We’ll here it is. Photos of the new PSP have arrived. The PSP Go improves upon it’s predecessor by making games available via wireless download or on Memory Stick Micro cards. No more UMD!

The device will feature 16GB of on-board flash memory for storage of downloadable games, movies and music from the Playstation Network. The controller slides out from under the screen to maximize screen size while keeping the console light and small. There’s Bluetooth and WiFi as well.

This battery kit was originally announced back in November of 2007. The PSP Extended Life Battery Kit promised to give you about 20 percent more battery life for $45. Then, it seemed that Sony pulled the thing in 2008.

Anyhow, now it’s back. You can find the PlayStation Portable Extended Life Battery Kit back on Sony’s website for $44.99. Looks like they are Backordered at the moment, but you can always get in line. You can always use more battery life.

Apparently Sony’s been thinking of doing a PSP games rental service for a while. A recent consumer survey that Joystiq discovered yesterday gauged interest in a PSN-powered games rental service for the PSP. The theoretical service would have PSP owners pay a monthly fee for access to a library of new and archived games on the PlayStation Store.

According to a report by Develop, Sony unveiled plans of a rental service to developers at GDC last March. A PSN-centric PSP would be far more attractive to developers who have shied away due to piracy or other concerns. This news re-enforces that rumor regarding music downloads for the PSP.

CNET has word that Sony’s been talking to some of the big recording labels about putting their music on the PlayStation Network for download, specifically for the PSP. It makes sense. The service already has a growing library of movies and TV shows. It’s just lacking music.

And since Sony is one of the four largest music companies in the world, they should be able to provide a few good artists. It resides in rumor territory for now, but we’d be real surprised if this didn’t happen. The PSP has never really lived up to it’s potential. This could help.

Rumors of a major PSP hardware redesign have repeatedly surfaced over the last several months. There have been claims that the UMD disc drive is gone, and others pointing to a second analog stick and sliding screen. 1up cites some sources directly involved with the new system and says that Sony will unveil their revamped PSP at this year’s E3 conference in June.

Here’s the breakdown. The UMD is gone, replaced with options for 8GB or 16GB of built-in flash memory. Three rumored names include PSP Slide, PSP Flip, and PSP Go!. That last borrows from Sony’s Go! brand and has us thinking there might be a built-in camera. The same D-pad, analog nub, and face button configuration, but they now slide out from the bottom of the unit.

With every release of new PSP firmware, Sony’s handheld gets closer to the PS3 as far as features. Firmware update 5.50 will installed the “Information Board” to the XMB, letting PSP users get the latest news from Sony whenever new additions are available.

Some other super-amazing updates include creating and accessing sub-directories on the Memory Stick, on the browser side there’s a trial of Trend Micro’s “Kid’s Safety” service and Internet search games.

There are all kinds of nifty spy gadgets you can buy to get your sleuth on, but if those products aren’t doing it for you, Sony has something new that you may want to check out. According to a site called Siliconera, Sony has filed a patent for a remote-controlled car that would use the PSP as an interface.

It’s equipped with a camera to feed video to the PSP and users would be able to upload the footage to a website if they want. But that’s not all. The patent mentions an augmented reality racing game. The game recognizes real objects as elements in the racing game, so basically, you build your own track from stuff ou have around the house.

Sony won’t be happy until we have PSPs in all of the skittles colors. They love to dish out candy-colored PSPs. The next mouth watering color may be lime green, if this image is accurate.

It was supposedly leaked from inside a Sony factory. But hey, they may have just been having some fun. Who knows. May be just a prototype. The question is do you want a lime colored PSP? Or is it too much? Ready to taste the rainbow?

Now you can enjoy Rock Band while on the road to your next gig. That’s because the game is coming to the Sony PSP. To celebrate, Sony is releasing a limited edition Rock Band Unplugged PSP Entertainment Pack.

You get a piano black PSP-3000, a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo and a PSN downloadable movie voucher for School of Rock. Very clever. Rock Band Unplugged will merge some key gameplay elements from the original Rock Band as well as its sequel, with a bunch of new songs and some features that are unique to the PSP. Like loneliness and isolation.

We’ve heard all of the rumors that a new PSP will be arriving with a sliding touchscreen, but now Pocket Gamer says they’ve confirmed it with a developer working on the system. It will be here before Christmas.

The source repeats earlier rumors about the design: Like the touchscreen that will slide open to reveal a D-pad and….two analog thumbsticks. And as we told you before, the UMD will be gone in favor of digital downloads. According to Pocket Gamer it’s more like an iPhone than the last PSP you’ve come to know and love.

Looks like SCEE is prototyping a new addition to the PSP PlayStation Store. According to a tipster, Sony is planning a service that will let you download digital comics directly to your PSP. Survey participants were asked to watch the video below and to help determine a pricing scheme: subscription or a la carte prices.

Digital comics aren’t new to the PSP, like the Metal Gear Solid comics for instance. The interactive comics were enhanced with slight animation, music and even sound effects. The PlayStation Store currently only has one digital comic available for download: The Cryptics, which will cost you $2.99.

According to Acclaim developer David Perry, the new Playstation Portable won’t feature a UMD disc drive.

“I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!” Perry wrote on both his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Whether or not he has actually seen the rumored new Playstation Portable himself is not clear. He may just be hearing rumors through the development community. Ditching the UMD wouldn’t be a surprise as it would cut costs and make the device slimmer. It fits with the other rumor, that the new PSP will be a slider, but have the same guts as its predecessor.

If you haven’t found a PSP color to suit you, you might want to try a female color, like this new Lilac PSP aimed at girl gamers.

This Lilac PSP will debut as part of a $199 Hannah Montana Entertainment Pack that features Miley Cyrus’ PSP game, a UMD with some Hannah Montana episodes, a 2GB memory stick, and some stickers. What about us males? An Assassin’s Creed Entertainment Pack will launch with Altair’s PSP debut later in the year with “other content that will announced later.”

What are the odds? There’s a rumor floating around on the internet. And it involves the PSP. That’s never happened before… Sarcasm aside, this latest rumor predicts an actual lustworthy design that includes a sliding screen and yet no new hardware inside.

If true, that means it’ll have the exact same internal guts as your current model, it will just be more cellphone-like. On one hand, i’d be glad they upped the design and payed attention to various fan renders like the one above, but what good does that do you if the innards don’t match?

Sony claims to have sold 50 million PSP handhelds worldwide as of January 2009. That number includes all PSP-1000, 2000, and 3000 devices sold since December 2004. That’s a pretty impressive number, for sure.

But not so much if you’re sitting in Nintendo’s corporate offices, looking at 96.22 million DS handhelds sold between December 2004 and December 2008. I guess since they can’t brag about how many PS3 units have been sold, they have to have something to give them hope.