Speculation Time: What will firmware 4.00 bring?

We never should have assumed Skype was coming to firmware 4.0. After all, Skype is just Skype. Clearly Sony has bigger plans for the next level of PSP firmware. Or do they? Tonight we’ll analyze what Sony has on their plate, what we’d like to add to the menu, and what the finished product should look like. There’s plenty of rumors, speculation, and fabrications going around; it’s our job to sort them out, and we’re going to do just that.


To start off, there’s two big rumors going around. The first one involves a lot of goodies, but may not be entirely realistic. While the well-balanced list does look appealing, it’s hard to believe Sony would dump all of these features between 3.90 and 4.00. In fact, this long list (if true) would likely skip 4.00 altogether, and bring a 5.00 update.

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Behold, the long list of rumored 4.00 content:

Game

PLAYSTATION 3 Network titles can be played under PSP [Remote Play] under Game. The PSP is then used as a monitor for any game playable in Playstation 3 game console.

Network
Real, Quicktime, and WMV audio and video codecs are now supported.
[Shockwave Player] has been added as a feature.

PSP web browser has been updated to allow compatibility with current websites.
[Adobe Flash Player 9] has been added as a feature, using the Memory Stick Pro Duo as flash memory.

[Remote Play] has been improved by the PS3 outputting 1080p to the PSP with larger icons text and better video quality. Remote Play now transmits at 11 mbps per sec.
802.11g support has been added as a feature.

PSOne games can now be downloaded without a PS3

Level 6 has been added to rate in Sony LocationFree Player to improve picture quality in H.264
[Auto Connect] has been added as a featureMusic

More visuals has been added as a feature.Video

Real, QuickTime, and WMV audio and video codecs are now supported.
RSS [Video Streaming] has been added as a feature.

[Color Configuration] has been added as a feature.

Recording has been added as a feature under Audio and Video RSS Streaming.Other
Copy, Command, Paste, Auto Complete, and Advanced Cookie Management has been added as a feature.

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Let’s pick at it a bit, shall we? The first feature mentioned is PS3 gaming on the PSP. For one thing, this isn’t new; Lair does exactly this. I can’t see Sony bringing a wide range of titles with Remote Play.The video codecs are what they are, with my only input being DivX on the PS3, but not yet on the PSP. Sony needs to get on that. Next we’ve got a mentioned Shockwave Player, and Adobe Flash 9 support. We’ve been awaiting flash support for quite some time, so it’s no surprise that it shows up here. With that said, I don’t believe the current PSP can handle full, up-to-date flash support. I would expect some form Flash mobile/lite.The next mentioned feature is an 802.11g upgrade. Wouldn’t that be nice. I don’t know the requirements for this upgrade, or if the PSP’s Wi-Fi card is capable. I do know Remote Play being upgraded to 1080p (TV-out) is unrealistic, as is copy/paste and cookies management in the browser. Something tells me Sony is going in an entirely different direction, and uninterested in improving YouTube viewing and browser settings.

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I’ll leave the rest of the noted features for discussion in the comments. Let’s move on to the less-filling, but perhaps more realistic list of rumored 4.00 updates:
[Go! Messenger]* has been added as a feature under [Network]
[Date & Time] menu has been added
[Organizer] has been added as a feature under [Date & Time]
Danish and Norsk languages have been added
The ability to customize the volume bar and battery meter under [Theme Settings] have been added
The ability to create and edit playlists under [Photo] and [Music] have been added

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Hmm. These are more like the official update we’re accustom to, unfortunately. While they do provide new functionality, they’re far from thrilling. Go!Messenger is already available for those in Europe, an organizer would be neat (not necessarily ideal), but not very entertaining. Creating and editing playlists is also a nice touch, but once add, doesn’t again, doesn’t a whole lot to the PSP experience.Here’s what Sony should do, and if I’m lucky as all hell, they will do. Before updating to firmware 4.00, bring any little features you’re planning. An organizer? Great, stick it in a 3.92 update, we promise not to be mad.What we should see on firmware 4.00:
Support for Home, even if it’s minimal
Flash 7+ support, a mobile version, or a standalone YouTube-like launcher
A mobile version of the Playstation Store
DivX support, additional AV supportTo be fair, I could never expect Sony to cram all this into a single firmware update. Also, we have to keep in the mind the PSP is certainly limited by it’s internal memory. If Sony were to include even one of these options, I would consider it a worthwhile update. The idea of a PSP Store has been tossed around, but I’m pretty sure it’s still in development. Home may not be coming until May (or later) so perhaps we’ll skip on that too. It’s all up to Sony, and we know they’ve got their hands full. Look forward to a firmware update in the next few weeks, just don’t expect the long lists of features that have been passing around the internet.

Source: Acidmods