A user who goes by the pseudonym of Flasher over at French site PSPGen recently cracked open his newly bought PSP, uncovering a never-before-seen motherboard revision: TA-093. Highlights include the removal of a micro-processing unit that was present on earlier boards and a modified UMD latching mechanism. In addition, other on-board components have been shrunk or removed entirely.

For an up-close look at the differences, above is a comparison snapshot of a TA-090 and TA-093 board.

Looks like Sony is employing cost-cutting measures on the hardware front with these newer units. That leads us to ponder. Is Sony paving the way for a smaller PSP, perhaps? Certainly is a possibility, given their fervent stance towards incremental hardware refreshes. Murmurs of a possible UMD-touting PSP-4000 broke out during last year’s Tokyo Game Show.

TA-93 : une nouvelle carte mère et quelques changements vus dans une PSP [PSPGen]

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