With a certain other console preparing a large fall update, Sony has decided to release information regarding upcoming firmware updates for both their Playstation 3 and PSP gaming platforms.
Firmware 2.50 for the PS3 will bring about a few new features, including some bluetooth enhancements. The user will now have on-screen access to information such as the volume, battery level, and mute status of their official Sony Bluetooth Headset. In addition, if using the official headset, users will now have access to a "High Quality" mode which will take advantage of the dual microphone design of the headset to improve communication quality. Along with the bluetooth enhancements, the PS3 update will also include support for in-game screenshots (future titles supporting this feature to be announced at a later date), improvements to the Trophy interface aimed at making it more intuitive, thumbnail based scene searching for videos, direct links from the Information Board to the Playstation store, and a power save feature which will power off the console or controllers after a selected period of inactivity.
On the portable side of things, firmware 5.00 for the PSP will bring about direct access to the Playstation Store, thus removing the need to first connect to a PC or PS3 console. Users will be able to download game content, demos, videos and anything else in the store over any available Wi-Fi connection. In addition to the store access, firmware 5.00 will include a full on-screen QWERTY keyboard for web browsing, replacing the mobile phone style pad used now, a sleep timer to be used during music playback, and the ability for compatible PSP's (meaning not the PSP-1000) to output classic Playstation format titles at the full screen size of the connected TV.
Both updates are slated to be released on October 15th.
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