PS4 firmware update 2.0 release date officially announced

The highly anticipated PS4 firmware update 2.0, also known as “Masamune” finally has a release date. Sony Entertainment announced earlier today that PS4 owners can expect to see the update on their consoles next Tuesday, October 28. Update 2.0 will bring with it a number of very useful features such as Share Play, Youtube support, new background themes, friend finder and more. Perhaps the most anticipated of them is Share Play, a very interesting new feature that allows you to invite a friend with a PS4 to join your game even if he or she doesn’t own the said game. While not by that name, Share Play was in fact announced way back in 2013 before the PS4 was even launched so it’s great to see that it made it at long last. The other new features included in firmware update 2.0 Masamune can be found below.

• USB Music Player: PS4 owners will be able to play their own music in the background while playing a game using USB Music Player*. After inserting a USB stick loaded with music into the system, a new option for USB Music Player will appear. Supported filename extensions include MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP.
• Change colours: PS4 owners can change the background of the home screen from light blue to one of seven new colors: gold, blue, red, green, purple, pink, and grey.
• Enhancements to live broadcasting: Masamune brings a variety of improvements to live broadcasting on PS4. In the Live From PlayStation app, PS4 owners can now select a Featured channel, which includes official broadcasts from PlayStation, broadcasts from people on a players friend list, and any game channel that the player has followed. Additionally, Live From PlayStation now has filters for searching broadcasts on a specific game, as well as support for archived broadcasts.
• Friend finder: PS4 will now suggest players you may know, recommending close friends of your close friends.
• Content Area and Library: PS4′s Content Area, which shows the latest games and apps a PS4 owner has used, has been redesigned to help make it easier to quickly find and access content. It now shows 15 of a player’s most used apps or games, and additional items will be added to a player’s Library. The Library on PS4 has improved filter and sort functions to help organise contented by type (game / app / TV & video), name (a – z or z – a), recently used, or install date.
• Enhanced voice commands: The ability to control PS4 using voice has been improved. Players can now say ‘PlayStation’ to begin commands, and ‘All Commands,’ to see a list of all voice command options available. New voice commands were added for live broadcasting, including “Start broadcast,” “End broadcast,” and “Find face.”
• Add to library: The monthly free PlayStation Plus games will have an ‘Add to Library’ button in the PlayStation Store. This button will add a game to a PS4 owner’s library without downloading it – saving space on their hard drive.

Last but not least, Sony announced that PS Vita, PlayStation TV, and the PlayStation App will each receive an update as well. Update 3.35 and update 2.0, respectively, will arrive to the said devices around the same time that update 2.0 Masamune starts rolling out for the PS4.