14 DAY TRIAL // We recently reported that Sony had launched new firmware updates for its top of the line consoles, the PlayStation 3 home entertainment system and the PlayStation Portable handheld console. The versions in question, 2.5 and 5.0 respectively, have brought many new features to the two consoles, like the opportunity to take screenshots or capture videos and various other changes meant to improve the overall user experience on the PS3.
Recently, a few Sony executives talked about these updates with IGN and revealed quite a lot of interesting facts. The most demanded feature for the PS3 was the support of Flash 9, which meant that owners could use the built-in web browser to see flash videos located on various websites. This feature was heavily under development for quite some time but it was only recently, as a joint effort with Adobe, that the owners of the Flash tool announced that it was finally finished.
This is really good news for all those who used the PS3 to watch videos on their TV sets, but Shinji Noda, a high-ranking Sony official, highlighted the actual role Flash 9 plays in the whole PS3 web surfing experience, noting that the average loading time had been improved by 2.8 times. This statement was sustained by Masaki Takase, who cited a loading speed faster than Microsoft's own Internet Explorer 7, the current market leader in the field of web browsers. Although he said that it was no match for the fastest browser out there, Google Chrome, this was a very important achievement for Sony.
The Japanese executive then went on to point out that Flash 9 wouldn't be coming to the PSP console in the near future citing the fact that hardware limitations made it very difficult to implement the feature. They offered the new full screen keyboard as example, saying that the company made a lot of efforts to implement that feature into the handheld console, after receiving a lot of requests for it from the Western markets.
Although this doesn't mean that Internet users will now use the browser system of the PS3, it does put some pressure on the Microsoft development staff to enhance the loading times of Internet Explorer 7. This news is sure to bring a smile on the faces of PS3 users, who will take even more pleasure in browsing the Internet using their own console.