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Sony PSP to gain unlimited music via cloud-based Qriocity service
Just days after Sony's Qriocity video-on-demand service went live across Europe, in flies this -- news that the aforesaid service will be spreading its wings and touching the PSP in short order. Word on the street has it that the next PlayStation Portable update (v6.35) will bring along Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, described as a "new, cloud-based, digital music service from Sony that will give music lovers access to millions of songs stored and synchronized through the cloud." Post-update, users will notice a new icon in the PSP's XrossMediaBar under the 'Music' category, and moreover, the Media Go application for managing PSP downloadable content on your PC will be updated "with enhancements to the user interface and advanced photo editing tools." Sony's remaining mum on a launch date, but the internet is already abuzz about what this may mean for the impending PlayStation Phone. Will Sony finally have a leg-up over iOS with an ingrained unlimited music client? A boy can dream, can't he? Update: Tipster Isaac spotted the screen above and the one after the break on his PSPgo today. Looks like the launch may be sooner than we'd imagined, eh?
Facebook for PlayStation 3 'begins' this Thursday with firmware update 3.10 (video)
Okay, pretend to be surprised if you want, but Facebook and PlayStation 3 are coming together, sort of. We saw the tiniest bit of teaser last week via leaked photo, and now we've got details and a release date. Users will have the option of sending status updates for PSN purchases and Trophies whenever the user syncs up the account to the PlayStation servers, and developers can now integrate automatic updates when certain game events occur, similar to what we saw with the recent Uncharted sequel. Unfortunately, some of the very basic functions you'd come to expect from Facebook apps, such as writing your own status updates, aren't there yet. Hopefully we'll be seeing more integration sooner rather than later, as the company's noting this is just the beginning of the integration with the social network. Integration hits with firmware 3.10, which as we heard from a previous Sony Poland leak is this Thursday, just one day after Xbox Live's Facebook integration debuts (how very convenient, indeed). Also in the update? New photo navigation and PSN gamer card options. Video after the break.
Leaked PS3 XMB images hint at Facebook integration, new image layout
Although we were too late to verify for ourselves, both Joystiq and Scrawl swear up and down that the above three images, each of whom unfortunately lack a higher-res version, all hail from the official Sony Computer Entertainment Europe website, and each showing a feature of the PlayStation 3's XMB we haven't seen before: some form of Facebook integration, the ability to change gamercard colors, and a new method of photo organization / perusal. None of these would be too surprising or earth-shattering, really, and the juiciest question of them all -- exactly when we might see these additions -- is still a mystery.
Sony extends Xross Media Bar UI to Vaio FW laptops
Sony really likes the Xross Media Bar. So much, in fact, that the PS3-like interface has appeared in its Bravia LCD TVs for some time, and now it's putting that same interface theme in its new Vaio FW laptops. The Vaio Media+ software uses the same left/right, up/down scrolling UI to help extend its "digital living room" all the way to your, um, lap. This all makes sense, and we welcome a consolidated UI theme, but this means, of course, that Sony is pretty much locked into this theme for some time, and we won't be seeing any major interface changed to the PS3 like we have on the Xbox 360 Dash, for better or worse.
