Just before the latest PS3 firmware update, rumors about the inclusion of Portable Copy — which would allow PS3 owners to copy their Blu-Ray movies in standard def to their PSP for portable viewing — swirled around the Internet like excrement in a toilet. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly) it wasn’t included. (Or, to keep the metaphor going, the toilet was unsurprisingly clogged.)
The good news is, it’s still on the plate for a future PS3 update "later this year." After reaching someone to speak with at Sony about Portable Copy and asking if it would even exist, they said that it’s still in the works, and should be available before the year is done as the first Blu-Ray discs with portable copy included will hit the market by year’s end. (Should being the key word, I assume.)
At this point, it’s not clear if a PS3 update will be required to run the copy, or if it will work much like Wal-Mart’s current horrible deal, the DVDs which allow you to copy the movie to your computer and other "movie viewing devices." (It only costs an extra 6 bucks or so over the cost of the normal DVD.) Given the fact that their timeline includes Blu-Ray movies with "portable copy included," I can only assume it will be a disc-based thing, and that older Blu-Ray discs won’t work.
Sony’s hesitant to share much info on the future feature (or they honestly don’t know much at this point), so for the three of us who own a PS3, Blu-Ray movies, AND a PSP, we’ll have to wait a bit longer before we find out how it will all work, let alone watch legit non-UMD movies on our handheld console.
