PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.35 is now available. According to the US PlayStation Blog, v2.35 is "a relatively minor update to improve stability of some PS3 titles." We're willing to wager a handful of stolen cars that "some PS3 titles" is a better way of saying Grand Theft Auto IV, whose compatibility with older PS3 models has become a topic of discussion and a sore spot for early adopters of Sony's console. An alleged Take-Two email yesterday hinted at a Sony firmware update.

Download now and let us know if the game's technical hiccups (for those that had them) have been eradicated.

Update: As noted in the comments of the blog by Sony's Al de Leon, this upgrade does not fix GTA IV. Said de Leon, "I just want to clarify that this upcoming firmware update isn't related to GTA IV. For those of you who may still have an issue playing the game on your PS3, we have identified a solution that should resolve the issue. You can contact SCEA Consumer Services for support."

It looks like help may be on the way for those of you who are still experiencing some freezing problems with Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3. One user on the official PlayStation forums said he received an email from Take-Two stating the issue was "with the launch edition of the PS3 and this game" and that "the game was checked over and passed as 100% compatible with the current version of the PS3."

As for the fix, the alleged Take-Two staffer reportedly wrote that "Sony are aware of this difference and are looking into producing a new firmware just for the earlier version of the PS3." Wow, a whole new firmware update? For one game? We hope the swelled head doesn't affect Niko's balance when he's bludgeoning and murdering hookers.

If you love retooled buying experiences or super, SUPER 27.1 surround sound, then we probably don't need to remind you of this, but for the rest of you: The new PlayStation Store and PlayStation 3 firmware version 2.30 are both live.

As if that weren't exciting enough, this also means that weekly updates to the store will resume and PS3 Rock Band owners will finally get their hands on Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive." We'd expect the geek anthem to be part of a pretty beefy update this week to mark the store's return, we'll let you know when we hear something.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

Being really huge video game nerds doesn't leave us much time for other kinds of nerddom. So we're not even going to pretend that we're hardcore enough audio geeks to tell you the implications of PS3 firmware 2.30, which Sony announced this morning will add DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. See that? We just copied and pasted that. We weren't sure we could even type it right.

We know that DTS-HD MA will pull audio off the Blu-ray at the "incredibly high variable rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second," which sounds like a lot of bits. It's also got 7.1 audio channels which looks pretty good to us, and that's at "96k sampling frequency/24 bit depths." Awesome (we bet). Be sure to scroll down to the comments where one of our brilliant readers will explain what all this means.

When will you get your hands ears on it? Well, you need it to access the new PlayStation Store, which is coming on April 15th. Check out the PlayStation blog for all the details or peep their video after the break.

Sony KONPYUTAENTATEINMENTOJAPAN has announced that the revamped PlayStation Store will open its virtual doors on Tuesday, April 15th. Update: SCEA has confirmed that loud-mouthed, spendthrift American PS3s will be allowed to roam the aisles on the same day, as will systems from around the globe.

The store revamp will be facilitated by enhanced firmware (version 2.30) and should mark the return of weekly content updates which have been absent since April 3rd. Once the more user-friendly interface is up and running, PS3 owners will be able to download fun things like Warhawk's Broken Mirror expansion and the 'Still Alive' DLC for Rock Band.

Gallery: PlayStation Store Update Spring '08

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Attention, people who enjoy playing console games on a portable system via a wireless internet connection: We have important news for both of you! The new PSP firmware version 3.95 offers two minor tweaks to enhance your remote playing experience.

Remote players can now remap the PSP's limited button layout to more usefully replicate the DualShock when playing PSOne games. The new firmware also allows players to stop remote play without turning off the PS3, allowing any background downloads to continue unabated. While these new tweaks aren't exactly revolutionary, it's always nice to see a company continuing to support product features well after their release.

[Via PSPFanboy]

Tired of your Blu-ray copies of Saw IV and War not pulling their own weight? Good news: You can now force them to give up all of their BD-Live downloadable treasures via a new update to the PS3 that went live last night: Version 2.20. Go, download away, see all the secrets they have to reveal! And then go buy some better movies.

If you've got more discerning theatrical tastes, the update offers other benefits like the ability to play bigger DivX files, Remote Play music with the PSP and Mosquito Noise Reduction (and just in time, too, the eternal flapping of their wings has become maddening). See what else you're getting right here.

The PSP has been gaining a lot of momentum lately, both from an increasingly impressive stable of games and the constant updates to the already feature-rich firmware, which seem to come every time you turn around. In fact, let's turn around and see what we find. ... Hey, it's firmware 3.93!

This one, we'll admit, isn't a huge leap forward, just 20 new players for the internet radio feature (we're also assuming there's some under-the-hood modder thwarting as well). But hopefully it's a nice, free surprise on your Tuesday morning.

Before Sony's social media manager, Jeff Rubenstein, came to the rescue via an informative blog post, our research had concluded that the latest PlayStation 3 firmware update implements the following changes:

• Cell division by zero no longer possible
• Cross media bar lightened up, no longer cross
  
• Fun patch applied to "Go! Sky Diving"
  
• Triceratops tranquilized
• Placebo.exe installed for faster load times

Unfortunately, it seems our analysis was wholly inaccurate, as Rubenstein explained that Firmware 2.17 merely improves "the operating stability of some online PS3 titles." You'll be prompted to download the update the next time you sign on to the PlayStation Network.

Hacking your Wii to play Pong is one thing, but the recently-revealed Twilight Princess exploit allows all sorts of unsigned code to run natively on the Wii. Homebrew developers are already starting to take advantage, releasing a bunch of interesting and/or useful unauthorized programs for Nintendo's little white box. Among them:

• Linux for Wii - Coming next: Linux on your toaster
  
• MP3 player - Just in case you don't like the crappy one included in the Photo Channel.
• SNES emulator - Who needs the Virtual Console when you can just steal ROMs of your fave SNES games?
  
• Wii Tetris - So much cooler than Pong. No, you shut up!

Still no public announcement from Nintendo in reaction to the exploit, though given their recent aggressive pursuit of game pirates, you can expect a PSP-style battle of the firmwares to start any day now.
[Thanks to reader Craig for many of these links]

Well that was fast. Here we are, not more than two days after the Skype-granting PSP 3.90 firmware was released, and a new custom firmware comes along to let PSP owners run homebrew and/or pirated programs yet again.

While there aren't many exciting new features for this quick and dirty custom firmware upgrade, we should note that the M33 line of hacks now has the ability to download updates directly from the internet via Wi-Fi using the PSP's built-in Network Update tool. When PSP users don't even have to be tethered to a computer to break Sony's copy-protection, what chance does Sony really have of stopping them?

[Via PSP Fanboy]

It may not herald the arrival of the mythical PlayStation Phone just yet, but the latest PSP firmware update brings the next best thing. Firmware version 3.90 is now available for download (access it through the XMB's "Network Update" option) and enables previously detailed Skype functionality for Slim PSPs. Before you start prank calling Cristian Cardona though, keep in mind that portable blabbering requires a PSP headset with remote control.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

OK, Mr. Big Shot, so you already knew about the new, DivX-sporting PS3 firmware 2.1 going live today. But that's only because you read Joystiq. Never forget: We gave you that knowledge, and we can take it away. ... OK, so we can't do that. But we're working on it.

Perhaps a little more of a surprise for fans of Sony's small screen is the news that PSP firmware 3.80 has also appeared for you to download and enjoy. Most significant in this update is the new Internet Radio feature, which Sony says provides access to thousands of stations. The set-up instructions are pretty specific though, you can check them out after the jump.

Read - PSP Firmware 3.80 is live
Read - Firmware update (v2.10)

With the sexy new revision and lots of solid titles, the PSP has become more and more desirable as of late. But believe us when we tell you it's peanuts compared to how useful the thing has become in Japan, where only the lack of a blond mullet keeps it from being the MacGyver of consumer electronics. Adding insult to injury, it's getting even cooler in Japan with firmware version 3.80, which will add TV program recording and internet radio features to the device.

While we're hopeful internet radio could be rolled out across the globe, don't even think about adding DVR functionality to your PSP, as we still lack the 1seg technology here that makes the whole thing go. Oh well, at least you can (fingers crossed) look forward to the internet radio feature. Check out some images of it in action right here.

Experience the same old experience by launching PSP's Network Update today!

To call the latest PSP mutation an update is certainly an overstatement. Firmware 3.73 is so completely similar to 3.72 that Sony couldn't muster a single new feature worth listing in its description of the upgrade. Even the hacks haven't turned up anything more than a few 'byte differences' in the lflash_fatfmt file (don't ask, we don't know). At least it still plays games.

Update: Sony tells us the "operation of the UMD drive has been improved to address cases in which the UMD drive occasionally suspends and fails to reload data."

[Image credit: Diane Arbus]