PSP hacked again, Sony firmware upgrade announced

Sony has informally announced its PlayStation Portable handheld console will be receiving another firmware upgrade, conspicuously, the announcement came on the same day as news that the "unhackable" PSP 3000 had been hacked.

October was a busy month for Sony's PlayStation Portable. In rapid succession, the US enjoyed the release of the PSP 3000, the latest chassis redesign of the handheld game system, a firmware upgrade that added wireless access to the PlayStation Store, and a slightly redesigned XrossMediaBar.

Homebrew fans and users of custom firmware found, however, that their traditional methods of obtaining kernel access did not work on the PSP 3000, blocking the use of pirated UMDs. The new console was briefly deemed "unhackable."

Yesterday, however, Datel, developers of the popular Action Replay tool, released PSP Lite Blue, a battery that enables Service Mode on the new PSP. Service Mode or Tool Mode allows custom firmware to be installed on the PSP, a feat that has previously been done with a "Pandora" battery.

The same day, Sony quickly announced that another PSP firmware upgrade was coming, to "improve system software stability during use of some features, including the PlayStation Store."

With no release date or details listing exactly what the firmware will be fixing, many users have already determined that they're not upgrading this time around.