Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 18th 2009 1:24PM
posted August 18th 2009 1:24PM
Update: Digital Reader press release after the break.
Join the Reading Revolution: Digital Reader Coming to PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable)
Take your favorite comics everywhere you go with Digital Comics for PSP
COLOGNE, Germany, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- gamescom -- Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced the digital reader for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), a new service that will allow PSP owners to access a range of media on their PSP. The digital reader service will be launched with Digital Comics this December in select countries, the U.S., and regions in Europe with other PAL territories to follow in 2010, putting PSP owners in control of a huge library of Digital Comics from provider partners including one of the leading comic publishers, Marvel Entertainment. Content from other partners such as IDW Publishing, iVerse Media and others, as well as graphic novels for bite-sized entertainment on demand and on the go will be available.
The new Digital Comics service will let you download hundreds of classic and new comics from PlayStation®Store to your PSP, to read page by page or frame by frame wherever you are. The service lets you take a huge collection of comics out and about with you, allows you to pick up the latest edition from any Wi-Fi hotspot, and gives you a brand-new way to use your PSP for entertainment on the go.
The digital reader for PSP will offer the biggest names in comics, including content from Marvel Entertainment's Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, from IDW: TRANSFORMERS and Star Trek and in partnership with iVerse Media, brands like Archie Comics, and Image Comic's Proof, while other content will include graphic novels, comics from a variety of local publishers and the latest underground sensations. More and more titles will arrive on PlayStation Store with monthly content updates, offering a huge choice of quality titles at your fingertips, allowing you to take your favorite comic characters with you on the move.
"This is a great new service that offers PSP owners even more options for entertainment on the go and makes PSP a must for comics fans," says Isabelle Tomatis, European Marketing Manager, Hardware and Platforms, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "Digital Comics will sit alongside the new PlayStation®Network video download service as yet another way that PSP offers a whole world of entertainment in your hands."
"PSP's new digital reader offers an unprecedented consumer experience that will extend the world of Marvel from print pages into the hands of fans around the world. We are excited to be part of this launch," said Ira Rubenstein, executive vice president, global digital media group, Marvel Entertainment.
The intuitive Autoflow feature allows you to zoom in and move from frame to frame on each digital page, mimicking the way your eyes would move across a print page from left to right. It's straightforward and simple to use, and thanks to PSP's high contrast LCD screen, your comics will be looking better than ever as the stunning graphics leap out from the screen.
Digital Comics will be launching on the UK, US, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and South African PlayStation®Stores this December, with other PAL territories to follow, and with more and more comics and graphic novels arriving every month. Consumers will first need to connect their PSP via Wi-Fi to the PlayStation Store to download the digital reader. Once downloaded, they can return to the PlayStation Store to choose from a wide variety of comics available. To find out more, visit www.eu.playstation.com.
About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 23.7 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 138.8 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 52.9 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 27 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 560 million items have been downloaded.
More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at www.scee.presscentre.com.
About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system and its digital services PLAYSTATION®Network and PLAYSTATION®Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com
PlayStation, PLAYSTATION and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Fail Copy Ms
..?
Its like that movie Multiplicity, see Microsoft copied Nintendo first. Then Sony copied Microsoft which leaves you with a copy of a copy and we all know that only works out well with digital media. Anything else and you are just asking for trouble.
Wat u on Ms and there xbox live always come up with all this services like rental do nintendo even havs that ????
kal: Lemme get this straight... MS copied Nintendo, and Sony copied MS... so the original XBox is just like a Gamecube, and the XBox somehow preceded all of the Playstations... wait... by this logic, the PS3 should be just like the Wii!!! You'rea GENIUS@!@!!@!@
I don't understand why they couldn't just hide the wires from being visible under the TV. It's Sony... can't they take all that money they steal from us for shiny new themes and hide the cables? I mean, come ON.
Huh and I just got around to installing verision 2.80 the other day....
same here...
Yeah but those new themes are pretty sweet
No soft PS2 emulation? Not that it matters to me, I have a 60gig.
Emulation was never promised, or even rumored. People just let their imaginations run a little too wild based on one silly patent.
i would pay for PS2 soft emulation on my PS3.
One Silly patent? So...your saying that the fact they have developed the software-technology to successfully emulate the emotion engine on the cell processor is silly?
While the upres isn't that good, playing upresed PSX games on my ps3 still looks better (in comparison) then the upres-strech the ps2 games look on my flatscreen.
that and my ps2 is getting old, The dualshock 3s are nicer then my logitech ps2 wireless controllers, and I still have a ton of PS2 RPGs that I want to play.
No one was speculating that this update would have ps2 software support, but were there is a possibly, there is hope.
Said software to emulate the Emotion Engine was already developed and used by the original 80GB! The problem is that it is useless without a physical Graphics Synthesizer.
Why would u want ps2 emulation? Don't u have a ps2? O_O
@dAnixx
The PS3 upscales the games to HD and lets you have a practically unlimited number of virtual memory cards. Plus you are not wasting plugs and ports or swapping things around. (it's for all these reasons that I passed over the newer models and bought myself a used 60GB launch version)
Sorry plot, but you can't upscale games reasonably well enough for that to matter. If you don't have enough ports on your tv, I suggest getting a new one.
Yawn
Agreed.
rrrriiiidddgggeee rrraaaccceerrrrr!!!!!
when will USA get PlayTV for PS3?
am getting a ps3 hell yeeah
grats! its well worth the cash spent.
I agree. Having a PS3 and a HDTV is awesome.
sexy am happy psn is alive now meet me online people am getting the slim
nickelodeon
Ahem... where's native mkv support? I'm groing tired of having to convert these files to .vob
MKV support please. My PC hates VOB files for some reason. Takes a half hour just to delete them.
yeah, cos sony should support the file format that is used widespread in bluray rips, good call.
seriously, I know not of one current legitimate usage of MKV. it is almost exclusively used by pirates...when this changes, I'm sure sony's stance on supporting it will too.
now your going to say "but i liked backing up my bluerays to my media server so i don't have to pop the discs in and out"
ya....right.....
how about you pay people for the things you enjoy and support the people that make it for you.
@tdrules
so very true. They want you to buy the goddamned blu-rays instead... why in the world would they help you pirate the high def movies?
But yeah, we can all dream.
@Grammer
I beg to differ. My Canon HD video camera uses .MKV files. It would awfully convenient to be able to stream those to my HDTV from my PC through my PS3 instead having to jump through hoops like I do now.
DO NOT assume everyone is a pirate.
Well the PS3 already supports M2TS files, which you can just drag and drop directly form the BluRay disc (provided you have AnyDVD). So piracy can't be the reason for the lack of MKV support.
Plus most MKV's can be remuxed right into an M2TS. (I recommend that format whenever possible.)
It's so great to hit the play button and not have to skip though 15min of unwanted previews, disclaimers, and useless menu transitions. Plus your discs never end up scratched or in the wrong box, 'cause they just sit on the shelf.
Just install "PS3 Media Server" and stream them over the network! :-)
@ Grammar Delinquent
Right, because we should be bled dry by content companies, each time we want to view the discs we own on every single different device we own.
I'm sure you'd love to pay a movie studio once for a DVD, again pay to view it on your ipod, again pay to view it on your computer and so on...
Nice.
@Dan
Thank you for pointing that out, and I partially retract my statement.
i still however stand by the fact that MKV is MASSIVELY used by HD pirates, 95% of Divx's revenue is by licensing the codec to manufactures, and it is not in Sony's interest to pay Divx to use a codec that will be used mostly by pirates instead of people buy their and panasonics blu-ray technology.
Like Iceman said. Just use the PS3 Media Server. It will stream .mkv files from your PC to your PS3 without any conversion or remuxing needed.
And that's cooler than a polar bear's toenails.
I've been using PSPComic (homebrew app) for a while and I love my PSP as a comic book reader! Pretty awesome to see it through official channels.
When are we going to get private chat in game? This feature is desperately needed!!!
that will probably be available in 4.0. Other than the price drop for people who for some reason dont have the PS3, this announcement is a major FAIL.
Back to the waiting game for firmaware releases. Sucks for us.
The European video store sounds gimped. It will be movies only at first, with "local content" coming later. That sounds like iTune's video store in Canada, without a "full" selection of both "local" and "American" shows, it's completely useless as a cable television alternative.
I wish they'd fix software emulation for the PS3s that already have it. I'd love to play MGS3, Tekken Tag Tournament without lag, and not need to download a save file to play KH:Re Chain of Memories.
The PS3 may not even have the right specs for full software emulation. Since even the original 80GB model, which emulated the Emotion Engine, still required a physical Graphics Synthesizer.
the marvel digital comics are coming to iphone also
Wish they had native Netflix streaming - I'd be all over that jammy.
Xbox has that exclusively.
hmm it looks like its pretty cool. mad i bought my 60 gigger at 600 bucks, but it does have the emotion engine so oh well.
Why are you mad? The 60 GB is still the Cadillac of PS3s.
Im mad i paid $200 for an N64 in 1998! no wait, im not, because its irrelevant.
Gamerpics huh?
Gamechanger.
Yawn