In case you are wondering what it looks like it, it should be silver or black in colour, feature a superior, brighter anti-glare screen, a built in microphone and modified casing.

It’s definitely been something of a low key release from Sony, with not much in the way of a spectacular launch. I suppose this could be down to the fact that the upgrade is minimal, it certainly isn’t a next generation console and more than a few punters are wondering if £150+ represents good value for a few additional features. 

Come on, what do you think – going for the upgrade or more than happy with the slim and lite?

You can grab one from here…

Here is what you can expect to find…

Direct PlayStation Store access to the system

You can now download games, demos, trailers, and other game-related content anytime and anywhere onto your PSP provided it is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi – you can do this without a PS3 or a PC.

On-screen keyboard

Text entry and web browsing is made much easier with the introduction of a full-size, on-screen keyboard. 

Sleep timer

When playing back music, a new sleep timer function will allow users to shut their PSP down after a specified period of time has elapsed.

Video-out

The video-out feature will now be capable of displaying classic PlayStation format software at the full-screen size. It will now fill the screen of your television.

Now that is what I call an update!

This seductive image came from engadget.com, who were fortunate enough to have a kind soul named Aaron upload a few images of the PSP 3000 in all it’s boxed up and ready for action glory.

It looks amazing, but if you are living in the UK you’ll have to wait until October 17th until you can take a similar photograph….not long now!

Sony have announced two different bundles for North America and they are as follows…

Bundle 1 PSP 3000 coupled with Ratchet And Clank : Size Matters costing $199/£113.00.
Bundle 2 PSP 3000 Entertainment Pack which includes a 4GB memory card for the same price.

When the core pack is released it will retail for around $169.99/£100.

If you are based in the USA can Pre-order yours from here.

And you can order the entertainment pack bundle here.

Study it closely and see if you can spot two interesting details…

OK it’s only really one detail but there are two things to look for.

Firstly – The PSN logo is clearly visible. (The first time that the PlayStation Portable has  been associated with this logo).

Secondly – The PSP screen is displaying the PSN store.

Both are clear indicators that the long awaited PSP direct Wi-Fi store should be here in the (very) near future – certainly before the launch of this particular bundle on November 30th.

As things stand according to Enterbrain, the PSP has sold 1,583,731 units for the first half of the year in Japan, whilst it’s arch rival the Nintendo DS has shifted 1,314,919 units over the same period.

So that’s the first round to to the PSP but are you ready for the next phase of the battle when the DSi and the PSP 3000 get ready to do battle?

Seconds out…. Round Two!