Today Sony are releasing a significant firmware update (1.80) for the Playstation 3. Here are some of the new features:

• Upscaling DVDs and PS1 and PS2 games to 1080p resolution.
• PSP Remote play via internet.
• DLNA media center connectivity.
• Photo printing with compatible Epson printers.
• Zoom and trim images + a new type of slideshow.
• Transfer save files from the PS3 using memory card adaptor.

Upscaling to HD resolution and DLNA are the biggest changes, and seems to work flawlessly. DLNA adds a button under the Picture, Music and Video menus of the XMB titled “Search for Media Servers”, which seems to work well in a Windows environment. If you have experience about DLNA using Linux, please let us know.

According to GameDaily, Sony and Immersive have reached an agreement about the force feedback technology used in the Playstation controller. The “rumble” technology was initially removed from the PS3-controller due to a lawsuit, but the two companies has now “entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation format products”.

This will probably mean the PS3 controller will rumble again in upcoming versions.

(Thanks to PSUbuntu Forum user Eidan for the link)

Today Sony had some bad news for the European Playstation 3 market. The European (PAL) console will be a modified version with less backwards compatibility than that of the Japanese and US versions. “The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models,” a Sony spokesperson told the Reuters news-agency.

While Sony claims that about 98 % of old games can be played on the PlayStation 3 game console sold in Japan and the United States, not all games for the PlayStation 2 will run on the PAL version of the console. The chip made specifically for PS2 compatibility that was built into the original machines will be removed from the European version. Older PS games will instead be emulated through software. The PS3 is being released to the rest of the world on March 23.

• One million PS3s will be distributed throughout Europe on March 23.
• The launch will only feature the top model (60GB) version.
• The price tag will vary but should be around €600 ($660).