KRT Wire | 03/21/2005 | A preview peek at PlayStation Portable

KRT Wire | 03/21/2005 | A preview peek at PlayStation Portable: "A preview peek at PlayStation Portable
This is surely gonna be a big hit at least close to IMAC if not IPOD.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT) - THE GIZMO: Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable), $249."

KICKING THE TIRES: While serving multiple masters, the premiere PSP is a surprisingly tidy and lightweight (10 ounces) affair, only slightly bigger than a folded Nintendo DS or an iPod.

Future versions may be even smaller, more feature-laden or energy efficient. "What you're seeing now is just the first in a family of PSP products," said a company source.

While it's a washout in bright sunlight, indoors the PSP's high-resolution 4.3-inch color widescreen does a great job of showing off movies and the first-ever, 16x9 formatted video games. Both types of entertainment arrive on Sony's new compact, high-capacity (1.8 GB) Universal Media Disc, films at $19.95 and up, most games, $40 to $50.

MULTI-MEDIA MARVEL? A Memory Stick Duo flash storage card working with a USB 2.0 connector, an IR port and Wi-Fi 802.11b really make PSP interesting.

First connect the PSP to a PC or Mac, or move into a wireless LAN or Wi-Fi hot zone. Stuff in a larger-capacity Memory Stick Duo (at least a 512MB stick can be accommodated). The PSP can now download and store all sorts of content.

With the Wi-Fi connectivity, you also can play wirelessly with up to 16 teammates in head-to-head competition (if the software supports it).