Sony yesterday released the newest version of the Playstation Portable’s firmware, version 3.70 (up from 3.52), for both the PSP-1000 “phatty” and the new PSP-2000 “slim”. This new release includes several large features, including theming support (with theme editor upcoming), simultaneous playback of pictures and music, and the display of shortcut buttons throughout the user interface. The update is available only through Network Update on the PSP’s XMB at the time of this writing, but is expected to be available through sony.com soon.

Currently there are two themes available, though neither are downloadable through an obvious place. Instead, one must go to a part of the Sony Japan website to download them. Further instructions may be found at the linked article.

Opinion, ho: Neither of the themes are better than the default, in my opinon, but they do show off what different kinds of styles can be made (a simple color-scheme change like Pink or something more drastic like Cookie.) Whether this takes off hinges entirely on the theme editor; no one wants to leave the themes entirely to Sony (indeed they haven’t; theming is possible through homebrew, but then again, so is bricking the PSP.) The good thing is that Sony does have some experience with making software, so we more than likely won’t be stuck with something buggy and nearly unusable. Ideally, making a theme would be pointing the application at images for each icon, giving it a wallpaper, and choosing some colors. I’ll have a hands on with the theme editor when it’s released.