Sony has detailed what gamers can expect when it pushes out the v2.0 firmware update for the PS4 later this year. Announced on the official PlayStation blog late last night, Sony's next-generation console will finally get MP3 playback, as well as better dashboard management and custom themes for the first time.
The biggest new addition in the 2.0 update, codenamed Masamune internally at Sony, is SharePlay - the ability to virtually pass your controller over to another player when you're struggling to get past a partiuclar point in a game. You'll also be able to invite a friend to join your game, even when they don’t own a copy of it for virtual co-op in games that support two players.
The dashboard will get a visual overhaul, courtesy of custom themes and the ability to change the colour of the flowing default wallpaper to one of seven different shades. The dashboard will also only show the 15 most-used games and apps. The rest will go into the Library, which should hopefully make it easier to find frequently played games from the main homescreen. The library itself will get new sorting options, helping you organise any extra downloads, and you'll also be able to add games to your PS4 library through the PSN store without downloading them - meaning you won't have to free up storage space once you fill up the 500GB hard disk.
A new 'Players You May Know' tile will appear in the Friends section, helping you find other gamers - a much-needed addition for anyone that switched from an Xbox 360 when the next console generation first arrived.
Voice commands have been improved, for those PS4 owners that also bought a PS4 camera. Players can now say 'PlayStation' to start voice control, and 'All Commands' to see a list of which voice commands are available. These include live broadcast enhancements, so you can "Start broadcast" and "End broadcast," without leaving your game. You'll also be able to export recorded video clips directly to YouTube.
Finally, firmware v2.0 will let you play your own background music in games if you plug in a USB flash drive. So far, file format support includes MP3, MP4, M4A and 3GP, but the update won't add CD playback, or let you copy files to the internal hard disk.
Unfortunately there's no word on exactly when the update will launch, but with the details now nailed down hopefully it can't be too far away.
