Posts Tagged ‘Music’

PSP Firmware 3.70 in-depth

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Forget firmware 3.60, this is the real deal! You may recall a while back now, I recommended that firmware update 3.51 was pointless. Therefore, I have now upgraded my system from 3.50 to 3.70, and I’m expecting a large number of new features with such a version jump in the firmware. What’s going to make a look at this firmware interesting, is that I’ll be looking at the changes on an original PSP (PSP-1000). Let’s get cracking…

When updating, you’re presented with the following change log:

• You can now set custom themes in [Theme Settings] under [Settings].
• Support has been added for assigning buttons in [Remote Play].
• A scene search feature has been added under [Video].
• Sequential playback is now supported under [Video].
• Simultaneous playback of content under [Music] and [Photo] is now supported.

However I want to see exactly how this works, and whether there’s more features (as I never installed 3.60). I’ll start from right-to-left, beginning with [Network]. The 1st thing I notice is a new funky orange and black logo for PlayStation Spot. What is PlayStation Spot? It’s a wifi spot set up by Sony in certain public locations for you to download game demos, trailers etc. Anyhow, on the PSP, clicking on PlayStation Spot creates a new wifi connection: ‘PS Spot’. Apparently, if you are in range of a PlayStation Spot, you will also be able to access the Internet for free and browse the web, and even play multiplayer games in infrastructure mode. So that’s the PSP Spot.

Moving to [Game], I thought I could delete the 3.70 file, and quickly move onto exploring what else is new. However, on hitting [triangle] to bring up the menu…something has changed. On the menu, I can either start the update, delete it, or find out information about it. However, on the ’start’ option, there is a graphical PSP ’start’ button. I’m guessing the aim of this change is to expose extra functionality, and different, perhaps easier ways of doing things. Anyhow, there’s nothing else new under [Game].

Onto [Video], as I hover over a particular video for a while, a little guide pops up in the bottom-right corner of the screen saying ‘[triangle] options’. Which again, is exposing functionality that may not be obvious to a new PSP owner. On hitting [triangle], there is again another graphical PSP ’start’ button next to ‘play’. So, I hit ‘play’ and immediately as the video started another pop up guide says ‘[triangle] control panel’. Looking at the control panel, the PSP system again exposes secondary button options that you can operate without using the control panel such as play/pause, next scene etc…

THE coolest new feature under video is ‘Scene Search’. It is a revelation; simplicity itself to use, and very very useful. It appears as a new icon top-right of the control panel, or alternatively you can hit [square]. What it does is dynamically create scenes into the videos you’re watching which is very, very handy. You can press up or down to select anything from 15 second intervals to 5 minutes (on a short video), and left and right to ’scene search’. I’ll now try the same with a UMD film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, which is a shame because some UMD films don’t have a chapter menu, meaning you have to keep hitting [R] once you’re watching the film. Anyhow, the ’scene search’ still undoubtedly a very nifty feature.

I’ll now cover both [Music] and [Photo] together, as they now share a new, very cool feature. Now, I’ve known for sometime now that if you hit the ‘home’ button, you can jump out of the current track you’re playing, and you can view other songs you might have, and even browse the main XMB menu. However, the moment you tried to access anything else other than music, the music would stop playing. That is still the case, but now if you go into [Photo] the music keeps on playing! I have noticed one thing though, if you want to view a set of photos with the music playing, it is best to use the slideshow mode at its default setting as my system was unable to cache both the thumbnails and pictures if quickly flicking through them. Maybe that’s just because I’m using a PSP-1000? With the added RAM of the PSP-2000, those users may not experience this minor thing. Again, the pop up guide and secondary button options are present throughout.

Onto the big one- [Settings]. I find myself both disappointed and intrigued by what has changed. Under [Theme Settings] there is now ‘themes’ where you can set background, colour and most importantly… icon design! At the moment, there is only ‘original’ theme, which shows a screenshot of the XMB with a mysterious new icon between [Video] and [Game]. It could be something to do with the Japanese TV tuner, and the screenshot has got left in other regional firmware OR it could be something to do with the upcoming TV tuner for the PS3. My guesses though, are only speculative at best. And now for the disappointment- PSP-2000 users get new colour backgrounds, but it seems like we PSP-1000 users do not, which is a shame.

Under [Video Settings] there is the new ‘Sequential Playback’ feature that was mentioned- useful, but nothing spectacular. And that, my friends… is it!

If you spot any mistakes, please let me know, and remember- I have only looked at this update with the PSP-1000.

Tags: 3.50, 3.60, 3.70, firmware, Music, photos, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PS3, PSP, PSP Slim & Lite, PSP-1000, PSP-2000, Sony, XMB
Posted in Gaming, guide | No Comments »

Paramore live at Manchester Academy: Report

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

By MaSh and Los Havros,

First off, if anyone can remember us, we were the ones in matching Paramore Riot! T-shirts which had the UK tour dates on the back. A couple of other random things before the gig I want to get off my chest. I thought the ticket touts were out of order, even though I was expecting them to be around. People were arriving in taxi’s and ticket touts were opening the doors and poking their heads in and asking for spare tickets. Surely human decency says this is wrong and common sense says that if you do have a spare then you won’t be giving it to someone like that. There were also some idiots in the upper window of the building who were throwing stuff down into the queue. There were also some people who jumped the queue at the start, luckily the guy on the door spotted some of them and told them where to go.

We arrived at the Academy 2 at about 6pm. The tickets said things would start at 7:30 so we wanted to be early enough, and although we were early enough, the queue was already 30-40 people long. The atmosphere was pleasant enough, some more exuberant than others. One girl said ‘touch me!’ and I would be happy to oblige if you get in contact with me.

At last, we were let in and despite Los Havros’ protests for bathroom break no 61 of the day, oi, we went straight through to the main area, got our spot (for the moment anyway) in the middle, about 5 or 6 rows from the front. First up was Lost Alone.

Lost Alone impressed me straight away and seemed like a traditional rock band. The trio took the stage confidently and immediately got into a blistering set. Although I must confess, having never heard them before, I can’t recall any song names, but even so, they impressed me so much I ordered their first album online the next day. Their lead guitarist also does the vocals and it has to be said, carries the band totally. I think he kinda looked like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. The drummer looked like Lurch from the Addams Family and seemed content to play without any emotion, looking like he was distracted by wondering about how long his wig would stay on for. Yeah that drummer was weird; something wasn’t quite right about him that’s for sure. I mean, WTF(?!), he looked spaced out. The bass player was a little better, but when compared to the frontman, there was no comparison. He was eccentric, talented on guitar, worked the crowd and even played the guitar with his shoe!

Well, whilst MaSh was trying his best to get everyone else into Lost Alone, I decided that it would be the ideal time to demonstrate to everyone that the ‘illuminator’ on my £7.95 watch from Argos did, in fact, work. What Los Havros hasn’t mentioned is that he jumped up and down, not unlike Archimedes, determined to show as many people as possible of his glorious discovery. I actually took it off during the interval after Lost Alone had finished because I didn’t want to hit anyone with it. This got more of a problem later on, more on that later. Anyway, as Lost Alone finished up I thought they were thoroughly decent, I might get their album some time. I know MaSh was even more impressed than I was by Lost Alone. Yeah, I thought they sounded excellent live, definitely brought to life by the frontman. It was his skill and enthusiasm which made the band as good as they were. They were heavier than Paramore and made some great sounds, especially for a trio. While not as rehearsed and ‘polished’ as the upcoming This Providence (so ‘gorgeous’) I still think they were the better warm up act.

At the time, the turn around between the acts seemed like a long time, especially dismantling the drum kit, but looking back, it might have been that we were simply over excited and the time passed more slowly than it actually did.

This providence took to the stage and after a couple of minutes of making sure that their hair was alright, the songs started. Yeah, veeery stylish guys. The singer obviously loved himself, and the lead guitarist (the one on the left?) looked like a member of the Village People AND he was good at his day job. Anyway, the music, I thought they were as good as Lost Alone, probably on a par with them. I thought they were a lot more polished and practised than Lost Alone, but for some reason, their style and theatrics seemed more about them than the crowd, which slightly put me off. They were certainly good enough and are more likely to make the big time over Lost Alone, but I still preferred them over This Providence.

Waiting and waiting for Paramore to come on. The crowd started pushing like crazy at this point. This is where those idiots come in. They seemed determined to create a mosh pit, which was harsh on the small people. There was a lot of pushing and it was quite dangerous, and a few people (including me) hit the deck and that wasn’t fun. Some of the girls, especially the small ones were just getting crushed and the mosh pit didn’t help matters. But anyway, Paramore made an entrance and the place went nuts! There’s Hayley and ahhhhhhhhhh, all my dreams have come true.

Like Los Havros, I too was in awe of Hayley’s voice and hotness especially live. What surprised me slightly was her normal speaking voice, which sounded very young (almost squeaky?) and it made me remember that she’s actually younger than I am. The fact that it doesn’t come across in the vocals in songs is further credit to her as a singer I suppose. Someone in the crowd had made a banner stating ‘Hayley, I’m Pregnant!!’ which was strange as, Hayley being a girl and the sign bearer being a guy, so, yeah. Hayley at this point tried to make a rude joke. Put it this way…not something I want to imagine. But it backfired spectacularly bwahahaahaaaa. Oh damn, I got thrown back into the mosh-pit, but at least I managed to elbow one of them. Paramore played a great set with songs both from their 1^st album, and their latest. Crushcrushcrush and Born For This were the highlights for me.

I think they played all the right songs, and thought that Here We Go Again and also agree that crushcrushcrush was great. It’s amazing to hear 300 people shouting 1,2,3,4 at exactly the right moment. The performance was every bit as good as I had hoped it was. Being there live, you appreciate (even more) just how talented this band is. Every member is truly brilliant and right on cue. Drums, vocals, guitars all spot on. The only bad thing is that they don’t tour the UK so often, and I think that the others in the crowd knew this as well, so it made it even more special to everyone.

Tags: concert, gig, Hayley, Lost Alone, Manchester Academy, Music, Paramore, rock, support act, This Providence
Posted in Music | No Comments »

Paramore at the Manchester Academy

Friday, August 24th, 2007

This post was originally written on the City In The Clouds blog.

Tickets- got yours?  ’Cause we certainly have!  We’ll be at the Manchester Academy on the 3rd of September 2007.  If there are any fellow Paramore fans coming as well, let us know by leaving a message to this post, or sending an email here (no psychos please).

Stay tuned for more Paramore goodness…

Tags: concert, gig, Manchester, Manchester Academy, Music, Paramore, Riot, Riot! Tour, rock, rock music
Posted in Life, Music | No Comments »