Here's some good news for those looking for a lightweight, energy-efficient alternative to the PlayStation Portable's default music player.

Sakya visited the QJ.NET PSP Development Forums to announce that the LightMP3 homebrew application has been upgraded to version 1.7.2.

This latest release hosts several new enhancements, the most interesting being the new Sleep Mode. Users of this app also report that it'll run on PSPs using CFW 3.80 M33-5.

We've posted LightMP3 v1.7.2's changelog here to give you an idea of what else has been improved. Further details regarding this homebrew are available in the file bundle's readme and over at Sakya's post at the QJ.NET PSP Development Forums.

* Added:
o Sleep mode (press TRIANGLE while playing a track).
o The psp will shutdown after the track or playlist/directory.
o @mico: va bene così? ;)
o Option to use the Sony On Screen Keyboard
* Fixed:
o Files named like "dfgeerr...mp3" weren't recognized as mp3
o Freeze on "Opening..." or time stucked at 0 after 20 tracks
o Repeat track mode.
o Cracking sound when quitting while playing a track.
o Some mp3 with "strange" ID3 made the app freeze.
o Some mp3 displayed wrong ID3v2 informations.
* Notes:
o The conflict with Music PRX is still present (in my tests now I have an exception and LightMP3 crashes).
o If you're using Music PRX please disable it before launching LightMP3.
o Custom Firmware Extender slows down LightMP3, so if you're using it you'll have to raise CPU clock in LightMP3 (or disable the plugin).