Every now and then Sony updates its PlayStation 3 video game console with new system software (or rather, firmware) to fix problems or add new features. The latest is version 2.70, just released yesterday. It leans more to the "add new features" purpose, with five notable changes — all related in some way to the PlayStation Network online service.

The neatest new feature: chat rooms. Up to 16 players can form a chat room together to send text messages back and forth, and that chat room can be accessed while playing a game, too. You can even launch a game directly from the chat room. Sticking with the social motif, Sony added a new way to sort friends. You can now view your contact list by the last time they were logged on. Previously, the only option was to view logged-on friends alphabetically, and then logged-off friends alphabetically. Rounding off the friends-related stuff, you can now send 3 MB files to friends. Previously you could only do 1 MB.

The last two features free up restrictions on video files that you download on the PlayStation store. You can now back up your videos on an external USB storage device, and you can also copy movies downloaded for the PlayStation Portable to the PS3 to play them on the big screen. That about it covers it! Enjoy.

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