PSP firmware 4.00 due "soon," adds Google search to XMB

There's no indication of an exact release date just yet, but word just dropped on the official PlayStation blog that the PSP will be getting a boost to firmware version 4.00 "soon." That'll bring with it the addition of Google search directly form the XMB interface, which Sony says "replicates the Google Internet search experience." Apart from that somewhat notable upgrade, the only other new feature they're talking about at the moment is the ability to change the viewing speed during playback of videos stored on a Memory Stick. Not exactly the upgrade we would have guessed for a milestone like 4.00, but we can always hope Sony has a couple of surprises up its sleeve.

[Blair Thiessen @ Jun 16th 2008 4:16PM]

PSP Firmware 4.0 and PS3 Firmware 2.4 will be out early July and we all know it!

[coochie @ Jun 16th 2008 9:01PM]

aiya!

[Simon @ Jun 18th 2008 6:23AM]

I downloaded firmware 4.00 this morning in the UK. Wow is it underwhelming. So far as I can see it is just an XMB google search function and slower videos (which I haven't tried). Your PSP UK doesn't list the download as available yet so I can't check to see if there are any more features. Very disappointed.

[jarris @ Jun 16th 2008 4:21PM]

I wish it worked with pandora.com

[coochi @ Jun 16th 2008 9:01PM]

aiya me too~!!~!~!~

PANDORAIYAAAAAA!!!!!


.com

[Stan @ Jun 19th 2008 5:22PM]

Agreed!!!

[Jake @ Jun 16th 2008 4:23PM]

cue jackasses asking where Firmware 2.40 for PS3 is.

1/ Sony have never confirmed Firmware 2.40
2/ They have never given it a release date
3/ They have never said about any of it's features.

There is a vague mention of it from a Sony rep, and some whisperings of this summer, THAT'S IT...

[scared @ Jun 17th 2008 11:10AM]

You are that jackass.

[CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 16th 2008 5:52PM]

cue low ranking for Jake.

[Nohone @ Jun 16th 2008 5:58PM]

In all fairness, you have made your share of "jackass" comments about the XBox, so why shouldn't people make comments about it?

[Kharii @ Jun 16th 2008 4:26PM]

cool!!! i heard from a froum that a lot has added also including shockwave player, flashplayer 9 and stuff!!

source:http://www.pspmod.com/forums/firmware/25871-psp-fw-4-00-released-soon.html

[Low Ranked @ Jun 16th 2008 5:12PM]

I'm really looking forward to the 'stuff'.

[farfisa @ Jun 16th 2008 9:34PM]

Flash Player 9 would be amazing, but very unlikely--they're stuck at 6 now, with 7 being when they started including video support. Youtube support could happen though, as they've been converting everything to H264 for iPhone and AppleTV.

[Olivier @ Jun 16th 2008 4:28PM]

Some of the guys commenting on the playstation blog are getting there knickers in a twist over the google search functionality on the XMB.

It sure would be nice if Sony updated the browser instead, or Divx playback, gmaps app, flickr upload ability etc.


IMHO, the PSP hardware review is overdue now; I sure would like some 802.11g or n now, bluetooth, dual analog sticks, USB keyboard connectivity, built-in mic etc.

There's only so much lipstick you can put on a pig as they (that's a little harsh, the PSP is very nice but it's clearly missing some added functionaality).

[primetime4 @ Jun 16th 2008 4:43PM]

Sounds like you need a new laptop.

[Olivier @ Jun 16th 2008 4:48PM]

@prime
You could be right.
I've just come to expect a lot of things from the PSP. It jus tseems that Div support wouldn't be that hard if they got h264 support going. The browser is a little tricky but couldn't Sony use the webkit core and be done?

[primetime4 @ Jun 16th 2008 5:16PM]

I think the hold-up here is that Sony is still trying to get PSP users to buy a PS3 which does do DIVX which you can stream via remote play. Same with the PS3 browser which is much better than PSP browser. They will probably hold improving/adding this for the PSP for a little while longer.

[dksjagh @ Jun 16th 2008 9:01PM]

AIYALAPTOPAITA NYOOOO~!!~~!!~

NYO NYO NYO LAPTOP KA

[itchy @ Jun 16th 2008 9:57PM]

Maybe you do need a new laptop. But there is no denying that the PSP could use a better browser. The one that is on there is really pretty useless. If you go to a site that has any amount of flash or a lot of graphics, it takes forever to load or just overwhelms you with so many prompts that you give up on loading the page. It also doesn't play nice with google anything (mail, calendar, etc.). Hell, in my experience smart phones are a lot better than the PSP at browsing the web. And there is no reason why this should be so.

[tekdroid @ Jun 17th 2008 1:57AM]

Oliver sez:
"IMHO, the PSP hardware review is overdue now"
--------
A renew or refresh would be really nice. I agree.
At the very least better wireless support / security support.
Dual analogue sticks I think is going too far and would stratify their software to the 'have' and the 'have-nots' too much and developers would be even less inclined to develop for that, IMO, essentially making the upgrade useless and costing Sony lots in cost-per-unit.

Bluetooth I think is a bit of overkill, but i can see it being good with avoiding the stick-out of the GPS, but again it comes to competing with Nintendo who make very nice profit on every DS and this would just cut into their margins big-tme. Keyboard support or touchscreen support is probably the really big thing it needs for any sort of web browsing to be productive but I doubt Sony will go for it. Without it, it's close to useless to me as a web device. But again I understand the limitations of the device and the need to compete at a price point.

I shake my head whenever I come to that virtual keyboard / numbad thing. Right there that thing isn't worth bothering with, even if the browser were Opera or similar, I'd still have second (and third) thoughts about using it, purely on the horrid waste of time that thing is.
--------


"There's only so much lipstick you can put on a pig as they (that's a little harsh, the PSP is very nice but it's clearly missing some added functionaality)."
-----------
Agreed completely! Games, audio quality and movies is where it really shines and they should push the movie and Walkman-ish aspect farrrrr more than they do. Not to mention reduce the price of their Memory Sticks, which seems to be double what SD and variants go for.

[thaylinsgate @ Jun 16th 2008 4:30PM]

I would really like Dvix and a mirror of the PS3 Codec Support.

[Jake @ Jun 16th 2008 4:32PM]

So you want the little handheld with PS2-era CPU and 32MB of RAM to be able to do the same as your 7-core Cell based superCPU and 512MB of memory???

some people....

[Eugenia Loli-Queru @ Jun 16th 2008 4:47PM]

He didn't say that. He said mirror codec support, not resolution support. For example, the PSP is perfectly capable decoding VGA DivX and QVGA WMV videos. Nobody asks full HD decoding for these codecs as the PS3 does. Plus, the PSP has very limited h.264 level support, that sometimes it even breaks between releases. Again, no one asks HD resolution videos, but we would like to have Main Profile, Level 4.1 QVGA CABAC videos to playback.

[James L @ Jun 16th 2008 4:48PM]

My Zen Vision M, had a 90Mhz processor and 64Mb of memory and that could play nearly every video codec under the sun

[Ace b @ Jun 16th 2008 8:14PM]

@Jake

Don't forget the Slim has 64mb of mem.

[Jhongerkong @ Jun 16th 2008 4:36PM]

Custom firmware version to be out 2 hours later

[jimmy @ Jun 17th 2008 12:20AM]

seriously, who cares about legit firmware. wake me up when darkalex is done working his magic

[tekdroid @ Jun 17th 2008 2:04AM]

considering 3.95 M33 hasn't been released yet (despite officially being released a while ago), I find that comment a bit curious!

[Poozle @ Jun 17th 2008 3:47AM]

Thats because Dark Alex has said he's not releasing another CFW until a major firmware revision.

[Cody @ Jun 16th 2008 4:45PM]

Anybody understand that?

[Tony @ Jun 16th 2008 4:47PM]

I think he got too excited about the PSP firmware. Either that or he's really bad a sarcasm.

I also think he tried to draw a penis, but failed.

[Cody @ Jun 16th 2008 4:48PM]

IMO I would like Sony to add some media streaming support from your computer to your PSP for those of us not lucky enough to own a PS3. BTW yes, i know there are ways to stream music to your PSP but I'd like to see some music and video support from Sony first hand.

[Cody @ Jun 16th 2008 4:48PM]

lol I'm glad you got something out of it. :P

[CraziestGadgets.com @ Jun 16th 2008 4:48PM]

the PSP is the most frustrating interface to type letters out. who would want to search google with it? much easier to do on a cellphone anyway.

[tekdroid @ Jun 17th 2008 2:19AM]

agreed; that an the poor browser could be described as rudimentary at best.

[lukewd @ Jun 16th 2008 5:02PM]

come on sony, we want support!!!!

[Reader @ Jun 16th 2008 5:02PM]

If that's his penis, he may want to see a doctor ASAP.

[jar jar @ Jul 24th 2008 2:58PM]

messa say you no see my pee pee!

YOU NO DOCTORAUAUSIDUH

meesa see ur phd

you no touch my P P P!

/ \
( Y )
\ | /

[Edd @ Jun 16th 2008 5:10PM]

You know, Im beginning to think I get a lot more out of my SONY Ericsson k810 - full video playback, with little hassle getting Divx (one-click converted) playback, Opera browser, high-quality music player, etc. etc. Meanwhile my PSP sits in the drawer used for nothing bu games, infrequently.

I'm not comparing the PSP with the phone, but I am thinking that three years on, the meagre software bits Sony has given us is pretty dire. I was a whisker away from exploring homebrew, and with hindsight I think that's the only way I'd have stayed in love with my PSP. Sony could either have done more or allowed other developers to play with their tools.

[TareX @ Jun 16th 2008 5:15PM]

The psp needs a serious next-gen hardware update (the last one -the redesign- hardly counts), not a firmware.

[Cory @ Jun 16th 2008 5:32PM]

Click this guy's profile. He seriously just made an account just to write that comment and a replica of his deformed penis.

[hiko36 @ Jun 16th 2008 5:42PM]

@ Reader

You're penis doesn't look like that?

[jar jar @ Jul 24th 2008 2:58PM]

YOUSA DO YOUSA DO DDDOOOOOO

AIYA AIYA AIYA AIYAAAAAAAAAAAA IT BURRRRRNSSS

__ __
/ '. .' \
| |`\ \ / /`| |
\.--' '-' '--./
.' .-'"'"'-. '.
/ .-(((( ))))-. \
.' / =/_o/___\o_\= \ '.
.' / .-' '-. \ '.
/ / / ass \ \ \
/ | \ \ / / | \
| \ /-`.__.__.`-\ / |
\ \ ` \.-./ ` / /
\ '-._ , '-' , _.-' /
'. /()`'-'-=-'-'`()\ .'
`/`\ '()()()()()() /`\`

[hiko36 @ Jun 16th 2008 5:43PM]

Grammatical fail on my part... Your*

[h0mi @ Jun 16th 2008 6:02PM]

fix remote play. (or make it so I can do remote play over the internet cuz for whatever reason, I just cant get it to work.)

[gabe @ Jun 16th 2008 6:06PM]

great let me update my psp then throw it back in the desk drawer!

[cDub @ Jun 17th 2008 12:33AM]

Have you not hacked your PSP? CFW offers so so much more than sony ever could. When you have access to all the power the PSP has, it turns into a great investment.

[Shane @ Jun 16th 2008 6:35PM]

Seeing as you can already use Google search by browsing to it like any other webpage on the PSP, I wonder if this is just a veiled attempt at revenue raising - all Sony will need to do is put a Google Adsense/websearch account code behind it and get paid for every search.

Love to hear from Sony if this isvthe case or not.

Regards,
Shane.

[TareX @ Jun 16th 2008 8:43PM]

anything to raise the stock value... v.true.

[tekdroid @ Jun 17th 2008 2:55AM]

Shane, of course it is :)
That's the first thing that struck me when I heard the news. Just like PC software these days bundled with those lovely toolbars checked by default, and new computers bundled with crapware... double-dipping the revenue pie.

Dubious usefulness to userbase, much kickbacks.