It’s a little late, but it’s here. The PSP™ Content Pack for the month of July is now available for download at SCEA. The pack include:

★ Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light Wallpapers (ESRB = E10)
★ God of War® II Trailer (ESRB = RP)
★ Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Media (ESRB = M)
★ Micro Machines V4 Media (ESRB = E10)
★ Lollapalooza 2006 Festival Schedule
★ Lollapalooza Artist Bios
★ Ozzfest 2006 Wallpapers
★ Vans Warped Tour Wallpapers
★ Vans Warped Tour Music Samples
★ Vans Warped Tour 2005 GAP Video

The PSP™ Content Pack is a free download that features preselected content, optimized for your PSP system. We will provide the Content for you each month. All you need to do is connect your PSP to your PC, download the pack, then just sit back and relax while everything is transferred to your PSP system. Once the process is complete, your PSP system will be stocked full of the latest in PSP system optimized video clips and trailers, wallpapers, screenshots, audio clips, and game content, all for your viewing pleasure. Check back here each month for the newest edition of the PSP™ Content Pack.

Before I go any further, greetings. My name is Damage, and you may have stumbled some of my musings over at Damaged Gear. From time to time, I will write exclusive articles for ATRACLife, mostly historical (and occassionally current) ATRAC Audio Devices, which includes various PCDPs, flash based units, and of course, Hard Disk Network Walkmen.

For our first article, we’ll take a look at the NW-HD5. A wonderful hardware marred by questionable software, a theme that will be repeated by other Sony Devices.

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As the NW-A1200 is now available in the USA, cNet has taken the time to review it accordingly and gives it a rating of 7.3 out of 10.

The good: The Sony NW-A1200 has a stylish and futuristic design; excellent sound quality; is compatible with MP3, unprotected AAC, unprotected WMA, and ATRAC3; includes useful, intelligent playlist and artist link features; replaceable battery; decent value.

The bad: The Sony NW-A1200 uses a hard drive that’s not as durable as flash; has no extra features such as FM, recording, and photo viewing; its monochrome screen is impossible to see in daylight and is easy to scratch; must use the imperfect SonicStage management software.

The bottom line: It has finally arrived in the States. The NW-A1200 is a one-dimensional player with subpar software integration, but the device looks good, sounds great, and includes innovative music search and playlist features.

Click here to read the full review.

It has come to our attention that Sony will be adding a new sport series to its world renown fleet of cylindrical ATRAC devices this coming September/October. The new series will be known as the NW-S20x – featuring the NW-S203F (in silver with 1GB capacity) and NW-S205F (in black with 2GB capacity). The S series are metal in construction, water-resistant and employs a new high visibility 1-Line Organic EL display. The completely new design also feature a unique “collar” knob for music navigation, FM tuner, G-Sensor functions, creating playlist on the go and pedometer.

Note: US Consumers can pre-order the NW-S203F and NW-S205F from Amazon.com for USD$119.99 and USD$149.99 respectively.

Update: We have recieved word that there will be a 512mb variant dubbed NW-S202. Furthermore, all units in this series will be available in black, pink, or silver.

Sony officially launched the CPF-IX001 today, months after it was initally debuted at CES 2006 with little specification. It is an impressive device coming from Sony, as it embraces many technologies not present in their current product lineup with support for numerous services.

The CPF-IX001 wireless streaming music player is compact in size, offering high-powered micro-speakers and a subwoofer. The device can be easily networked with a PC and a wireless 802.11 b/g access point for direct playback of music stored on a hard drive.Additionally, the unit is Sony’s first to include a power line transmission technology transferring both power and audio signals over the same cable. The player is compatible with a variety of popular music download services.

“Digital music downloads are skyrocketing and not all consumers are organizing their music collection on their computers,” said Jeff Goldstein, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics’ Home Products Division “Our wireless music streaming system lets you listen to content stored on your PC all over your house or apartment. The system is compact enough to fit in a kitchen or on a nightstand, yet still fills a room with powerful sound.”

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Sony is planning to do its part to help drivers enjoy safe hands-free conversations and crystal clear, streaming music on the road.

The Sony MEX-BT5000 car stereo is the company’s first audio-streaming AM/FM CD receiver with wireless Bluetooth® technology. The car stereo automatically connects with cellular phones and other devices, including portable music players that have Bluetooth connectivity.

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One year ago today, ATRACLife.com became a registered domain and things have gone very well. From CES to the Connect Player saga, ATRACLife and its forums have constructed a bridge between the consumer and Sony’s developers that was previously nonexistent. Ishii and I have found it to be an immense pleasure to deliver the highest quality information possible regarding everything in the world of Sony audio. Thanks to everyone who has contributed (especially those within Sony, and third-party developers who want to see a world outside Sonicstage)!

Additionally, we are almost at 2,000 topics in the forums and we should reach 10,000 registered members within the forums in a few months time. Thank you for your participation.

In a few months time, ATRACLife will blossom into a larger portal with a slightly different focus, but the content relevant to ATRAC-devices will still flow accordingly. Stay tuned.

p.s. Enjoy the new theme for ATRACLife, hopefully it is more user-friendly than the last. And with everything on the Internet, it is in beta and open to suggestion.