After having an early coming out party, the PSP-3000 Ratchet & Clank Entertainment Pack had it’s official launch today and the brighter PlayStation Portable is now available in North America. The bundle will cost you $199.99, while the economy black PSP-3000 kit with just a 4GB Memory Stick will be available next month. The silver pack will be available in all European countries except the UK a day later on October 15. EU countries will also have to wait for the black bundle in November.

The PSP-3000 is set to launch next Tuesday, but someone jumped the gun. The PSP-3000 Ratchet & Clank Entertainment Pack has made it’s way into at least one Best Buy early, where some lucky guy snatched it up and took this mug shot.

The DVR has been the best thing to happen to TV since programming went color. Before the DVR, we had to record shows with a DVD recorder or even worse — a VCR. Anyone who has tried to program a VCR to record a show that isn’t on yet will recall the anxiety. The DVR came along and made recording programs as easy as clicking a button and one of the pioneers in the DVR realm was TiVo.

Nero and TiVo announced that they have teamed up for a new software and hardware product called Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC. The product allows users to record TV programs on their PC with typical DVR ease as well as pause and rewind programs. Once TV programs are recorded, the shows can be exported to PSP, iPod or DVD automatically.

Nintendo has plans to launch a new version of the popular Nintendo DS handheld game console by the end of this year, and it sounds like they are doing more than just adding new colors this time. The new model, yet to be named, will feature a camera and music player, putting itself in competition with a larger number of portable devices and opening up a whole mess of new game possibilities.

This news does not come straight from Nintendo, or at least not yet. It does however come from the Sunday edition of The Nikkei Business Daily, which is a well renowned newspaper in Japan. The new DS from Nintendo is expected to cost around $190 in Japan compared to the $158 price tag on the current DS. The DS goes for $129 currently in the United States.

Some guy(Presumably Disco Stu from Springfield) made himself a retro, light-tastic PSP that suggests that Disco is either coming back or that the timeline has been altered and Sony has now created the PSP in 1977. The flashing Disco lights will definitely distract you from any game and get the attention of gamer ravers. The whole system consists of 30 LEDs all linked to the sound output and set to pulse in time with the music. I wonder if the modder heard whispers that said, “If you build it they will come”. They, being the Bee Gees. Video below.

Kinwei Technologies of Shenzen is a GPS navigation system manufacturer who also loves games. Old school games. The KW-GM4306TG is a GPS navigation system and a gaming console in one. And no, this won’t replace your DS or PSP. Apparently the device only supports 8 bits games, circa 1985.

It sports a 4.3-inch TFT LCD Touch screen with 480 x 272 pixels resolution, powered by a Samsung ARM9 400MHz processor. The OS is Microsoft Windows CE.NET 4.2 and you even get a crappy controller for the games. Inside there’s a 64MB SDRAM ROM and 256MB NAND flash, and a high sensitive SiRF III antenna with 20 channels. It also has an AV-in port so if you get a rear view camera you can connect it to use the 4.3″ screen.

I don’t know how you are, but when I buy something, like say a movie, I like to be able to use it as many times as I see fit. I paid good money for it after all. Apparently, users who purchase movies from the Sony PS3 video store are allowed to download it only one more time. Which sucks. Sony does tell you in their license agreement that “Content cannot be redownloaded once it has been downloaded to either a PLAYSTATION 3 or PSP system.” I guess the moral of the story is to treat digital downloads as rented movies rather then purchases.

Whether you’re a Mac fan or not, I think we all get a chuckle out of the “Get a Mac” ads. And they must have converted many PC users. Now Microsoft is looking to give as good as they get, recruiting Jerry Seinfeld and of course Bill Gates to show you how magical Vista is. It’s a $300 million campaign that has $10 million set aside for “key celebrity pitchmen”.

The ads apparently focus on “Windows, Not Walls,” talking about the need to “break down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting.” It will no doubt involve the Mojave Experiment too, which is Microsofts version of candid camera, where Microsoft made unsuspecting users(Prejudiced against Vista) test a new product that was in fact Vista. They’ve got Seinfeld, why not get Kramer and George in on it too?

Sony has been busy. There’s the new PSP and PS3 wireless keyboard, and Sony also announced a 160GB PS3 today at the Leipzig Games Convention. Here in the U.S. it will come bundled with a Dual-Shock SIXAXIS and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. It will arrive in November just in time for under the Xmas tree at $499.

The console itself looks like it’s the same as previous PS3s. The U.S. version will also come with a voucher for the PS Network game PAIN, while the European version includes €70 of free downloadable content vouchers. No word on whether it will be released seperate from the bundle. We’ll just have to wait and see.

At the Leipzig Games Convention today, Sony revealed the brand new PSP-3000, which will arrive Oct 15 in Europe for around $250. As far as looks, it looks the same as the PSP-2000, but it features an “improved screen that’s better outside with no glare and a built-in mic.” A no glare screen will sell many on the device by itself. I guess you could say that this is Sony’s DS Lite. More details have yet to surface, but we’ll stay on top of it for you.

The HB758 is an interesting phone. Not bad looking, with some nice features. It’s got a slide up feature for the keypad and slide down for your directional buttons so you can game too. It’s also a tri-band phone with a 2.8-inch display screen, 3.2-megapixel camera, integrated mp3/mp4 player, TV, Bluetooth, FM radio, simulation games, dual speakers, dual SIM slot, microSD slot and it supports multi languages. It’s priced at $142.82.

The most interesting thing about it though is how it looks like a PSP. They really went to town with the mimicry even adding what looks like the Playstation logo. It’s not a bad looking phone since a real PSP phone doesn’t exist as of yet, so why not buy this one and pretend? That’s probably what they want.

This guy got sick and tired of waiting on a real honest to god PSP phone, so he took matters into his own hands. He integrated what looks like a HAIER mobile phone with a touchscreen to the back of the PSP, getting rid of the UMD drive. He gets props for doing it and I don’t want to rain on anybody’s PSP parade, but um, well I have to say it’s a tad fugly isn’t it? Still, at least he’s doing something to birth a PSP phone into the world.

Samuel Lau took both devices, put on some Barry White, uncorked the champagne, then tucked them in bed together and closed the door. The result is a somewhat sexy sliding screen incarnation with a QWERTY keyboard underneath.

Unfortunately this baby is just a concept. Still pretty sweet. It’s a concept that comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera in back, a webcam in front, motion sensors, touch screen display, even geo-tracking so you can stalk other PSP owners. I wish this existed.

The Japanese have been using GPS applications on their PSP for awhile, but now it looks like Sony is about to get off it’s ass and bring it Stateside. They are working on a new game that will take advantage of GPS to give the player a totally unique playing experience no matter where you go or where you are.

The new peripheral will change the dynamics of games on the PSP, or so they hope, opening up new ways to play. Sony plans to introduce the whole GPS thing to third party publishers while they brainstorm within their first-party studios.

Sony just announced that Playstation Network users will now have the ability to rent and buy movies and TV shows. They aren’t wasting any time either. The service gets switched on TONIGHT. And it’s more then just bland Sony content, with content from Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, and Funimation. TV pricing starts at $1.99, while movies will cost $9.99 – $14.99, with rentals costing $2.99 – $5.99. The videos can even be downloaded to your PS3 and watched on multiple PSPs. Video is available in both SD and HD. Pretty nice!