14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Sony in charge of the PlayStation Network is announcing that it plans to take the service down for maintenance for a period of about two hours starting at 9:30 AM Pacific Standard Time, on Monday, April 18.
According to the official site, the plan is to use the period to introduce some new features to PSN and to make sure that it can run without problems for the coming months.
Sony explains that those who have an account can sign into their PlayStation Network profile, play video games and use most of the applications that are part of the service, but they will be unable to get into account management, the PlayStation Store section, and the PlayStation Video.
The company adds, "We apologize for any inconvenience. We strive to ensure that PlayStation Network services are available at all times, but occasionally we must take PlayStation Network offline to perform essential maintenance and implement feature enhancements."
The plan is to also work to reduce the time needed for each maintenance period to make sure that users can get into the service when they need to without any restrictions.
PlayStation 4 will get access to more firmware updates this year
The 3.5 version was launched earlier in the month and introduces some new features, including the ability to use Remote play for the home console on both the PC and the Mac and a way for gamers to appear offline.
Sony says that it is working with the community to introduce new features and apps to the PlayStation Network while also finding ways to use firmware to improve the way the device interacts with users.
Rumors are also saying that the company is currently working on a new version of the PlayStation 4, which is designed to support 4K resolution for at least some content and will be sold for 499 dollars or Euro when it arrives, before the end of the year.
According to sources, AMD has created a new graphics processing unit for the platform that will offer double the performance of the one that's currently part of the device.
The new PlayStation VR virtual reality headset will be launched in October of this year, with gamers able to pick one up for 399 dollars or Euro as long as they also have the Camera that's required to use it.
Both Microsoft and Nintendo are also set to deliver their own new hardware before 2016 is through.