Condor, well known for releasing themes for the popular multi functional tool, multiMAN, has released a screensaver, to accompany other Homebrew app’s, here is a quote from the source:

Ok guys here we go, Finally I present to you Solar.
V1 stable, Multifunctional Homebrew screensaver.
I made this app as a companion to other Homebrews, with the intention to reduce or eliminate screen-burns
and also grant FTP access while the screensaver runs.
This version I made for Rogero Manager, but any other that might want it, just let me know since with a proper SELF to spawn to it can work with any other apps.

Changelog:

• 3D and 2D playback.

• 3 stable screens timed to eliminate screen burns.

• Mp3 playback.

• dynamic effects.

• This version is works with Rogero Manager.

future updates:

• Ftp, ….still doesn’t work right, so I’ll leave it for a future update.

• More screens.

• More Dynamic effects, eg: asteroid hitting a planet.

• Comets, well that already works but too late to add it.

• User MP3 playback by drag/drop to CNDR00001 directory.

Download and Source

PS3Hax member Darkhacker, the guy behind various PS3 homebrew including DragonFTP, has released a proof of concept video for another piece of homebrew he has been working on: PSHomebrew. What is PSHomebrew? Think of it like the “Cydia” of the PS3.The project is currently being worked on and he has exclusively released to us a proof of concept video:

Update 1:

Remember this? Well the same person has been in contact with an Italian team called DiGiTaLAnGeL and through twitter they have announced that they managed to downgrade a PS3 slim from 3.70 down to 3.55 CFW using the well known NAND/nor flasher Progskeet. This looks like good news for the scene and people stuck on 3.70. They have said that a tutorial will be released soon.

It has also been announced by uf6667 (developer behind Progskeet) that a surprise is waiting for 3.56-3.70 users.

[VIA DigitalAngel Release Site]

[VIA Twitter]

We all know that the US version of Catherine is 3.60 encrypted and hence is not playable on CFW, but the Japanese version is (3.55 encrypted). The obvious language difference has kept many users from playing the jap version, but various members from the PS3 scene community have managed to make a English fix for the game. They did this by playing with the US/JAP eBoots to create a “hybrid” eBoot playable on CFW.

Although its proper to call this still a beta phase, it is mostly functional and you should be able to figure your way out of many of the untranslated things. They are asking for testers so if your interested you can try the method below.

To quote:

Contrary to what you wrote, I don’t feel that way about the files at all.

I hacked together some pretty terrible shortform responses in order to fit the space limitations in the Japanese MailData and MTFL. They’re far from perfect, full of grammar and other mistakes, and frankly I’m embarrassed about them. But in order to fix those problems, I need testers. However, torrents on such sites like BitGamer, have not linked the issue page, nor have any of the DDL files. So while people are able to play the game, it’s far from perfect and not only are they likely to be disappointed, their disappointment won’t reach my ears.

With that being said, I’d rather no credit be given to me for my terrible job (however I do give credit to Wilson-PSG for providing the upperscore free english subtitles).

For those wondering what the current status of the project is, we’re still working on it – but trying to edit the Japanese EBOOT so we can get a real, proper, release. But in the meantime, I’m working on fixing up the shortened versions of the cellphone messages and replies, and the rope answers for the worst case scenario of us not being able to fix the EBOOT.

If you wish to test and actually give feedback, the files have been freely available and I linked them multiple times. But for those that wish to not read back through the forums, here is a handy guide on how to set things up.

1. Ensure that you have either the Japanese or North American of Catherine available.
2. Download the required tools to make the modifications to your game from : http://www.mediafire.com/?bfjnaruk41cr1oy.
3. Download the other required modifications to ‘partially’ put your game into English : http://www.mediafire.com/?6klv96qcmc47ylj.
4. Extract both archives.
5. From the tools archive, open the quickbms folder and open up ‘quickbms.exe’.
6. A file selection dialog will appear, asking you to select the BMS script or plugin to use, go to the extracted quickbms folder and select ‘cpk.bms’.
7. Another file selection dialog will appear, asking for the input archive. Now browse to your copy of the Japanese or North American version of Catherine (BLJM60215 or BLUS30428) and from the PS3_GAMEUSDIR folder within it, select ‘data.cpk’.
8. The last file selection dialog will appear, and you can choose the output folder of your choice, I suggest you create a new one called ‘data’.
9. After several minutes, the files will be extracted to the folder you specified. Now copy the folders from the mod.rar archive that you extracted earlier, and paste and merge them in the output folder from quickbms that you selected. Allow them to overwrite the folders.
10. From the tools archive, open the ‘CRI Packed File Maker-ElPocho96′ folder, and go into the ‘crifilesystem’ directory. Open the application named ‘CriPackedFileMaker.exe’.
11. Next to the ‘Base Directory’ bar at the the top of the application, click the folder icon with an arrow. From the folder selection dialog, choose the output folder from quickbms for the contents of your now-modified data.cpk.
12. Allow a few moments for the application to load all the files, and press the ‘Build CPK file…’ button in the bottom of the application.
13. In the settings box, change the ‘Data Align’ slider to 2048, and change the ‘File Mode’ dropdown to ‘Filename’. Also uncheck ‘Try Compression’ if it happens to be checked.
14. Hit the ‘Start to Build’ button and be prepared to wait 7-15 minutes for data.cpk to be rebuilt.
15. Once it finishes, backup your old data.cpk in the PS3_GAMEUSDIR folder of your game (for preparation of future patches), and place your new, modified data.cpk in its place.
16. Transfer the files over to your PS3, and load the game in your backup manager of choice – please ensure that all previous game data the update for the japanese game are deleted prior to starting the game with your new data.cpk.
17. The last, most important step is to please report any bugs you may find, translation issues, or other things you have a problem with at the project issues page at http://code.google.com/p/cathyeng/issues/list

For those using the North American release as a base, please be warned that the rapunzel.pac is not included in the mod.rar as we don’t officially support the NA release quite yet. For both releases, Babel seems to crash and we’re still investigating those problems. Circle is accept/confirm and Cross is cancel, because of the Japanese EBOOT. When everything is fixed, we will release the full game already modified for those who don’t wish to fool around with patching (and probably offer the patch method anyways for all of you that have already downloaded the game).

Any further questions can be answered by one of the users or ‘staff’ at the Catherine IRC channel, #catherine @ irc.rizon.net

Hope this posts clarifies the intentions, and clears up confusion some of you may have been experiencing.

[VIA PSX-Scene]

Edit: PS3Hax member pepethedon has uploaded a POC video:

Well most of us should have heard that the crew behind JFH-DH Have lost hopes for PSN access on their firmware, instead they have been working on a lil sumfin’ sumfin. In summary its a PSN alternative (they abandoned plans for PSN connectivity).

To quote, translated:

INFORMATION

As you can see in the picture this will be the design (for lack of making a decent logo) to RNA.
Also if you can observe the list of functions that will bring its first version:

• Friends:
Add your friends see your profile, avatar and information. Browse through their trophies and compare with yours.

• Trophies:
Updates trophies for other friends to see. In later versions will add support for social networks can post your trophies on sites like facebook and twitter. Maybe when I get The Grid be able to update facebook and trophies at the same time to win.

• Network:
Do not come in the first version, but it will be the meeting point. Create rooms and join them will be just some of the options available there.

• Inbox:
Send and receive messages from your friends. In future it will be possible to send messages inviting rooms in the network.

• Quick Menu:
By simply pressing <- -> (arrow), the menu will change law offering:

◦ Your profile
◦ Friends List
◦ Posts
◦ Menu
◦ Accept suggestions

There will also be an options menu where, among other things, you can choose the background color to taste full and unrestricted (limited range of RGB, which should not be a problem).

You can see an outline of the functions in (updated regularly): http://www.mindomo.com/es/mindmap/rna-ca64b56858824209916e8222a07e3f6e

Suggestions and others: https://bitbucket.org/blipi/rna/issues/new

By selecting “Type”: “proposal” and “Priority” as you may believe that very little or urgent.

PROGRESS

Progress (14/08/11 – 3:30 am)

• PHP Server:

◦ Login: 100%
◦ Handshake Process (security): 30%
◦ Parser package: 100%
◦ Builder packages: 100%
◦ User (information): 0%
◦ Trophies: 0%
◦ Friends: 0%

• PS3 pkg:

◦ Basic GUI: 80%
◦ Interaction and control: 40%
◦ Dynamism and animations: 20%

• Global: 5%

Here is a small video showing their text transitions:

[VIA Demonhades]

Most of you probably heard of the great works of Gitbrew already, well they have announced more interesting bit of news – and by the title most of you are gaping in joy. In short they managed to sign PKG files for firmware 3.60+ via PSL1GHT.

To quote:
We are talking about NPDRM and the v3.60+ problem. — Previously only those with an official Sony PS3 SDK could do anything, and still in a limited fashion, and recently the developers have been able to use a heavly modified PSL1GHT setup to do the impossible, sign a package for the v3.60+ system!

What they are calling FrankenSDK, and here is example test output from the project:

$ make_package_npdrm.exe
Makefile
PS3_GAME/
UP0001-TEST00000_00-0000111122223333.pkg
launcher.conf
launcher.elf
launcher.gp3
launcher.self
main.cpp
main.h
objs/
readme_e.txt
readme_j.txt

durandal@GIBSON /c/usr/local/cell/samples/util/debug/launcher
$ make_package_npdrm.exe -c UP0001-TEST00000_00-0000111122223333.pkg

checking package validity:

Checker Revision : 1754
Package Filename : UP0001-TEST00000_00-0000111122223333.pkg
ContentID        = UP0001-TEST00000_00-0000111122223333
DRMType          = Free
ContentType      = GameExec
PackageFlag      = RenameDirectory (during install for consistency)
PackageVersion   = 01.00
# TITLE_ID       : TEST00000
# CATEGORY       : HG
# BOOTABLE       : YES
# VERSION        : 01.00
# APP_VER        : 01.00
# PS3_SYSTEM_VER : 03.6000
# SDK_VERSION    : 03.6000
# PackageSize    : 1,418,448 bytes
# QA_Digest      : 0x980A875601D1B8051AB861C1F28872E7
#                : This is a digest of packaged files and attributes.
# PackageDigest  : 0xC9C6738644482EB4885880EBB88143AA2DF73A10
#                : This is sha1 digest of package without last 32 bytes.
# Packaged by    : make_package_npdrm revision 1754

Content Information Files:
PARAM.SFO
ICON0.PNG
(and other 1 directories and 1 files.)

Package Check Complete.

durandal@GIBSON /c/usr/local/cell/samples/util/debug/launcher
$

Tools are expected to be released soon.
You can support Gitbrew for their work here.

[VIA PS3Crunch VIA Twitter]

Over on Demonhades, they have posted an update of the JFW openstore. The project is about 90% completed and expected launch date is in October. Here is a rough translation of what they have posted:

Fellow demons, opened this thread to get official comments on developments and answer questions focused on OpenPStore.

Above you can see the video created by matercrack, one of the devs involved in the development of the app created exclusively for JFW.

The state of development is 90%, in the absence of the inclusion of some details in the menus and upload content to the server.

Developers involved:

-blipi
-the_marioga
-matercrack
-dantehades

This application is exclusively for developers involved, before publishing it elsewhere you will have to ask permission from these devs.

1saludo

Video:

[VIA Demonhades]

ThatOtherDev/ThatOtherPerson has just released an updated build of his homebrew game “The Unmapped Forest”. This brings along a lot of fixes, here’s a quote:

Video thanks to manster.

Download PS3 Version
Sprite Sheet
Sprite Sheet (with extra info)

Source

Remember all those RSOD’s that were happening back in the early days of CFW, now progskeet as we all know supports fixing issues such as NAND/NOR downgrading, etc. Now progskeet has a gotten a little bit more cooler with the release of this update allowing those of you unfortunate ones with the RSOD(Red Screen Of Death) to come back to life and join in on the scene that’s right developer uf6667 has done just that. Here is a quote:

Changelog:

110811:

NOR: Complete rewrite of the driver of NOR, NAND one of was not changed.

NOR: Optimization of the method of Write-To-Buffer Programming (addition of a timeout). Note: All models do not support this optimization. Please consult the data sheet if you have problems.

NOR: Optimization of erasing sector (addition of a timeout) ⋅

NOR: Checking forced flash and differential.

NOR: Unable to enter values ​​now, thank you RAIDEN (if only a few people read …).

Note: Some models of NOR have bad sectors (usually only a few bytes, but enough to prevent the operation of the entire system). They will be reported in C: ProgSkeet.log If you have a template with this problem (for example, I heard that this problem occurs when a RSOD the PS3) you should be able sectors move somewhere or replace NOR flash. 110 811-A:

NOR: Fixed bug in timeout for deletion / programming. It has also been improved to 3.5 seconds per line per sector.

110 811-B:

NOR: Add a message waiting when erasing a sector.

110 811-C:

Improved speed flashing.

110 811-D:

Addition of “test” for flashing. 5 trials are currently scheduled.

More information can be found at the source:

http://www.ps3crunch.net/forum/threa…es-NOR-Support

http://www.logic-sunrise.com/news-33…progskeet.html

As im sure a most of you are aware, next week, on the 18th/19th of August, will celebrate on e year of PS Jailbreak, the device that lead to us having homebrew on our PS3′s, many things have happened in that year, open source versions of PS Jailbreak, PS3 keys released, GeoHot returning, Mod Firmware(MFW), GeoHot getting sued, graf_chokolo getting sued, PSN getting hacked, GeoHot rolling over and giving into Sony and many other events.
It has been a fun year, filled with Homebrew games and applications, so to celebrate that awesome year, i have decided to hold a competition, so now details of the prize:

Hardware Developer Killerbug has donated one of his E-Z Chill fan controllers, you can chose one from a list of three:

PS3 E-Z Chill Hidden Control Version
The PS3 E-Z Chill Hidden Control Version is recommended for all PS3 “Fat” models.

PS3 E-Z Chill Set-n-Forget Version
The PS3 E-Z Chill Set-n-Forget version is the simplest version. It is 100% plug-n-play and it works will all PS3 models including slims, but is not recommended for backwards-compatible models (20GB, 60GB, early 80GB) as initial adjustment is difficult on these models.

PS3 E-Z Chill External Control Version
The PS3 E-Z Chill External Control Version works with all PS3 models including the Slims. No soldering is required, but this version does require you to drill a small hole to allow access to the adjustment knob.

For those wondering why you would want or need a fan controller:

The PS3 E-Z Chill series is designed to minimize the chances of the dreaded YLOD system failure. It does this by allowing you to set the fan speed above normal speeds, thus greatly reducing the heat/cool effect that causes the YLOD.

Now to the terms of entering the competition:

All you have to do is post what you first used to “jailbreak” your PS3 and the reason why you “jailbroke” it.
For an example in my case:
I used a modified version of PSFreedom on my HTC Desire and i “jailbroke” it so i could use Homebrew applications and games.

I usually disallow staff to enter competitions, but in this case, as it is a celebration for all, everyone is welcome to enter
The competition will run to the end of the month and the same number generator will be used to pick the winner, good luck to all those that enter.

If you dont win and want one of these, or you cant wait until the competition is over, you can buy them from here or here

PS3 Media Server, has to be the most popular media streaming software for the PS3, today it has been updated to version 1.31.0 Beta 1, here are the changes:

• Updated OS X MPlayer to enable external VOBsub, ASS/SSA and Fribidi support

• allow update checks to be performed manually (Windows only)

• allow automatic update checks to be enabled (Windows only)

• simplify PMS customization for packagers of custom builds

• logging fix for headless configurations

• Added experimental support for iPad / iPhone

• Fixed DVD ISO playback on OS X (thanks, jjmojojjmojo!)

• Added support for the AirPlayer app

• Added support for Samsung TV model SEC_HHP_TV (thanks, coax-!)

• Added Aperture support on OS X (thanks, coax-!)

• Added thumbnail support for images (some code from here

Source

Download Windows
Download MacOS
Download Linux

Thanks to the awesome manster for the tip

NOTE
This is a beta version, so there may be some problems/issues.

After various requests I have finally gotten around to adding a arcade section on the forums. You can view the arcade HERE (must be logged in).

The arcade system stores all highscores between forum members, and the highest score for each game will earn a Platinum Trophy icon displayed on the forums (for your e-peen entertainment). There are also beta tournaments that I will be testing, which I plan will hopefully lead to interested future competitions/prizes.

Please note that AdBlock will interfere with highscore saving for some games.

Please report any bugs in this thread, and good luck

>> Go to PS3Hax Arcade <<

Today, JohnAaron leaked a link which gives you access to tons of source files and keeps the GCC toolchain updated. If you are not a dev, this probably won’t be any help to you.

Source: PSX-Scene

During February and March of this year, we reported on Sony and LG going through a court case, it got serious when LG had manged through the courts to get an injunction against the sale of PS3′s, many consoles were seized by customs officers in the Netherlands, after almost two weeks, Sony managed to get this injunction lifted and PS3′s were allowed to cary on their normal journey, but the dispute between the two companies was far from over, until today, where the have signed an agreement, here is a quote from the source:

(Reuters) – LG Electronics and Sony said on Thursday that they have resolved patent disputes between the two firms spanning smartphones, TVs and Blu-ray technology, with LG adding that they have signed a cross-licensing deal.

“LG and Sony recently agreed to drop patent infringement lawsuits against each other,” a spokeswoman at South Korea’s LG Electronics said. Sony confirmed this, but declined to comment further.

LG shares were up 1.3 percent, outperforming the Korea Composite Stock Price Index’s (KOSPI) 1.7 percent fall, while Sony shares were down 2.7 percent, hitting a 2-1/2 year low, against a 1.5 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average.

Sony and LG have been embroiled in a string of bitter lawsuits on a wide range of products in Europe and the United States since the two technology giants failed to renew a technology sharing agreement that expired three years ago, a person familiar with the matter said.

Sony had filed a complaint against LG with the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking to block LG from shipping its Rumor Touch and several other smartphones to the United States.

LG also told the commission that Sony’s PlayStation 3 infringed its Blu-ray video technology.

The patent spat culminated in the seizure of PlayStation 3 game consoles by customs officers in the Netherlands following a court injunction by LG in March.

Source Reuters

So those of you looking to buy PS3′s in the future, need worry no more about them being seized.

WE posted here last night, that Sony where close to releasing a new Firmware, that Firmware version 3.70 is now live and brings the following features:

For PlayStation Plus members, System Software update 3.70 introduces two often requested features: Automatic syncing on trophies to PlayStation Network and automatic upload of game saves to Online Storage (only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers). Syncing of Trophy information will occur at the time you select in the Automatic Download settings; due to these additional functions, ‘Automatic Download’ will be renamed as ‘Automatic Update’.

System Software 3.70 will also make some changes to the layout of the XMB. The [TV] section will be renamed [TV/Video Services] and is where you will find the streaming video services available in your territory, such as BBC iPlayer in the UK.

In PlayStation Store, a ‘recommend’ feature has been added, allowing you to message your PlayStation Network friends and highlight a game or other piece of content.

MPO (Multi-Picture format) files for 3D photos and multi-angle photos can now be displayed under Photo and in [Photo Gallery].

3D playback of Blu-ray Java (“BD-J”) content is now supported. You can now enjoy BD-J content recorded on Blu-ray 3D discs.

—-

SCEE via its Twitter account, posted that tomorrow, Thursday the 11th of August, there will be a scheduled maintenance, which will start at 4:05 PM BST on Thursday evening, until 2:00 AM BST on Friday morning.

EDIT:
Regarding the Firmware update, i think it may have a bug, regarding network.
I have my PS3 connected via Ethernet had no problems with it until i updated, now each time i try and sign in, it tells me i have no Ethernet cable connected, if i redo network settings and and do a network test, it says everything is fine, im connected to the internet and PSN, but when i go to actually sign into PSN, it tells me no Ethernet cable is connected, i can connect via WiFi, but prefer Ethernet.
Im wondering if any of you have experienced similar problems ?

UPDATE 1:

Just a reminder the DNS bypass trick works again for lower firmwares (67.202.81.137 for primary/secondary DNS). Will only work for 1-2 week as usual following the new firmware update. The DNS trick is for 3.60 and above. Not for 3.55 and below. This is because of the XI-Passphrase that was changed to keep CFW off PSN

UPDATE 2:

According to internet reports, the new firmware brings a set of keys (making new releases unplayable on CFW at all). It also patches the holes that Cobra-USB supported.

Well it seems in the near future you might be lucky enough to have language support for your native tongue in Showtime.  Back from vacation Andreas Oman has added a Swedish translation to Showtime.  From version 3.1.35 on you can change your language setting via Settings/ Languages. Now this is where everyone else comes in.  To contribute if you speak anything else other than English or Swedish you can visit the dedicated forum section for translations.

Source

They Do Not Die is a homebrew game that has been released by developer ThatOtherPerson. What this game is a basically a top down view of a zombie shooter. However what makes this game special is that it will be multiplatform, which will be ported to the PC and later Nintendo’s Wii. However this is still an early build. As quoted by ThatOtherPerson

ThatOtherPerson is also holding a contest with the prize still being undecided.

Download

Source

Thanks to hackboiz29 for the original news tip

In case you don’t feel like checking your email, here it is: