TechDomino
The all new firmware 3.00 for the PS Vita is live now and should be available all around the world. It adds a lot of functions which I am going to explain in detail, today. Let us take a look at it, shall we?
First things first, it should be noticed that this firmware was released to prepare the PS Vita for the PS4 launch. Which means the PS Vita will get a fancy new PS4 link app. You can choose to remote play or second screen the Vita for the PS4 within this application. This application requires both a PS Vita and a PS4. Since most of us do not have a PS4 already, we cannot dig any further into the app, Pity.
The next new bubble you would find is the Parental Control app. I do not know why Sony managed to find a reason to create a specific app for this one, but it comes with a slew of new features like:
- When you open the App, you have to enter a 4-digit passcode, which prevents using the App without authority.
- Inside the App itself, you can block the PS Vitas Browser and Location Data to be used, which seems to be a bit hard.
- Otherwise you can set the Parental Control Level for games, which will be (un-)playable on the PS Vita.
From the good-old PSP days, you can set the Parental Controls from level 1 to 11, where 1 means that just games for Everyone are playable, and 11 means that everything will be playable. Turning the option off has the same effect as level 11. Another function in the Parental Control App is for changing the password, nothing special.
The last function is pretty interesting and well made. You can restrict the Play Duration. But not only X hours a day, no, it is even possible to say, that you just can play 1 hour on Mondays, 2 hours on Tuesdays, 0 hours on Wednesdays and 9 hours on Friday. You can restrict how much you play at which day, and how much in total.
The next 2 features are well-known from the PS3 firmware 4.50, which added, well should have added, the data transfer via Wifi, from PS Vita to PS3, and the other way around. It is now also possible to hide specific trophies from the eyes of other users, just like at the PS3 firmware. Nice features.
Otherwise there were a few small changes, like the PlayStationNetwork got renamed into PSN (SM), the Voice and Messages App got a new Icon, the Messages App itself was updated to work with the iOS/Android Playstation App and the Remote Play App got renamed into PS3 Remote Play.
The Friends app has a new layout now, the Friends list on the system now has four tabs: Find Player, Friends, Friend Requests and Players Blocked. Along with that, the Messages app – previously Group Messaging – has an improved layout, and you can send messages to PS4 or users on the PlayStation App. Likewise, the Party Chat app’s icon is different and you can chat with players on PS4, and Trophies will now show PS4 silverware in there too.
And finally, the Camera app introduces the feature of taking Panoramic photos. I am not sure why Sony have implemented this, but it seems to work great. Future Software Updates will be installed automatically now, so this will probably be the last one you have to install manually.
Sony have also released a video on their blog, feel free to check it out below!
With the huge list of features from this firmware update, I think Sony is all good to go for the PS4 launch, do you? Let us know in the comments below.
