PS4 Firmware Update 1.70

As promised, Sony deployed the PlayStation 4’s hotly anticipated v1.70 firmware update overnight – and it’s shaped up to be the enormous overhaul that we predicted. Rather than deploy lots of little updates, it seems that the platform holder has opted to change its tact from the PlayStation 3 era, and focus on a few bumper ones. Alas, while this latest refresh has various headline features like the SHAREfactory editing suite and HDCP toggle, are there any secret features that the manufacturer has slipped through?

We figured that last night’s patch notes looked pretty comprehensive, but – with the help of websites like NeoGAF and Reddit – we’ve managed to uncover a catalogue of other unmentioned features. To begin, did you notice the new ‘From PlayStation’ notifications type? This can be found in the, er, ‘Notifications’ section, and will presumably be used as a promotional tool by the platform holder to direct users towards PlayStation Store sales and the like. Another possibility is the ability for the firm to detail maintenance windows.

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There are also some changes to accounts. You can now, for example, attach multiple users to a single DualShock 4, and moreover, bypass the log in screen when reconnecting the controller to the console. Elsewhere, you can switch on automatic crash reports, and opt to attach videos when your system does something bad. This could be particularly helpful for developers, as opposed to trying to decipher bugs via text descriptions, they will now be able to receive video evidence of potential problems. That’s a really cool implementation of the share technology in our opinion.

But that’s actually not all. You can now force 5.1 channel audio even if the system detects 7.1 support, and also enable ‘Deep Colour Output’ in the screen settings – even if we couldn’t really see much of a difference on our display. Lastly, you can now upload multiple screenshots to Facebook at once, and you can carry this procedure out while you’re broadcasting to Twitch or Ustream. That’s everything that we’ve found so far, but feel free to outline any other secrets that you’ve uncovered in the comments section below.

[source neogaf.com, via reddit.com]