Crackdown on PSP hacks is Microsoft's gain

Microsoft's new Origami device may be a big hit with the gadget fans who were shut down by Sony. "When Sony released the PSP, a community of users deciphered and altered the device's firmware, not out of a desire to hack maliciously but to increase the PSP's functionality," says Paul DeMartino of Reuters Investment. "Sony clamped down on them, and current versions of the PSP can’t be modified — or more accurately, the do-it-yourselfers haven't yet figured out how... It seems like the company made the PSP less functional just to maintain control of products that had already been sold."

DeMartino continues: "History teaches us, though, that when technology corporations get worked up about third-party applications, it’s usually because they plan on making a buck from such efforts themselves at some point in the future... If that is Sony's plan, then it should hurry. Microsoft's device appeals directly to the gadget fans. The experience of the PSP's underground demonstrates a clear demand for an integrated device like Origami, with PDA functionality and multimedia/gaming capability. It is this demand that Microsoft, Intel and some Asian computer companies hope to meet through the Origami."