PS3 Gets DivX & Blu-ray Upgrade
The PS3 is finally starting to shape up as a true next-gen console and home entertainment box with today’s addition of support for the DivX format – the most popular compression technology used for Web-based video.
It was promised last month and now it’s here for Christmas, allowing us all to use the PS3 for watching those compressed TV shows and movies we downloaded off the Web. The support comes as part of the new Version 2.1 firmware update, which will allow owners to stream DivX files from their PCs to the PS3 via its Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) technology. In addition to DivX support, the PS3 now supports videos in VC-1 format, including WMV content.
The other key enhancement has been the upgrade of the Blu-ray software to Blu-ray Disc (BD) Profile 1.1, making it one of the first players capable of supporting advanced features like secondary video and audio decoders for picture-in-picture viewing and interactive audio commentary.
The Xbox 360 is expected to get DivX support too although Sony gets the gold medal for being first. [UPDATE: I'm wrong, Xbox snatched DivX gold a few weeks ago - thanks for the heads-up Ruler, Directhex]
As we reported, Sony also launched the 3.80 firmware for the PSP, bringing support for more than 22,000 Internet radio stations via Wi-Fi.-Martin Lynch
