This morning, IGN featured the release of the PSP's latest firmware upgrade, version 3.30.
This is a big jump from 3.11, but there don't seem to be many features coming with it.

Features:
* Support for displaying thumbnails for items has been added under [RSS Channel]
* Support for PlayStation Network titles had been expanded
* The size of videos that can be played under [Video] has been increased
* Support for displaying thumbnails for content saved in the "VIDEO" folder of a Memory Stick has been added under [Video]

Here is IGN's article on it.


So, what is all this stuff inside the big jump from 3.10/3.11 to 3.30? Well, not a ton, actually, but the overall fixes should hopefully make those who use the PSP's video features a lot a little happier.

According to the official Japanese website for PSP v3.30, the new update allows the PSP to play MP4 video of a variety of sizes never possible before, making it much more compatible with the PS3 (plus, it makes the quality of video that PSP plays greatly superior, as the pixels do not need to be stretched.) The PSP can now run video 720x480, 352x480, and 480x272 (the PSP's own frame size is 480x272). The feature sounds great, but the implementation is very touchy -- no video that we have compressed so far has run (and various forums on the net report the same problem.) Videos need to conform to the MP4 AVC Main Profile (AVC CABAC).

Also in PSP v3.30, the system now allows for still-frame thumbnails in the Video folder, which are nicely stored simply as JPG files in the same folder as your MP4 clip. (Unfortunately, there's no "render thumbnail" like on PS3, and you will have to rename the old THM files you had with previous video files.) There's also a strange new .M3U8 file replacing the previous .M3U file (neither of which seemed to have done anything of interest.) Beyond that, a new Disc Read Speed option has been added to the PS one games you download from the PlayStation Network on your PS3 (to choose between normal running or a faster-but-perhaps-buggier faster speed), and there's also a handy adjustment to the RSS feed channel that shows you thumbnails of some of the content that you are downloading.

Not added in 3.30, sadly, is support for the PlayStation Network or PlayStation Store, as seen on PS3. PlayStation Portable owners are still dependent on the new console if they want to purchase and download PS1 games or other downloadable content. PSP owners also have no connection to the PS3's system of Friends Lists and messaging (the only exception is the Remote Play feature, but this is obviously a far-from-ideal and extremely limited solution.) You may recall from our The Future of PSP feature that we asked the execs when (or if) Sony was planning on bringing the PSN/PlayStation Store features to the handheld, but so far, no news on that front.

As always, you can download the latest PSP updates (once the newest version is available, as some regions might get new versions later than others) through your PSP's Network Update feature in settings, or on Sony's official site.