One of the regular posters on the official PlayStation Boards recently posted a supposed leak of the full list of updates for the PlayStation 3 release of firmware 2.00. The poster has a pretty high-level of 'forum street cred,' having released information on previous firmware releases that turned out to be valid, but we're still a little skeptical. After the initial posting, she and SCEA edited her post to nothingness - but SCEA has allowed the quoted firmware update features to stay up in the replies. The source of the list was suppose to have come from a Sony Press Site which required credentials - info not there anymore. Unfortunately, no time frame given for release of the update, but it's implied that it's soon.
Major updates:
XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) is now accessible during gameplay. [No further information given.]
Wallpaper feature has been added.
Additional visualizations have been added. [Nice!]
A ton of little tweaks are also included, listed in the standard obtuse terminology Sony always uses for their firmware update lists. You can see the complete list below.
The PLAYSTATION®3 system software version 2.00 update includes the following:
Users
You can now password-protect user accounts.
Settings
[Dynamic Normalizer] has been added as an option under [Sound Settings].
[Energy Saver] has been added as an option.
[Equalizer] has been added as a feature under [Music Settings].
[Full] has been added as an option for [DVD Wide Display] under [BD / DVD Settings].
[Photo Settings] has been added as an option.
[PS / PS2 Settings] has been added as an option.
[RSS Channel Settings] has been added as an option.
[Sample Rate] has been added to [Audio CD Import] under [Music Settings].
[Screen Saver] has been expanded under [Display Settings].
The method of selecting an output resolution has been changed in [Video Output Settings] under [Display Settings].
[Theme Settings] has been added as an option.
[Zero Unused Disk Space] has been added as an option under [System Settings] > [Format Utility].
Photo
Additional slideshows have been added.
[Photo Effects] have been added as a feature.
Wallpaper feature has been added.
[Zoom] has been added as a feature.
Music
Additional visualizations have been added.
CD information can now be entered.
Three-speed fast forward and fast reverse has been added as a feature.
Video
Files can now be played sequentially.
Three-speed fast forward and fast reverse has been added as a feature.
You can now select [Zoom] under [Screen Mode] when playing video files saved on the hard disk or storage media.*.
*An appropriate USB adapter (not included) is required to use storage media with some models.
Game
Support for PLAYSTATION®3 format software titles has been expanded.
XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) is now accessible during gameplay.
Network
[RSS Channel] has been added as a feature.
Friends
You can now have multiple chat sessions.
You can now select an image to use as your Avatar from [Photo].
Other
Date & Time is now shown when the PS button is pressed.
File sorting has been changed.
[Help] has been added as a feature.
Playability status with the PS3™ system has changed for some PlayStation® and PlayStation®2 format titles.
To check on the latest status, visit the search site for compatible titles.
[Secure Delete] has been added as an option.
Some PLAYSTATION®Network features have been revised.