Jeff Hoy, American

Sony released version 2.5 firmware for the PS3 this morning.  Just going through the options menus I see a few new things in addition to the talked about updates like Flash 9, new power save features, and updated PSN account registration stuff.  Some items of interest I found were a DivX VOD registration entry that gives you a URL and registration code to use DivX Video on Demand, that seems somewhat exciting, I may have to give it a test drive.  There’s also new additions to the printer options including support for HP printers and “network standard” printers.  I tried adding a shared printer on my Windows network, but no such luck, so “network standard” probably refers to those high end ink jets and lasers that connect to networks independently of computers, though I’m just guessing.  Windows Media Servers seem to be working properly again.  I had been having trouble with mine not being identified all the time, it would be on and running and I could access it from any other computer in the house, but the PS3 wasn’t able to find it.  This time around it showed up right from boot-up and seems to be working flawlessly.  That seems to be all I’ve noticed right now.  If I find something else I’ll update this post.

Of all the new stuff the one thing that is most exciting for me is the power save option to automatically turn off controllers when they aren’t in use.  I leave my PS3 on pretty much 24/7, running the Life with Playstation Folding@Home app.  You should try it too, folding is a good cause.  But because of that I’m always forgetting to turn off my Dualshocks and I come back to dead or nearly dead batteries.  So that new option will be a real life battery saver.

h/t [H]ard|OCP