Sony reveals more details for PS4 2.00 system update
Software updates are always an emotionally turbulent experience. You’ve got to balance the excitement for new features and bug fixes with the fear of your precious console being turned into a $400 doorstop. So it’s time to brave yourselves once more, as the big 2.00 system update for the PS4 is drawing ever nearer. Read on for some new details.
So we already knew that the PS4 2.00 system update would bring the much lauded Share Play feature to PS4, along with YouTube support and themes. Earlier today, we learned that there’s going to be a lot more to the update than previously mentioned. In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, elaborately titled director of product planning and software innovation at SCEA Scott McCarthy gave us some details on what else we can expect from version 2.00. Check out the bullet points below.
- USB Music Player: PS4 owners can play their own music in the background while playing a game using USB Music Player*. After inserting a USB stick loaded with music into the PS4, a new option for USB Music Player will appear. Supported filename extensions include MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP.
- Change colors: In addition to the ability to add a theme, PS4 owners can also change the background of the home screen from light blue to one of seven new colors: gold, blue, red, green, purple, pink, and gray.
- Players You May Know: PS4 will now suggest players you may know as potential friends in the ‘What’s New’ section.
- Enhancements to Live Broadcasting: Masamune brings a variety of improvements to live broadcasting on PS4. In the Live From PlayStation app, PS4 owners can now select a Featured channel, which includes official broadcasts from PlayStation, broadcasts from people on a players friend list, and any game channel that the player has followed. Additionally, Live From PlayStation now has filters for searching broadcasts on a specific game, as well as support for archived broadcasts.
- Content Area and Library: PS4’s Content Area, which shows the latest games and apps a PS4 owner has used, has been redesigned to help make it easier to quickly find and access content. It now shows 15 of a player’s most used apps or games, and additional items will be added to a player’s Library. The Library on PS4 has improved filter and sort functions to help organize contented by type (game / app / TV & video), name (a – z or z – a), recently used, or install date.
- Enhanced Voice Commands: The ability to control PS4 using voice has been improved. Players can now say ‘PlayStation’ to begin commands, and ‘All Commands,’ to see a list of all voice command options available. New voice commands were added for live broadcasting, including “Start broadcast,” “End broadcast,” and “Find face.”
- Add To Library: The monthly free PlayStation Plus games will have an ‘Add to Library’ button in the PlayStation Store. This button will add a game to a PS4 owner’s library without downloading it – saving space on their hard drive.
Along with the big PS4, update, Sony will be issuing updates to PS Vita, PS TV and the PlayStation App at the same time. There’s still no release date for version 2.00, codenamed Masamune. Masamune, in case you didn’t know, was the name of Japan’s most renowned swordsmith, who lived sometime during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Thanks, Wikipedia! Let’s just hope this Masamune doesn’t slice up the Playstation’s operating system, like some past updates have done.