Scouring our online news sources, PSPStockOnline.com have learnt that Sony have signed a deal with Technologies Group Plc. This company is the licensor of graphic processor units (GPU’s), and their latest technology is the PowerVR SGX.

What this means is that when Sony have an upgrade, this company will be providing the GPU. You might not have heard of the company, but if you use an Apple iPhone another of their GPU’s – the PowerVR MBX – is used in that.

Interesting eh?

But let’s not digress… another PSP? We’ll keep you posted.

What do you think? Are there enough PSP’s at the moment? Or would you welcome another addition to the family?

Yes try to hold back the tears as you discover that due to the ’significant interest’ in the Ratchet & Clank : Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack, Sony will be ’streamlining’ their PSP hardware line up and that means adios to the 4GB Memory Pack.

Oh Well : you can always grab a 4GB memory stick here if you want one.. Life goes on.

The new console has also produced an interesting knock on effect, with combined sales of both the PSP 1000 and PSP 2000 increasing from the usual 20,000 per week to a pretty impressive 155,720 last week according to Famitsu figures. Will a similar scenario happen over here?

You can see what all the fuss is about here…

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!

Before you go wild with excitement AdHoc Party for the PSP does require the ownership of a PS3 as the console facilitates the Internet connection,however on the plus side the service will allow in-game voice chat and comes as free download via the PlayStation Store.

The feature is known as PSP Plus and it has the potential to be adopted by future titles but for the moment it is limited to Resistance Retribution only. Having the option of using the Dualshock means that you will have ‘rumble’ at your disposal plus dual analog control within the game! 

This game already looks like a winner and this extra connectivity feature just seals the deal expect a Spring 2009 launch, we’ll keep you posted.

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.