PS4 Firmware 2.00 Features Revealed, Coming this Autumn
Sony have released some details on their upcoming 2.00 firmware update, along with some info on the PS App (2.0) and PS Vita 3.35, too.
There’s a lot of features for what they’ve codenamed “Masamune”, so let’s just list them:
USB Music Player: PS4 owners will be able to play their own music in the background while playing a game using USB Music Player*. After inserting a USB stick loaded with music into the system, a new option for USB Music Player will appear. Supported filename extensions include MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP.
Change colours: PS4 owners can change the background of the home screen from light blue to one of seven new colors: gold, blue, red, green, purple, pink, and grey.
Enhancements to live broadcasting: Masamune brings a variety of improvements to live broadcasting on PS4. In the Live From PlayStation app, PS4 owners can now select a Featured channel, which includes official broadcasts from PlayStation, broadcasts from people on a players friend list, and any game channel that the player has followed. Additionally, Live From PlayStation now has filters for searching broadcasts on a specific game, as well as support for archived broadcasts.
Friend finder: PS4 will now suggest players you may know, recommending close friends of your close friends.
Content Area and Library: PS4′s Content Area, which shows the latest games and apps a PS4 owner has used, has been redesigned to help make it easier to quickly find and access content. It now shows 15 of a player’s most used apps or games, and additional items will be added to a player’s Library. The Library on PS4 has improved filter and sort functions to help organise contented by type (game / app / TV & video), name (a – z or z – a), recently used, or install date.
Enhanced voice commands: The ability to control PS4 using voice has been improved. Players can now say ‘PlayStation’ to begin commands, and ‘All Commands,’ to see a list of all voice command options available. New voice commands were added for live broadcasting, including “Start broadcast,” “End broadcast,” and “Find face.”
Add to library: The monthly free PlayStation Plus games will have an ‘Add to Library’ button in the PlayStation Store. This button will add a game to a PS4 owner’s library without downloading it – saving space on their hard drive.
Back-up data: Data on PS4 can be backed up and restored using USB storage. This will back up all data for the console, including settings, save data, screenshots, video clips, download data, and more.
I bet a lot of you will be happy to hear about the content area and library changes, and it’ll be nice to play music from USB, though DNLA would be preferred, of course.
Over to PS Vita, then:
The PS Vita and PS TV systems will also receive a system software update to version 3.35 with the same timing as Masamune, adding four-player Remote Play support for PS TV. In addition, the Live from PlayStation app, which allows users to watch live gameplay streams from PS4 systems, will be available on both PS Vita and PS TV alongside this update.
And the PS App?
The PlayStation App for smartphones and tablets, available free on the App Store and Google Play, is also set to receive an update to version 2.0 within the same launch window as both the PS4 and PS Vita system software updates. This update provides a new layout for tablets, and the app’s home screen has been redesigned.
I actually find the firmware updates to these consoles really interesting. So much so that I wrote an article about the PS4 and Xbox One firmware update competition.
