PS3 Browser To Get “Big Upgrade” Soon?
Chrome? Firefox? Could be interesting.Published: 9:00, 26/07/2010 by Staff.
27There’s a little bit of conflict this morning as to the validity of the source, but seemingly according to a (private?) Tweet from the official Sony PlayStation Twitter account, the PS3′s current web browser is going to get a “big upgrade” soon.
The news comes via NeoGAF, the forum carrying screengrabs from Twitterific running on an iPhone. I’ve not personally used that App, but according to posters at the source blue backgrounds signify private messages, suggesting it was send as a DM to the user, Simmo2K.
Indeed, there’s no such public Tweet from the official PlayStation account.
Regardless, if the screengrab is real (the appropriate section of the grab is duplicated below) then it looks like we might be seeing something powered by Google Chrome. Personally, I’d have prefered a Firefox based browser, but an upgrade is an upgrade.
It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to expect Move support, too.
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26/07/2010 at 09:09
Member since: Feb 2010
Probably will be nothing
Saw this the other day on the official eu playstation forums, as that was the original source. Looked reliable there.
26/07/2010 at 09:11
Member since: Feb 2010
Here it is: http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Network/Web-Browser-upgrade-in-the-works/m-p/11205851
26/07/2010 at 14:10
Member since: Forever
Chrome sounds plausible if you think about the deal with Google to put a browser in Sony TV’s.
26/07/2010 at 09:11
Member since: Dec 2008
I agree – firefox would be preferable to me, but anything is preferable to the unusable excuse for a browser on the PS3 at the moment!
26/07/2010 at 12:40
Member since: Jul 2010
Its not that bad mate. Yes it needs improving but you cant grumble for FREE :)
26/07/2010 at 13:04
Member since: Forever
My PS3 cost almost £400, none of the advertised features are free and that browser barely deserves to be called a browser so an upgrade (bringing it to usable levels) is way past due.
26/07/2010 at 14:52
Member since: Aug 2008
Have to agree with Cb. I didn’t pay £450 for a games console, I paid that for a multimedia monster with Blu-Ray, internet connectivity, browser, Linux (grrr) and all the other features advertised.
26/07/2010 at 09:14
Member since: Aug 2008
I’ve totally given up using the PS3 browser. I get a better experience browsing the web on my Nexus One so i’d rather grab that and let the PS3 get on with curing cancer while I browse
26/07/2010 at 11:37
Member since: Jun 2009
me too, it’s rubbish basically.
26/07/2010 at 09:15
Member since: Oct 2008
About bloody time, I say! I also would prefer Firefox, but any upgrade to it is a good one.
26/07/2010 at 09:28
Member since: Oct 2009
Firefox would have been my first pick as well.
26/07/2010 at 10:02
Member since: Jan 2010
yeah, i really hope it’s not chrome, couldn’t understand the hype with it.
26/07/2010 at 10:39
Member since: Jul 2009
Firefox is (compared to chrome) a memory hogger. Chrome would make sense from that point of view. Its a lightweight fully functional browser.
26/07/2010 at 11:07
Member since: May 2009
That’s Chrome’s only advantage over Firefox.
26/07/2010 at 19:31
Member since: Forever
but I can’t think of a single advantage the other way round
27/07/2010 at 11:05
Member since: Jun 2009
I am a web developer so am well informed to confirm that Google Chrome is a better browser for many reasons. It is more standards compliant and supports more new features such as true HTML5 and CSS3. This allows new sites that usilise these new languages to be developed. Additionally it is a much faster browser that Mozilla Firefox and has fewer security vunerabilities.
28/07/2010 at 08:20
Member since: Jul 2009
Dont get me wrong; I use them both but I don’t understand why people don’t like Chrome or Firefox for that matter. They’re both fast, support plugins and are user friendly. So can someone explain why Chome would be so horrible!?
26/07/2010 at 09:17
Member since: Forever
Long overdue I think. Saying that I can’t remember the last time I used it since I got a smartphone
26/07/2010 at 09:19
Member since: Jul 2009
If they do actually give it a “big upgrade”, I reckon it will be based on Webkit, not Chrome/Chromium directly. (Webkit is what Chrome, Safari and quite a few other web browsers use for their HTML rendering engine). This should at least give better and faster rendering, HTML5 support and a lot faster Javascript performance.
Sony would still need to come up with a decent user interface and better Flash support, of course. (Hint: Youtube HD support, Sony!)
26/07/2010 at 09:35
Member since: Mar 2009
Yeah couldn’t agree more, given the variety of browsers and devices that use WebKit it does seem likely that they’d base a new browser on it. In fact if the current browser is well designed they might just be able to plug WebKit into the current interface.
26/07/2010 at 09:52
Member since: Dec 2009
check out http://www.ps3youtube.com
If you haven’t been there before follow the green text at the top first – you’ll only have to do it once (now the cookies are fixed) When you’ve done that then click on the Gametrailers Feed (top left) and click on any movie there… if your broadband is decent i think you’ll enjoy that experience (You can also Triangle->File->Save Target to download the HD movie direct to your PS3 hdd instead.)
There’s also links to the latest vids from Gamespot, IGN etc but they don’t stream the same way as the Gametrailers Feed.
I use the browser daily so any upgrades will indeed be welcome, i hope it’s not a false rumour.
26/07/2010 at 10:00
Member since: Forever
http://www.youtube.com/xl is the large screen version of YouTube, works a treat on PS3
26/07/2010 at 10:09
Member since: Dec 2009
YoutubeXL usually crashes my ps3 after 4 or 5 vids so i was delighted to find an alternative which also allowed me to watch HD youtube videos in my ps3 browser. (Try that Gametrailers Feed and tell me that’s not sweet :) )
26/07/2010 at 12:52
Member since: Dec 2008
crashes mine too. i google the clip i want plus youtube and hope it doesn’t crash. a browser upgrade will for me make the ps3 a proper media hub.
26/07/2010 at 09:34
Member since: Mar 2009
Mildly surprised by the preference of Firefox over Chrome. I used Firefox till about two months ago, but now feel that Chrome is leaps and bounds ahead. Browser opens much faster and pages load significantly faster. More stable than Firefox and doesn’t seem to encounter any of the memory leaks I regularly have with FF.
Been considering either a media PC or a PS3 to browse and play back Flash video on my TV. The PS3 browser really does seem to need an update if that’s the use I’d put it to.
26/07/2010 at 09:40
Member since: Oct 2008
Give Firefox 4 Beta a try. It looks a lot like Chrome and is pretty speedy. It can crash now and again due it being a beta but it does the job.
26/07/2010 at 09:57
Member since: Forever
Tried it, still massively bloated compared to Chrome.
Got no chance of running efficiently in the limited memory footprint Sony allow.
Sony are making the hardware for Google’s Chrome powered settop box Google TV. Given this relationship a a Chrome browser in the PS3 isn’t beyond the realms of possibilty.
26/07/2010 at 09:59
Member since: Mar 2009
I would, but I’m liking Chrome at the moment and I need Firefox to be ultra stable as I have to use it for work (sadly the webapp I use doesn’t support WebKit). Can’t be bothered with having multiple versions installed either, last time I did that I ended up having about 6 versions of FF installed. I am looking forwards to 4 though.
26/07/2010 at 09:55
Member since: Jan 1970
Chrome is moving ahead far faster than Firefox in my eyes, however are we perhaps missing something more deeper here. there are these rumours floating about regarding the o/s that the PSP2 will have, and didn’t Google just buy a company that produces games, could we possibly be seeing a larger collaboration here than just a browser for the PS3.
i personally would love it if the 2 powerhouses teamed up, even if it just spreads the development costs between the 2 of them its got the be good for Sony
26/07/2010 at 09:59
Member since: Mar 2009
Any upgrade to the existing PS3 browser would be most welcome.
26/07/2010 at 10:01
Member since: Feb 2009
The ps3 browser really does my nut, i use it quite a bit for streaming music videos through my Telly and sound system, the sound is obviously so much better than on a laptop with their crappy speakers. Youtube crashes the ps3 about 50% of the time i use it, within about 10 minutes of starting to use it. Considering youtubexl was designed specifically for the ps3, that’s a pretty Piss poor show. I must have sent at least 30 error reports to sony after rebooting my ps3 post-crash, so they have to be aware of the problem. Couple that with no flash support and poor cookie reliability and you’ve got a Piss poor browser.
26/07/2010 at 10:19
Member since: Dec 2009
All of my crash reports have been browser-based and 90% of those were just from using youtube XL.
You don’t get that freezing on ps3youtube.But be aware there is a short pause at the end of watching any Gametrailers Feed video.