
4) iPod Shuffle Engravings – The Apple Store is now offering free engravings on all iPod Shuffles. You can choose any text you would like on it, 40 characters max, and it will be engraved on the side of the Shuffle. Apple already offers this for standard iPods and iPod Nanos.
Link: iPod Shuffle | Get a FREE iPod Shuffle
5) Windows Vista, according to Microsoft’s website, should be able to fully boot within 2-3 seconds. It is currently unclear what they exactly mean, but they claim that with a new type of shutdown and startup feature you will be able to get to your desktop in 3 seconds. Also the specs of the machines that will be able to perform this is also unknown. Vista looks like a theme improvment, but there are not too many details on how much the performance and stability of the new OS will be.
Link: Windows Vista Boot Time | Windows Vista Home
Others:
Google Calandar 2 be launched soon – Digg
Opera Web Browser is now free – Opera
Skype v1.4 has been released – Skype
Mozilla Thunderbird v1.0.7 – Mozilla
New colored $10 bills for ’06 – CNN
