The latest firmware for the PS3 has been announced by Sony, confirming the rumors about the removal of the OtherOS functionality. The new firmware update will bring the system software version to v3.21 and will be available to download this Thursday (April 1st 2010). After updating, the Linux partition on your hard drive will be inaccessible so be sure to backup any data.
According to a rumor on the Yellow Dog Linux Forums, Linux Product Manager Owen Stampflee has posted that the OtherOS feature will be removed in the next firmware update. The topic on the forum has since been removed, which leads us to question it’s credibility. The OtherOS feature is expected to be removed in order to block the recently discovered exploit.
Firmware 3.15 which came out in early December 2009 is now mandatory to install. The firmware is needed for many new and upcoming titles, though most of you probably already have it installed. If you have already installed the latest update, this new does not affect you. Gamers who haven’t updated will be prompted to download it when they boot up their PS3.
At Sony’s CES Press Conference, Kaz Hirai announced that the PS3 will be fully 3D compatible this year. There will be two firmware updates at some point in 2010 — the first will add 3D Stereoscopic Gaming functionality to the PS3 and the second will add 3D Stereoscopic Movie functionality. Kaz also revealed that 2009 housed the most successful holiday season in the history of the PlayStation 3, with over 3.8 million units selling worldwide over the last 5 weeks of the year.
Data transfer utility
minis
We were hoping the recently announced PlayStation 3 Transfer Utility would allow protected game save data to be copied to other consoles, since the data is deleted from the source PlayStation after the transfer is complete. Despite Sony Europe’s James Thorpe stating “all PS3 save data except for game saves that are protected by the game publishers,” we have word that the utility does allow protected data to be copied.
SCEE has confirmed that PlayStation 3 Firmware v3.15 will be available to download soon. Firmware 3.15 will be an optional update with two key features: PS3 Data Transfer and PSP Minis Compatibility. The firmware update will also fix the BlueTooth Controller pairing issue experienced by some users. See below for more details on the PS3 Data Transfer feature and PSP Minis Compatibility.
Firmware 3.10 has added a useful feature which should have been included some time ago. If your console crashes or restarts for no apparent reason, you can now send a error report to Sony. The report includes your PSN account information, your email address and details of any content that was being used during the time of the problem.
In a presentation detailing Sony’s plans to become profitable by the end of 2010, Sony revealed plans to upgrade PlayStation 3 consoles with full 3D support. 3D support for the PS3 has been taked about a lot over the past several months, starting earlier this year at CES 2009. Sony’s presentation indicates that all PS3 units will be upgraded to support 3D games via a firmware update.
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