iTunes gets link to Sony’s new portable PlayStation

A small California software maker has developed a program designed to bring at least part of Apple’s iTunes experience to the new Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

The software, the latest in Information Appliance Associates' series of PocketMac tools to link handheld devices with PCs and Apple computers, allows consumers to sync music from iTunes playlists directly onto the PSP's memory cards. The software also syncs the devices with Apple's iPhoto and address book and contacts databases.

But the capability is unlikely to threaten Apple's own iPod. The PSP is heavier, offers only rudimentary music-browsing capabilities, and Sony's Memory Stick storage doesn't rival the bigger iPods for capacity. But it could give dedicated gamers an extra jukebox and photo wallet in their pocket.

"What Mac owner would want a PSP?" the company asks on its website. "Our answer is, all of them."

The software, despite being made by a third party, underscores Sony's ambitions to turn the PSP into a broadly used multimedia device, in part rivalling the iPod and the new Windows-based Portable Media Centres.

Though focused primarily on gaming, the PSP is being distributed in the US with a full-length copy of Spiderman 2 and other studios have said they will release films on Sony's proprietary Universal Media Disc format. The devices also support MP3 music files and Sony's ATRAC format, which is sold in the company's online Connect music store.

The device does not support the music format distributed by Apple's iTunes store, however. That means that the new PocketMac software will only work with MP3 files, rather than songs purchased from Apple online.

The software is available for download on the PocketMac site, for an introductory price of $9.95.

Other developers are working on other extensions of the PSP's power, including a project aimed at bringing the Linux operating system to the device.

John Borland writes for CNET News.com