This would be firmware v3.90 if you are keeping score. This one’ll give you the Skype ability, provided you have A) a new thin PSP, not the old phat crap like me and B) a PSP headset, which I hadn’t even heard of before. And then you need to find a WiFi spot that’s open. And a friend with all of the above again. Then you can talk as if you had two cans strung together.

If you are into the homebrew and/or on a phat PSP, I suggest you go on your merry way until a suitably hacked replacement surfaces. (Or go play Beats, it’s only $5 on PSN and it’s pretty good. It’s basically Frequency with your own music.)

SEE UPDATE BELOW

Joystiq has a nice little scoop on the changelog details in Microsoft’s “Fall” update to the 360 Dashboard. They translated it from some sort of early Japanese release. If Joystiq’s bothans are accurate, the list of details is very heavy on organizational tweaks and very light on everything else:

The most significant addition is the reorganization of the “games” blade (pictured above), which now features the “Game Library” (in place of “Xbox Live Arcade”), in addition to the old “Achievements” and “Played Games” sections.

When opened, the Game Library is nearly identical to the current XBLA menu, with a vertically-scrolling games list and an info box appearing for the highlighted game [Famitsu image]. New, however, is a horizontal sorting menu, broken down by filters like “All Games,” “Arcade,” “Demos,” and “Recent Downloads.” (This new horizontal and vertical organization is not unlike Sony’s XMB design — Microsoft calls it “twist” navigation, the same UI used for Zune.)

*snort* Zune! heh. I like the “twist navigation” moniker as well, in that Microsoft’s standard halfassed UI designs are typically cribbed from Apple and then rigorously violated, while a team of lawyers looks on.

Anyhoo, yeah, you can see Friends of Friends and there’s some housecleaning but no DivX or XviD or browser or anything earthshattering. Quelle dommage.

• • •

UPDATE – significant amounts of whelm added! So much for those bothans. There’s a massive list of changes up at Xbox.com and yessir, DivX looks to be in there after all. That’s more like it!

The gist:

• Improved Video Library.
• Improved visuals and descriptions.
• Users can now sort movies and TV Shows in the video library by Title or (Download) Date.
• TV shows can now be grouped by Series .
• Group video and game trailers .
• Art associated with personal video files on a portable device will now be displayed.
• Easier to use media areas and improved metadata .
• Improved source selection for video, picture, and music libraries, making it easier to switch between console/digital camera, computer, portable device or disc.
• New “Suggested Items” link for downloaded movies.

Sony and DivX have announced a partnership today to include DivX support in the PlayStation 3′s firmware. No exact date or much other details are available, other than “it’s coming”.

And with that one move, the PS3 just became the most desirous console in all the world for those of you who happen to use BitTorrent. I never thought it would happen, personally (for Sony or Microsoft) but I’m quite happy to be proven wrong. Let’s hope the 360 follows suit – although since MS just launched their fall update, unless DivX support is already in there, I wouldn’t count on that for at least 6 months.

(Thanks to faithful readers Alex and Rui for the tips)

See, this is how to do things that users appreciate. The PS3 has themes now, but not just crappy proprietary themes, but ones made of standard PNGs and XML. It’s all documented. You can do whatever the hell you like to the look of your XMB now, including editing those hideous friend notifications which is high on my personal list.

I like this approach. It is the exact opposite of the approach others have taken.

In fact, it is just the latest in a long string of very un-Sony-like things that Sony has done with the PS3. (And I suppose the PSP as well, in this particular case.)

One thing I would like to know – the snowy one, it’s called “Nature”. All the icons have snowflakes. Does it change by season? The theme docs mention the ability to embed up to 16 background images that are selected randomly.

Here is the press release for FW 2.0. [link > threespeech] As of this writing, it’s not showing up as an available update on the PS network yet.

There are some good features in there: the folders for XMB sorting are very welcome, and turning your PS3 on and off remotely with a PSP is a nifty trick. But where is the promised in-game XMB access? Cross-game messaging? These are fucking core things, and Sony needs to roll that shit out yesterday.

Full PR spooge after the jump.

Latest PLAYSTATION®3 System Software Update Allows PSPTM to Turn PS3TM On and Off from Internet Connection for Enhanced Remote Play

Ability to customise XMB™ and add personalised playlists for both music and photos also enabled

London, 8 November 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced today the availability of the latest version of the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) system software. Version 2.00 features the ability to turn a PS3 system on and off remotely, using a PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) system via the Remote Play1 function, allowing for a truly mobile partnership between the two systems.

Building on the success and potential of the Remote Play functionality, Version 2.00 will cement the partnership between PS3 and PSP and create a truly global experience. With the ability to turn your PS3 on and off from Wi-fi connection, there is now the opportunity to listen to the music, look at the photos and watch the videos saved on the PS3 Hard Disk Drive, anywhere in the world.

To further enhance the PS3 offering, Version 2.00 allows for the creation of personalised playlists in both the music and photo sections. This simple to use function gives users an opportunity to create unlimited music playlists for all occasions, as well as sharing favourite photos in glorious high definition.

Continuing with the idea of a personalised PS3, Version 2.00 allows for customisation of the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) menu screen. Change the colour and brightness with the greatest of ease or have something completely different by setting a custom theme. With the potential for new backgrounds to become available on PLAYSTATION®Network in the future, Version 2.00 truly opens up a whole raft of options.

A host of other enhancements includes the addition of an Information Board on XMB to keep people up to date on the latest PlayStation® news, the inclusion of a new PLAYSTATION Network category and logo for easier navigation and Trend Micro Web Security, a free2, state of the art internet security system, designed to give parents peace of mind.

The big Tokyo Game Show will be on this week; it may as well be the Sony Game Show since Microsoft has already had their press conference way early and Nintendo won’t be attending.

The rumour that’s making the rounds right now is that the long-awaited rumble-capable PS3 controller will make its debut, and will probably be called the Dual Shock 3. No points for originality there. This would be the TouchSense technology we wrote about back in July.

Other entrails and tea leaves portend of an impending firmware 2.0 update for the Sony console as well, which is known colloquially as The Big One, bringing us wonderful abilities such as in-game XMB access and perhaps the Home rollout. We’ll know by the end of the week.

(Link @ 1UP)

Update – IGN says that EA just demo’d Burnout Paradise using a rumbling PS3 controller, so that part is all but officially confirmed.

Faithful reader Rui sent in this tidbit about a new PSP hack called Pandora’s Battery that magically unbricks your PSP. It turns your regular PSP battery into a “service mode” battery which grants you special un-bricking powers.

Yes. A completely b0rked, unresponsive PSP that has been fried by a bad custom firmware can be retrieved from the very jaws of Hades, and returned to you, better than before.

I am agog at what these Noobz guys can do. They are like the wizards of yore, walking amongst us mere mortals, doing great works and leaving a trail of timeless fables in their wake.

A slew of minor tweaks and welcome additions for the Wii operating system came down the pipe yesterday, delivered by tiny digital Koopa Paratroopas:

Wii Menu

• The weather forecast will now be displayed on the Forecast Channel icon in the Wii Menu.
• Headline news will now be displayed on the News Channel icon in the Wii Menu.
• The current time will now be displayed in the Wii Menu.
• The area around the Wii Message Board button will now flash when a message arrives..

Wii Message Board

• You’re now able to rearrange the order of your Wii Friends in the address book.
• You’re now able to go into the Wii Friends registration screen by pressing the A Button on a blank spot in the address book.
• Envelope message icons will now appear on the calendar only on the dates when a message is received.
• Your message sending history will now be displayed in Today’s Accomplishments.
• You can now scroll the message text by pressing the B button on the message screen.

Wii Shop Channel

• The search function on Virtual Console has been enhanced.

What they didn’t say: apparently there is some rudimentary USB keyboard support in there now, as well as some bugfixes and a generally snappier demeanor. Nice. Not so nice: it also broke Freeloader.

A HARROWING TALE OF SYSTEM UPDATES!!

It started innocently enough, like all tragedies do. I sat down, picked up the controller and started up a game of Super Stardust HD. Nothing unusual happened, no portent of the doom that awaited me, no spirits to warn me back from the abyss that lay in front of me. I should have started to suspect something when I made it to the second planet unscratched.

I played like a man possessed by a spirit. I played like a man born to it. I played like my life and the fate of the entire world depended on it. Had you seen it you would have been moved, quite possibly to tears, by its transcendent beauty. It was a miracle, and about half way through I knew that I was doomed. The gods are jealous of their domain and I had trespassed. I had not sought them out in remote, stony locations to beg their favour. I had stolen it, taken it from the heavens without their permission and used it to game.

There was only one warning of my nemesis, of the pain and anger to come. There flashed in the top right corner of the screen for a full five count the glyphs that would melt my waxen wings: System update available. Those words are etched into my soul. They will haunt me to the grave, where I will tarry a moment to utter their sound before falling into the earth’s cold embrace.

After the game ended two things happened. The first was that the aura that had enveloped me as I play, radiating awesomeness throughout the whole house, receded without a trace. I invite you to inspect my person for yourself – you will see absolutely no remnant of an other-worldly manifestation of absolute coolness. The second thing, the guise of my curse, the cause of my anguish: the PS3 told me that I needed to update the system before I could log my high score. In order to update the system I had to quit the game. In quitting the game I abandoned my score to the electronic wastes where gangs of crappy games and old porn ravage the land, holding a few good programs to ransom until a hero appears. My score was lost.

A miracle, deemed too perfect to live by the gods, stolen from my loving grasp. I doubt that I shall ever recover.