PlayStation 3 firmware 3.0 has gone live, and owners of the console can expect to see a wide variety of changes. Firmware 3.0 reportedly delivers a host of updates and modifications. Among the additions is a new interactive news section, a status indicator bar, a tweaked friends list, a reworked Trophy system and more.

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all they can design are some cute sparkles? gigantic icons and text...not optional?......dynamic themes cost 3 dollars?....friend list with a gray horrible thing?.....the new playstation store short cut its highly unnecessary, if i want to launch my game ill do it without going to the shortcut...and i cant see the utility of d new bar whats new cuz we have the internet to dig up some information...so why?i really dont put attention to the info in white text so why?? they cant build the functions that we need... like mkv compatibility?

Status indicator bar? Could someone post a picture of that? I'm just that baffled as to wtf it would do, there is no cell signal or battery life in a PS3.

hello ...
downloaded & installed the firmware yesterday ... humm, i saw some sparkles & the Multi-Audio features. great the battery level doesn't effectively cover the clock ...
the what's new & playstation store icons - humm .. don't care for now, for i don't have broadband access @ home ... (COME ON!)
well the last one had some serious features, i sure hope they've done things, even if unofficial to make it even better!
moreover a FW update is always good, in the context of fixing / patching & adding some even minor features, but i think we were waiting for too much.
some people wants cross-game chat, i don't feel the need for it, but who knows some may manage! as for media compatibility issues, that's a real problem, i would really love to see my PS3 play MKV / FLV / All types of AVI, MOV, MP4. SONY, if you dump in subtitle support, i would say WOW! but i guess too much asking & maybe it's a legal issue ... then please SONY try to find a way ...
well i'd rather concentrate on the games than FW features for now, i will be happy when i'll find the tools to create my own PS3 dynamic theme ;) ...
cheers ...

Nothing good in PS3 updates since HD-Audio ! How hard is it to do something useful like mkv support, better browser that can handle streaming media ! WTF !

not even a couple of free dynamic themes , not even a premium one available on the eu ps store , as for bbc iplayer , I was really looking forward to that , but it not available in the rep. of Ireland , the whats new is only to support a more aggressive sales pitch . its a bit of a disapointment .

Mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv mkv

shame on you sony . A western digital media player costing 80$ is able to play all the medias possibly available on the planet in 1080p, and you cannt make it? You are going to loose a large market because of this.

I'm not impressed by it at all. The friends list doesn't look like it belongs with the theme either. The old friends list, imo, looked MUCH better. I don't really care about dynamic themes or avatars, but I think they should have made at least a few of them free. I've seen MUCH better representations of what the XMB should look like, and this isn't it.
This is what Sony SHOULD be working on - http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3updates&thread.id=49670&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Wow - nice link Wendig0 - Some of those guys are very creative.

What they need to add is a channel where users can make requests for future features and those requests are tallied with live stats provided so we can keep an eye on and have an idea of what's to come. Then give the devs the ability to post some comments on the requests so we can either abandon an impossible request or have an idea of why we can't have it.

Sony has a long history of not listening to their consumers. I would not hold my breath waiting for Sony to change.

regarding , mkv files , I read another thread some guy said " its like only specific type of MKV files now started to work.. for example ( gundam seed destiny MKV file now works perfectly while it used to never work) on the other hand Valkyria chronicles anime also MKV but still dosent work "
this is double dutch to me but I guess some mkv files now work !
and why add the ability to save web page screen shot ? so it can be printed ?
this is found under file then scroll down to the bottom .

mkv is only a container - you still need the codec support to play back the file. What codecs were used on said working mkv?

there's no mention of codec from the thread . sorry ,

The new firmware make my PS3 freeze in Uncharted every time! do not install!

everybody has been having the same issue!

This is not the piece of equipment that i paid over £400 for. I did not ask Sony to 'dumb-down' my console or give me a screen resolution of 420 X 420. Why, i ask myself, did i buy a HDTV ?

There is a serious issue with the new 'BLUR' function - i have suffered 1 migraine already and lots of watering eyes as they fight against the BLUR... thank you Sony, for the physical discomfort.

I would invite others not to spend any more money on Sony products until they at least explain the inapropriate and compulsory UI changes ? 95% of forum posters feel the same from EU and America (i cant read the Japanese posts).

What is this BLUR you speak of? Can you give me some detail please so I can see if it's something that bothers me or my daughter?

I'm going to sell my PS3 because MKV limitation and Sony never will introduce it. An $189.00 LG blu-ray player can play MKV and even Internet Radio but PS3 can't. PS3 games sucks too. Best solution: PC/Xbox360 gaming and LG blu-ray/MKV player and Internet radio. PS3 on my trash bin.

As others already stated ... how stupid is Sony to give away a big deal in the area of MKV playback ?
The PS3 is the perfect media-player, but its missing MKV-Support !!!
And no, converting and streaming is NOT AN OPTION !