Absolute Gadget

If you turn on your PS3 today you may want to download the firmware update.  The upgrade will allow gamers to play new Blu-ray discs with BD-Live enhancements.

The firmware update will also allow PS3 users to copy music and photo files from the console to their PSP.

The BD-Live feature allows viewers to download content from the internet such as bonus scenes, shorts, trailers and images. This used to be a big advantage HD-DVD had ofver Blu-rayu before it sank like the Titanic.

According to reports, the company will announce on April 8 a slew of new titles that can connectto the internet to download more material, features and other stuff. The movies "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and "The 6th Day" will be Sony's first two BD-Live titles. The firmware update make the PS3 the first Blu-ray player with internet connectivity. This is known as "Profile 2.0." and not a lot of other player have this feature at the moment.

Before all this most Blu-ray players were the basic Profile 1.0 kind, which meant that it didn't have features such as picture-in-picture nor internet connectivity, which is what HD DVD had. We should expect a whole host of Profile 2.0 players hitting the shops in the next few months and as we speak the film studios are falling over themselves to roll out BD-Live software to go with their movies.

Analyst said that the addition of BD-Live and the other upgrade features in firmware v2.20 further mark out the PS3 as the hi-definition movie player of choice for the discerning film buff.

"But it's the combination of features the PS3 boasts that really marks it out," said Tony Cripps of Ovum.

"Notwithstanding the PS3's relatively high list price (around $400 for the 40GB version in the US), its greater overall functionality (including its primary use case as a games console and network capability) gives it a considerable advantage over most standalone Blu-ray players," he said.

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