PS3 2.70 firmware adds in-game text chat, video backup

Sony's just released the details for its upcoming PlayStation 3 2.70 firmware update, and while it's nothing that'll knock your socks off, they are some goodies here to look forward to. Additions include text chat for letting you make the best of that new Wireless Keypad -- or some other physical / on-screen keyboard -- with up to fifteen online friends and / or three chat rooms, in-game or out. Speaking of online friends, those can now be sorted by online status to see who most recently logged on, and the file attachment size cap has been upped from 1MB to 3MB. Additionally, you can now back up your PS Store video purchases to an external drive and restore later for playback, and similarly your PSP video purchases can now be transferred to PS3 for a larger-screen experience. No word on the release date for now, but in the meantime, check out video demonstration after the break.

Update: Well that was fast. Firmware's available now, let us know what you think.

[Xodome @ Apr 1st 2009 10:21PM]

It's available for download now.

[Aguiluz @ Apr 1st 2009 10:45PM]

Currently downloading at 42% for the past 20 minutes.

Damn 1 megabit downlink.

(Sorry if double posted, wrong password I think.)

[phinnvr6 @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:38AM]

I downloaded the whole thing in about 3 minutes. Not too impressed with the new features though, obviously cross-game chat is what people would like to see added not this junk.

[AmazingAaron @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:58AM]

The guy in the video is nerdy! Not that thats a bad thing :P

[KRIS_C_123 @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:52PM]

i'd love to download this but sadly, my ps3 died while playing resident evil 5.


i have no money to get it fixed either... i am so sad :(

[dbrow @ Apr 1st 2009 10:23PM]

Ah so this is the great announcement? Or is it the price drop on PS2 (still pretty awesome) plus this as their huge announcement? Or was it not supposed to be huge, I don't remember.

[aj121489 @ Apr 1st 2009 10:46PM]

That's what I was thinking.

[BKM72 @ Apr 1st 2009 11:50PM]

Neither huge, nor eye opening.
Pretty much FAIL for the crowd that doesn't need Mommy and Daddy to buy the system for them.

I'm still waiting on the USEFUL news/announcement/feature -- that wont call me a bitch when I'm in a game.

[nDy @ Apr 1st 2009 10:34PM]

I want that Tv, is that 52"?It looked great.

Anyway I don't think Sony is ready for a price drop yet,
since they can't make much profit on games because
many just used ps3 as media centre

[aj121489 @ Apr 1st 2009 10:49PM]

Holy shit that thing is massive I think that's bigger than 52...my dad's got a 50 and it doesn't look that big standing next to it. My guess is that's a 65" but I really don't know

[Aguiluz @ Apr 1st 2009 10:50PM]

*stares at my 5" monitor*

I want one too.

[chris @ Apr 1st 2009 10:57PM]

No, I think it's the KDL-70XBR3

[Sly (PSN slycooper_rocker) @ Apr 1st 2009 11:55PM]

it's a 70"

[NineT9 @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:22AM]

and that 70" Sony XBR is only $20,000

not joking :P

[Shaun @ Apr 1st 2009 10:35PM]

Damn, no MKV or SRT file support.

[JP23 @ Apr 1st 2009 10:39PM]

I would be pissed if they gave us MKV support now. I just finished loading up my HTPC with divx rips. MKV would have been faster and easier.

[jdang @ Apr 1st 2009 10:44PM]

I play MKV files all the time.

after tsmuxing it (takes a minute for an hour long file or so) of course.

[Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Apr 1st 2009 11:20PM]

Hope it helps fix the xvid support/bugs

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:09AM]

Use mkv2vob. It takes a few minutes even on a huge file (if the source is H.264). It makes a .ts you can stream to the PS3.

[Xiloa @ Apr 1st 2009 10:36PM]

The big announcement was the price drop, this is just a bonus I guess.

[sexyblackyukon @ Apr 1st 2009 10:39PM]

i just got the update!

[dspirito @ Apr 1st 2009 10:40PM]

WTF! (obligatory) Ps2 backward compatibility by software emulation already!! Ps3 was frikkin $249 when getting a Sony card, include it already! Or else I will sell my ps3 and get xbox360.. No I wouldn't.

[Aguiluz @ Apr 1st 2009 10:51PM]

They should hire the PCSX2 team.

[Dustin @ Apr 1st 2009 10:44PM]

Voice chat should come out soon, Since on the XMB it says Chat Room (TExt Only) I'm sure thats where the voice chat will occur. Also, new YES/CANCEL boxes

[Nathan G @ Apr 1st 2009 10:48PM]

Man this thing is still really expensive. Give a poor guy a break sony.

[dspirito @ Apr 1st 2009 11:05PM]

once in a while they give you a $150 card credit when you open a sony card! Keep an eye out! You need a parent to do it, I'm 22 with decent credit but I was denied. Good luck!

[Shaun @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:47AM]

To play MKVs I convert them to .vob with mkv2vob, split them into 4GB files & then transfer them to my FAT32 USB hard drive. If sony just supported MKV liek would be much simpler.

[videonevin @ Apr 1st 2009 11:07PM]

so this was the "big ps3 announcement" that all the game blogs hyped up?

[Kimleng @ Apr 1st 2009 11:10PM]

Just installed it, and here's what I've discovered:

You can now copy/paste...somewhat. When you load a web page and select the text with your cursor, you now have the option to copy it or perform a search based on that text. When you go to a text field in the browser, you can either hit Ctrl+V on a keyboard to paste it, or select the paste button from the onscreen keyboard. Sucks that we can't copy/paste within a message, but I guess it's a step in the right direction.

Also new is Dynamic Normalizer under Music Settings - Reduces the difference in volume level between tracks. This sttting is used for content that is saved on the hard disk or storage media.

The new text chatroom caveat: 30 CHARACTER INPUT ONLY. Get used to typing really short sentences. Still beats spamming XMB and creating new message and typing 2 words. Text chat room is much faster cuz you can leave it running while in a game and go back to it any time. Ain't cross-game voice, but it's a step towards achieving it since cross-game chat is now possible via XMB.

Those are my findings so far.

[Eltorro @ Apr 1st 2009 11:11PM]

I'm still waiting for an update that will bring a feature to my PS3 that I will actually use.

[Dave Chappelle @ Apr 1st 2009 11:43PM]

Dude they wont give you an e-penis so get ready for a lackluster decade.

on the bright side mentally you are a complete penis so you should be stoked.

[Nate @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:29AM]

So you don't use the video games, downloadable movies, streaming media from any DLNA compatible server, photo viewing, blu-ray player, dvd player, or the ability to install and run another OS?

Why did you buy a PS3?

[Dave @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:08AM]

@Nate: Didn't the PS3 come with all those abilites

[NoAndThen @ Apr 1st 2009 11:21PM]

This better fix hulu, dammit. Is the ps3 not a valid computing/media device anymore??

[Slamdciv @ Apr 1st 2009 11:24PM]

Can someone please confirm that they are still able to stream divx movies from a network meida server to the PS3 after the update. Every one of my videos now shows up as unsupported data. Crap!!!

[skyzbig @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:26AM]

DivX problems?

Oh no, what's happening?

I was just about to update my PS3 lol,,,don't think I'll bother now...does it affect local divx files or just streaming ones

[Kimleng @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:27AM]

Still works for me. However, there have been known compatibility issues once firmware updates come out. Whatever you're using to stream might need a firmware update now in order to work with the PS3. I have a Synology DS207+ and it didn't work when 2.12 or something came out. Once Synology knew about this, they put out a new firmware and things worked again.

[phinnvr6 @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:43AM]

I have no problems streaming any videos to my PS3 with 2.70

[Chris @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:34AM]

After the 2.70 update, all my divx media in WMP11 is being re-encoded into really awful, poorly scaled MPEG2 :( Might have to try a new uPnP server...

[Junnu @ Apr 3rd 2009 3:30PM]

Got the same problem, every divx-video in my DLNA-media server shows as unsupported data, has anyone found a solution to this yet?

[AlDeezy @ Apr 1st 2009 11:37PM]

I have a ps3, but no Hdtv, since no one in their right mind would use a old crt t.v. Therefore I weep. =(

[blueruckus @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:01AM]

Too many button inputs to get to your chat from within game. I feel that this process should be more streamlined to be useful.

[CountUSC @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:32AM]

Now, how about being able to view *.mov video files... My new Canon SD990 records video in the .mov format and it sucks that I can't watch them on my bigscreen without adding complexity to my setup.

[John @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:02AM]

Actually you can do that now.

If you use PS3 Media stream, that is coded by google, as long as your .mov file has a h264 codec, the PS3 will play it. This I can say works because I not only have done it on mine but have done this at a friends house that all of his home movies were .mov and he wanted to stream them to the PS3.

The PS3 Media stream will also stream .mkv and .vob file as well.

[paul @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:34AM]

Nothing to knock your socks off? Are you serious? The video backup addition is HUGE.

[brahmachari99 @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:57AM]

Sony where's the .mkv support? And build a client for Hulu and Netflix already!

[Filipino Cowboy @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:38AM]

That would be GREAT! I actually bought the PS3 mainly to for Bluray and media streaming from my PC. I play some games, but I have an awesome PC I use for gaming. Netflix and HULU would be a major plus.

[Anomoly @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:11AM]

I guess i don't game enough to have friends on my ps3 to spend hours in-game chatting with -

Hulu and Netflix streaming would be really nice... and so i wait

[bjharri @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:20AM]

Anyone who is waiting for mkv support, just download PS3 Media Server, I have yet to find a video file that it can't play. I watch iso files, mkv and any type of HD. Its quite possibly the most useful piece of software that I ever stumbled upon. My PS3 is now the most complete media center on the market, without going over the top, it completes me.

[Filipino Cowboy @ Apr 2nd 2009 3:19AM]

I agree, PS3 Media Server is great. I went through TVersity and the like and was never happy until I found this SIMPLE and great piece of software. "Stay tuned after the break for the link"




http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/downloads/list