The end of Sony's PSX and PDA?

[Chewchilla]

I guess Sony will use the extra parts to build PSP's.

Sony pulling the plug on the PSX?

Officials are tight-lipped about future plans as the latest model of the PS2/PVR hybrid is "discontinued."

TOKYO--Industry watchers in Japan are wondering if Sony is about to pull the plug on the PSX. The company disclosed this week on its web site that it will soon discontinue production of its one-year-old combination PlayStation 2 and personal video recorder, the PSX, prompting speculation that Sony has no plans for new models.

According to the Sony site, the company has ended production of both the most recent PSX models: the DESR-7500 (which comes with a 250GB hard drive and has a street price of around 80,000 yen, or $764) and the DESR-5500 (which comes with a 160GB hard drive and sells for around 60,000 yen, or $573).

"We don't have any official statement that we can make on whether we will release a new PSX model," a Sony representative told GameSpot. Lending additional weight to speculation that the PSX would be discontinued was the rep's reluctance to discuss distribution plans for markets other than Japan. Sony is "still debating" whether to release the PSX in America and Europe.

The PSX made its debut on December 13, 2003, in Japan, about a year before the launch of the PSP. The machine combined a fully functional PlayStation 2 with a DVD and HDD recorder, letting consumers play games, watch DVDs, and record TV programs on the unit's hard drive, in addition to burning them onto discs.

Although Sony anticipated the PSX would become as successful as any other Sony-manufactured game console, the machine was dogged by misfortune before it was even released. Controversy struck early when consumers learned the machine would ship without some of its originally announced launch capabilities, such as PlayStation BB support and MP3 playback. Although the PSX went through a number of firmware updates and had two model upgrades, it now looks like it could earn the dubious distinction of having one of the shortest life spans in the Sony catalog.

In other product-discontinuation news, Sony announced it will end production of its Clie PDA this July. The current model, the VZ90, will be the last model manufactured.

By Hirohiko Niizumi -- GameSpot
POSTED: 02/24/05 10:50 AM PST

[Chewchilla]

From IGN:
PSX: Phase III
Sony gives PSP compatibility to PSX, leaves early adopters out in the cold.
by Anoop Gantayat

March 16, 2005 - Sony Japan unveiled today the latest model of its PSX hybrid hardware. Set for Japanese release on 4/15 are the DESR-7700 and DESR-5700 model systems. These two will replace the DESR-7500 and DESR-5500 models, which went out of production late last year.

The new PSX models are physically identical to the 5500 and 7500 series models, once again coming loaded with, respectively, 160 and 250 gigabyte hard disks. The 5700 and 7700 will come packed with the system's latest firmware update, though, which adds a highly-anticipated feature that lets users dub recorded content to Memory Stick in a format readable by the PSP. The system can copy at 768kpbs and 384kpbs, leaving a 512 megabyte Memory Stick with either 60 or 110 minutes of footage.

Owners of the 7500 and 5500 will be able to upgrade their system to the new firmware. Sony will reveal exact procedures for doing so on 4/4. Those who purchased the original model PSX systems are once again being left out of the update loop, meaning no PSP compatibility for them (ironic since the early adopters who purchased the PSX on day one were probably among the first to purchase a PSP). As tends to be the case for Sony products, pricing on the new PSX units is set at "open," which means retailers can determine their own price point. It's expected that the DESR-7700 will cost around $800 with the DESR-5700 costing $600. These prices are only for Japan, of course, as the fate of the PSX in America is still unclear.