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Gps On Sony's Psp


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Being a bit of a gadget freak (much to the annoyance of the 'Kate' part of 'Geo-Kate'!), and I'm sure some of you on here are too, Sony's plan to release a GPS module on the PSP comes as great news to me!

 

Since getting a PSP last year, I have been wondering why on earth Sony has't done something like it already. It seems such an obvious marriage.

 

The PSP has far greater processor power and memory than any GPS unit I can think of. great for fast route calculation and map drawing. The UMD discs the machine uses store up to 1.8GB of data, so think of the quality of maps that could be installed. It has an extremely good rechargable battery life, and a lovely large clear display! possibly the memory stick could be used for saving waypoints, tracks, routes or even cache details.

 

I don't know when the module will be available, nor do I know what kind or maps will be availiabe. I'm thinking they will just be road maps, at least to start off with.

 

This is one accessory I will be watching closely over the coming months... :unsure:

Edited by Geo-Kate
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This is one accessory I will be watching closely over the coming months... :unsure:

Me too, me too. The only thing that concerns me is Sony's attitude to homebrew (i.e. coded by someone other than Sony) software. I understand their position, which stems partly from the fact that the PSP is not designed for this sort of thing, and partly because it enabled software piracy, but the simple fact is that if it's not Sony-made, then Sony will actively try and stop it working on the PSP.

 

This relates to the GPS because ultimately, what form the "GPS Software" will take is up to them. If they decide to release an in-car navigation suite for North America and nothing else, then it's tough tits for us in Europe. If they decide it's not worth the money to release software suitable for hiking/geocaching, well then it's tough again, and unlike with a pocket PC, nobody else is able to step up and release for free what Sony is unwilling to release commercially.

 

So, yes, I'm very interested in this too, and will be watching it, but I'm not holding my breath for anything other than in-car satnav.

Edited by Lavareef
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This is one accessory I will be watching closely over the coming months... :unsure:

 

This relates to the GPS because ultimately, what form the "GPS Software" will take is up to them. If they decide to release an in-car navigation suite for North America and nothing else, then it's tough tits for us in Europe. If they decide it's not worth the money to release software suitable for hiking/geocaching, well then it's tough again, and unlike with a pocket PC, nobody else is able to step up and release for free what Sony is unwilling to release commercially.

 

So, yes, I'm very interested in this too, and will be watching it, but I'm not holding my breath for anything other than in-car satnav.

 

I fear you may be right on that one, I dont expect sony to release OS style mapping any time soon if at all. Even with road mapping it will be a good tool.

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Apart from playing just a few games on my PSP version 2.5 I have found a way that I can read ebooks. I can have a good background colour and whatever text format. It is much better than reading on my Ipaq.

As for the GPS, I wait in eager anticipation.

I would like to be able to install OS maps onto the card. I know Sony might not include this in their plans but the home brew for the PSP is very open on most versions now.

Edited by McDeHack
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Sony had an ad on the radio here in France this morning, for their in-car navigation system. Apparently it can find your way to the nearest hotel, garage, or restaurant! Wow! Who'd have thought it possible?

 

Let's face it, Sony just "don't get it" now that the world is 'netted up. They used to make the best electronics products around, and my daughter's Sony MP3 player is beautiful to look at, but they can't do software or support. Even Microsoft is better at both.

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I have searched the PSP sites, but I cannot find any referance to this GPS for the PSP. Any links please?

 

I found the news in the 'news' section of the official PSP website, and found a few results searching for PSPS and GPS in Google.

 

To be honest I am a big fan of their equipment, I have never used a Sony GPS before, or a PC, but I have phones, mp3 players, high end audio equpment, a PDA and surround system, I can't fault any of it!

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Apart from playing just a few games on my PSP version 2.5 I have found a way that I can read ebooks. I can have a good background colour and whatever text format. It is much better than reading on my Ipaq.

As for the GPS, I wait in eager anticipation.

I would like to be able to install OS maps onto the card. I know Sony might not include this in their plans but the home brew for the PSP is very open on most versions now.

 

Are you using the paperless printer?

 

I use it to grab the webpages for off line browsing on my PSP

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Apart from playing just a few games on my PSP version 2.5 I have found a way that I can read ebooks. I can have a good background colour and whatever text format. It is much better than reading on my Ipaq.

As for the GPS, I wait in eager anticipation.

I would like to be able to install OS maps onto the card. I know Sony might not include this in their plans but the home brew for the PSP is very open on most versions now.

 

Are you using the paperless printer?

 

I use it to grab the webpages for off line browsing on my PSP

 

No. I did try that but I found it was not very good.

I use 'PSP ebook creator'. You will need a big card as each page is in .jpeg but you can make your own background colour ( I use white and black print and font and font size)

The lot goes into the 'photo' folder with another named folder.

The downside is that it does not remember what page you were on when you shut down.

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Slightly OT, but just out of interest, there was talk of making one for the Gameboy Advance. Not sure where it got to though? Company called RedSky are offering one for pre-order here but no release date.

 

Also theres a privateer who, if you fancied getting really techincal you can build your own GPS to GBA sat nav system - GBS GPS

 

back on topic it just gives me another excuse to buy a PSP :laughing: ... thank-you Kate! :laughing:

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