Dishing off lots of firmware to protect the Sony PlayStation Portable may be taking its toll for Sony engineers. Now, Sony Computer Entertainment wants to know through a survey why you're hacking your PSP in the first place. More details after the jump.

Art has come out with a new version of Time Baby which you all might find interesting. In addition to the usual bug fixes, this version also comes with a flaming effect on the clock interface, which should be a welcome addition to all those who like firey things.

In any case, learn more about this version of Time Baby after the jump!

Download: Time Baby v 11c
Visit: QJ.Net's PSP Development Forums

PSP Homebrew developer Chris Swindle has announced the latest release of Furikup, the app that allows you to use your unit as a phone using VoIP technology. Furikup v0.1.12 fixes some bugs from the previous version, and now also features a network selection menu. Check out the changelog in the full article.

Thanks to WaKaRu for the tip!

Download: Furikup v01.12

Mathieulh has responded to recent issues in the PSP homebrew development scene. Along the way, we are treated to some updates about the release of Dark AleX's PSP CFW 3.80 M33. Turns out that the previous announcement of the release was nothing but a rumor (it's still coming though, so don't worry).

More than this, Math raises a couple of points about the PSP scene that we want all of you guys to hear of. Read more of his public statement in the full article.

Homebrew developer amrcidiot was kind enough to drop by and tell us that a new version to his neat homebrew guitar sim is now available for download with PSPlay v0.3.5. PSP Slim & Lite users will be glad to know that the latest build of this nifty app now supports it, so don't be shy about downloading it any longer.

Download: PSPlay v0.3.5 for PSP Slim & Lite
Download: PSPlay v0.3.5 for PSP Fat
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

Fanjita and Noobz have given us stuff that make us go nuts time and again, and this time, we're witnessing the birth of another breakthrough: An alternative to Sony's PlayStation Portable Skype features set to come out soon. The star homebrew devs noticed that there are flaws in Sony's Skype system to come, and decided to make their own software. They're sharing it with everyone, as usual, so go ahead and test it. The full article has tons more details ahead.



Download: Furikup v0.1 PSP SIP Phone

The PlayStation Portable homebrew scene has always been very active but the year 2007 was really something special for the community. Several milestones were achieved, a lot of walls were broken down so to speak, and a lot of interesting releases were made.

Having said that, we here at QJ.NET can't really end the year without paying homage and respect to the movers and shakers of the year that was. The full article after the jump!

Just in time for the holidays, folks. Word on the QJ.NET PSP Development forums is that work on the unofficial piKey v0.4 plugin is almost done. There's already a pre-release of the plugin in circulation, though you'll want to hear about its important details in the full article.

Homebrew developers Cleanser23, Angelo, Lunix, Hells Plumber, Wakaru, and Joseph have teamed up to create a new piKey build with permission from Fanjita. The new program aims to address bugs in version 0.3 of the program, and to "finally" make it compatible with 3.71 M33.

The new program, called "Unofficial piKey 0.4" is still currently in the works and the team is looking for ideas and assistance in terms of programming. In their words, they need help with "simple tasks that only require a good knowledge of C and to be set up in a dev environment." Here are their notes:

We've done the following so far:

• Fixed the 'x' button issue, not 'x' shows as the correct one, not the multiplication one.
• Added new, improved and cleaner keymaps (added Targus and Palm) and have created our own custom Targus CTRLMap.txt
• Found and created a small portal for the release. (Existing PSP Windows Portal and a created EBuddy one)
• Made the installer better and cleaner.
• Added 100% working Targus, Palm and Hama maps! (Hama driver I believe is still a bit funny Undecided)
• Made a Targus expansion pack with a working Keymap and user friendly CTRLMap.

What we are working on:

• Add key repeats for the Targus keyboard so you can hold down a key and it'll autotype instead of tapping it many times. (almost done.. pointless agreeing to sign up for this job)
• Add a function so you don't have to press the 'select' key to have to correct character input. This will make the release perfect.
• Add a function so a message is displayed when CAPS/Num/Scroll is on. (almost done.. pointless agreeing to sign up for this job)
• Finally... make it compatible with 3.71 M33

Head over to the forum thread to know the full details of the program in development. And just in case you do want to share you coding talents to the UPK Team, then by all means...

Visit: QJ.net PSP Development Forum Thread

As much as we all want to hear that the new PlayStation Portable batteries Sony's dishing out can be converted to Pandora, it can't. Fanjita informs us via the Noobz site that the new Sony PSP batteries are Pandora-proof.

Fanjita got his Sony PSP-110 battery (the fat PSP's original batt) recently from Amazon, and it seems Sony's been doing some patching, making it hard to be successfully converted to the ultimate universal PSP unbricker from Noobz and C+D. The homebrew coder says that even flashing an EEPROM image shows lots of errors when using the new battery.

So far, dev says that the only difference of this new Sony PSP battery from the older versions is that this was made in Japan, while the older ones were made in China. But the Pandora-proof batteries shouldn't be a problem for the homebrew users. Fanjita suggests that we get new large capacity batteries to use as a regular battery and the just use the original battery that came with the PSP for Pandora. Or we can also use the multi-IPL loader from Booster so our Pandora batteries can also become our primary batteries. He goes on to warn us that we shouldn't buy new Sony PSP batteries if we're intending to convert it to Pandora. Nice guy.

For those of you planning to unbrick your PSPs (assuming you still haven't done that or have just had your PSP bricked) using the Pandora, you can familiarize yourself on the how-tos with the easy-to-follow tutorial from FreePlay.