Interview: Kaz Hirai talks about the NGP's strategy (video)

If you are puzzled as to why Sony decided to unveiled the NGP this early in the year, all you need to do is watch the video interview below. In short, SCE's President & Group CEO Kaz Hirai says, "We announced the NGP in January for a launch of later in the year, for the holiday season, for several reasons. One is that we certainly wanted to share all of the excitement with all of our PlayStation fans, but at the same time, we wanted to make sure that talking about the platform in an open manner with all of the publishing partners around the world. And that's really to make sure that we are going to have a wide-range of titles. It is really important for us that we start engaging in some real strategic discussions on software portfolios with as many developers and publishers as possible [...]".



source PlayStation Blog via engadget.com

PSNinja updated to v3

The newest version of PS3Ninja is now out. In this latest version of PS3Ninja, the history files will be read only and a basic selective menu has been added. To view the readme and download this latest version click below to visit our forum post.

Download & discuss in forum »

Gitorious refuses to remove other PS3 related repositories

Sony recently demanded Gitorious to take down PS3 related repositories that are in violation of their copyrights/patents. Gitorious complied and removed what was asked but now they are refusing to remove any more content until Sony can prove that it is in violation of Norwegian law--since the claim made on February 1st, 2011 was referencing US law. Below is the complete e-mail sent by Gitorious to Sony's legal department.

An update on the Sony DMCA issue:

We have just sent an email to Sony’s legal attournes in reply to their DMCA takedown notice sent to us yesterday:

Re: Demand for removal of claimed copyright infringing content from Gitorious.org

This is in reply to your notification of United States Copyright Law Violations at Listed URLs, dated February 1st 2011. As we confirmed via email yesterday, the content was taken down from gitorious.org yesterday at 3.18PM CET.

Your claim made reference to US law, which is not applicable in Norway. When removing the content from our server placed in Norway, we did so to avoid being in violation with Norwegian law, to the degree that Norwegian and US copyright law is compatible.

[UPDATE] f0Xtr()n custom firmware v3.55 released (video)

It appears that a new team, who goes by the name f0Xtr()n, has entered into the custom firmware game—releasing their very own version of custom firmware v3.55 called 3.55 FT - 1. As with all custom firmwares, install at your own risk and make sure to follow the instructions as given.



Download and see installation instructions »

Hacker George Hotz fighting to move case to New Jersey

As you may already know, Sony had filed a lawsuit against developer geohot (aka George Hotz) for jailbreaking the PS3 and the company had expressed interest in keeping the case going in California's jurisdiction. But George Hotz' lawyer, Stewart Kellar, wants the case to be moved to New Jersey--Hotz's home state--so that it will be under NJ's jurisdiction. According to Hotz's lawyer, fighting to keep the case in California's jurisdiction may prove to be difficult for Sony, as the following needs to be proved:

• [1st prong] The nonresident defendant must do some act or consummate some transaction with the forum or perform some act by which he purposefully avails himself of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum, thereby invoking the benefits and protections of its laws;
• [2nd prong] The claim must be one which arises out of or results from the defendant's forum-related activities; and
• [3rd prong] Exercise of jurisdiction must be reasonable.

Qute PS3 Proxy - Bypass PSN firmware

Thanks to this inspired member at psx-scene, DeathByte, who did some research on his own to develop this little app Qt4. Qt4 code can be compiled in Linux. This inspiration of DeathByte came from reading about the release of Simply PS3 Proxy Tool by Hideki. Unfortunately, that tool only works for Windows users. Some viewers were requesting for a mac version, or a commandline version, and thus DeathByte has brought a version that can be used on Linux. Many thanks to DeathByte. I'm sure many people who do not use Windows will find this useful. To read more and download this tool, click below to visit our forum post.

Download & discuss in forum »

PS3 Rootkit: security researcher says PS3 remote execution is old news

According to security researcher Chris Boyd at GFI Security, the news that Sony had some way to remotely execute codes on the PS3 is nothing new. He stated that since 2006, Sony has it as part of the PS3's terms and conditions.

Boyd told El Reg, "It's been known for a while that a networked PS3 will contact Sony servers at start up (whether it has an active PlayStation network account on it or not), which performs various tasks related to error logs, updates and other activities".

He went on to say that if you are not hacking your PS3, you shouldn't be concern as there is no 'threat'.

"I'm still waiting for someone to explain how this 'PS3 rootkit' could be used to run unsigned malicious code on a non-jailbroken box," Boyd told El Reg.

So there you have it, perhaps we should calm down and stop worrying that the almighty Sony is after us.


source theregister.co.uk

multiMAN v1.15.02 released. Resume interrupted transfers & more

The popular multiMAN app has been updated to v1.15.02. This build includes the ability to view available free space prior to transferring or copying, a warning prompt to alert you if the copy destination already contain folders with the same name, support for COVER.PNG/COVER.JPG and POSTER.PNG/POSTER.JPG, major improvements to the built-in FTP server, and more.

Download & discuss in forum »

[RUMOR] Possible method to recover PS3 from Waninkoko's custom firmware brick

Forum member GeoCheckSum of elotrolado.net has reported on a recovery method for those who ended up bricking their PS3 after installing Waninkoko's custom firmware v3.55 (1st release). This method requires a NOR flasher, a computer with a serial port, and a Nokia USB cable (CA-121). At the current time, the instructions are incomplete; therefore, we'll keep you posted if anything else develops.

PS3Win v0.9.9 released. FTP module completely rewritten

For those of you who have been using PS3Win, here is the latest update. It is now at version 0.9.9. It does not seem like there is much changes. The FTP module has been completely rewritten and PS3Win will not check if a directory of local games has changed at startup. To download and read more about this program, click below to visit our forum post.

Download & discuss in forum »

Rogero Manager v8.0 released. Implemented syscall36 and more

Rogero Manager v8.0 is out and includes many changes such as support for custom firmwares by Hermes, Kmeaw, and Waninkoko, implementation of Syscall36, a fixed for FTP server, and many more.

Download & see full changelog »

multiMAN 01.15.01 BASE Package - New help screen

It seems the newest version of the BASE package of multiMAN has been released. It is now at version 01.15.01. The updated for the FULL or the MEGA packages have not been released yet as of now. This will probably be happening soon because of the release of the BASE package. Along with this new update, this latest version adds a new help screen in the file manager, file and folder copy transfer speed has been improved, and much more. For more information on this latest version or to download visit our forum by clicking below.

Download & discuss in forum »

Sony sends DMCA takedown notices to Gitorious

Just like GitHub, Sony has sent out takedown notices to Gitorious--requesting the removal of PS3 related repositories that may infringe on their copyrights and/or patents.

Go here for the complete DCMA takedown notice. And if you go to drizzt's gitorious mirror, all you will get is this message, "Sorry. page not found".

Message from Gitorious:

Greetings,

We're writing you to inform you that we have been forced to remove your Gitorious repositories containing PS3 related code. We received a DMCA takedown notice from Sony this morning, and Norwegian law commands us to respond to such a notice by removing potentially infringing content until it's legality can be fully clarified. If you can provide Gitorious with irrefutable evidence that this code is not violating neither Sony's copyrights/patents nor Norwegian law, you are welcome to keep hosting the affected repositories with us.

source @drizzthacks via Twitter, drizzt-hacks.blogspot.com

[UPDATE] Kmeaw's LV2 Patcher v8 out. New features added

Kmeaw has now released version 8 of his LV2 patcher. This version adds support for the syscall 36 payload and Waninkoko's custom firmware v3.55 v2.

kmeaw: yes
kmeaw: c540c141fb5d9f5723ba6c394c5e9828
kmeaw: i have added sc36 payload
kmeaw: it is still v8
kmeaw: no code has been changed
kmeaw: just new .txt and .bin files

Download Kmeaw's LV2 Patcher v8 »

Get on PSN with 3.55 using Logan5 Proxy Tool

There is this neat little tool that you can use in order to get onto PSN with version 3.55.  It is called Logan5 Proxy Tool.  Run this program on your pc and configure your network settings on your PS3 to use a proxy.  Use your computer's IP as the proxy.  It has been tested and works great (for the time being).  To download and read more, click on the link below to visit our forum post.

Read more & discuss in forum »

[Tutorial] How to create custom dynamic themes for PS3

Do you see that cool dynamic theme in the video above? Well, you can create one, too, for your PS3. All you need to do is follow the tutorial provided and use the tools available in the download link.

Read tutorial & download tools »

Sony sneaked firmware v3.56 fix onto its server

Sony has sneaked out a fix for official firmware v3.56, which is aimed at resolving the PS3's internal hard drive bug. The bug would cause the PS3 to not boot-up properly if the hard drive was switched out after installing firmware v3.56. So, if you are one of the unlucky few who installed the buggy firmware v3.56 that was released a few weeks back, you may want to give fix a shot.

Project PS3MFW announced. Build custom firmwares with ease

It looks like KaKaRoTo and a few other developers have been busy working on a new project called PS3MFW. This project is aimed at simplifying the making/customization of custom firmwares. From the look of it, it appears very simple to operate. You select the original firmware that you want to use--the firmware released by Sony--then select the modified/custom firmware, followed by picking your options and tasks, and finally, click on build MFW. I don't think it can get any easier than this!

Read more & discuss in forum »

Gaia Manager v2.07 released. Enabled disc-less on syscall36

Developer drizztbsd has released Gaia Manager v2.07. This version has disc-less on syscall36 enabled for '/app_home'. There are three (3) versions available in a single download, as shown below:

- UP0001-GAIA01985_00-7679866932773369-V2.07-BDRIPS.pkg
- UP0001-GAIA01985_00-7679866932773369-V2.07-GAMES.pkg
- UP0001-GAIA01985_00-7679866932773369-V2.07-GAMEZ.pkg

The most popular choices among many users is the 'GAMEZ.pkg'.

Download & discuss in forum »

Custom Firmware with dual boot option. GameOS or Linux

It appears that developer graf_chokolo from xorloser.com is working on a method that will allow the PS3 to dual boot Linux and GameOS (of a different firmware version) from an external hard drive, but it would require modifying the hypervisor. This is what graf_chokolo had to say, " it would be possible to redirect dev_flash to another HDD region, e.g. by patching Hypervisor’s storage subsystem. HDD has enough space for that".

Read more & discuss in forum »