Heads up to the PSP community: PSP firmware 5.51 is now live. Sony says the new update is just a minor revision which improves the system stability during the use of some features.

Hear that? That's the sound of homebrew aficionados booting up their PSP-3000s and getting ready to finally run some homebrew on the thing. Why? Davee's finally released his HEN, that's why.


Download: 5.03 ChickHEN
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development forum

While we all wait for more updates from the great minds behind the recent surge of HENs and exploits, here's your weekly dose of the biggest PSP homebrew-related news that hit the front page this week.

Alright. So the latest official firmware for the PSP was released the other day, and most probably, some of you are waiting for Dark AleX to give us some feedback before we update our PSP units.

So, Bob, what's the damage? Is PSP FW 5.50 hackable?

The latest official PlayStation Portable firmware from Sony has finally made it out of the paddock and into the wild. That's right folks, you can now download and update your PSP to firmware 5.50.

Well, get a load of this! The latest firmware for the PSP will be going live tomorrow! Looks like Dark AleX might be pushed into creating a custom firmware for this because the PSP FW v5.50 system update has got some huge features packed into it: creating and viewing folders on the XMB, the addition of the XMB Information Board (kinda like the upper-right scrolling ticker box on the PS3), and a bunch of Internet browser additions. Changelog in the full article.

The PSP homebrew scene revolved around the Laughing Man TIFF exploit this week, and while there have been incidents of the exploit not working for some users, a general feeling of rejoicing was definitely in the air. Let's take a look back at what transpired.

Just as Sony keeps releasing little tweaks to the PlayStation Portable's firmware to add even more security and, sometimes, new features, those keen on keeping the PSP as open a platform as possible also keep on churning out regular custom firmware updates. One of the best and most trusted of these steadfast developers is Dark AleX, the man behind the M33 custom firmware series. In this issue of QuickJump QuickGuide we're taking a look at the latest M33 release, 5.00 M33.

Heads up, people. There's a new system update coming for the Sony PlayStation Portable. Don't hit that Network Update icon just yet, though (and if you're a homebrew user, why would you?). It's not out yet. PSN Operations director Eric Lempell says it should be out "soon", though. Some more details after the jump.

*Update* Word on the PlayStation forums is that the update is now live.

During the tail end of November, the latest official PSP firmware version (5.02) was released and subsequently decrypted. It doesn't look like a big enough update to warrant an M33 release, but two separate custom firmware versions of the 5.02 firmware have since popped up on the QJ.NET forums. Hit the full article for details and download links.