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The PlayStation Vita is now less than 24 hours away from its “official” launch, and Sony’s decided to celebrate by releasing a brand new firmware update for the system. Thankfully version 1.61 isn’t one of those irritating “stability” patches that the PS3 is so fond of, rather an exciting update that brings with it some new functionality.

Top of the list is the new Maps application, which should appear on your home-screen once you've installed the update. Sony’s also added support for video recording in the Photos app and a new feature which updates your Facebook account when you rate any content on the PlayStation Store. Additionally, the Discoveries screen now lists up to 100 players, and reveals the number of times you’ve encountered them.

It’s not just the PS Vita hardware that’s got an upgrade either, as Sony’s also released an update for the Content Management program on both Windows and Mac.

Sony’s recommending you download the updates, as its promising some systemwide performance improvements in addition to the new features. What are you waiting for?