Tech Blog

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Listen up social media lovers , Playstation 3's Firmware 3.10 update is now live . This update brings the rumoured and recently confirmed integration with the social media craze that is Facebook . The firmware update also improves photo browsing and enhances the look of your PSN Friends List .

Easily the coolest update is the integration with Facebook which allows you to post a variety of PS3 information to your Facebook news feed . To get yourself set-up , what you need to do is bind your PSN account to your Facebook account . This will allow you share three different types of information with your friends on Facebook , including :

1 ) Trophy Information - if you choose this feature , you'll automatically publish information about your trophies on each game when you sync your trophies to the PSN network . This can be done by viewing you Trophy Collection in the Games menu or going over to your Friends List and comparing your trophies with someone on your list .

2 ) Purchase Information - when you have this option activated , you'll be prompted before downloads of PSN Store demos or games if you want to share this information on Facebook . Should you select yes , the purchase information will instantly be posted to your Facebook wall for your friends to see .

3 ) Game Event Information - this feature will allow you to post game-specific information to your Facebook account in your feed . The content that can be posted will vary by game and developers will have the ability to choose what game elements can be posted to Facebook . I assume this will be similar to Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves ' Twitter integration which allowed you to automatically post significant game achievements to your account . This feature will not be available immediately , but expect game developers to incorporate this functionality into upcoming PS3 and PSN titles .

All of these Facebook post features are of course optional , and you can turn them on / off at your leisure .

Another new improvement introduced in Firmware 31.0 is a streamlining of your photo album viewing . If you scroll over to your Photo menu and select an album your photos now appear tiled instead of in a straight vertical line . Photos are arranged in a grid with five photos per row and gives you the ability to navigate through your photo collection horizontally and vertically . This'll let you navigate through your photos quicker and will help you find the photo your looking for in less time . While it's not a revolutionary new enhancement , the improved interface is a certainly a welcome update .

The final improvement , and one gamers have been asking for since Firmware update 3.00 , is a cleaner , less offensive look to the PSN Friend List . As part of the 3.00 update , a grey box surrounded all your friends on your list and visually it was horrendous to look at . Quite the contrast from the otherwise very sleek XMB . With update 3.10 , only the highlighted friend has the box around them , leaving the rest of your friend list clean-looking . You can also change the colour of your box by clicking on your PSN profile and clicking on the new colour tab and selecting a tone that suits your mood . Whatever colour you select will be viewable by your friends when they highlight your name on their Friend List .

That's the bulk of the improvements for this firmware update . No word yet on cross-game voice chat , but I'm optimistic we'll see that feature some day soon . Hey , I need something to look forward to .