I love the new iPhoto-like app that came in the update. Would’ve been nice to see this worked into the XMB rather than having to open up another application but otherwise it’s very slick and makes me want to copy more photos to the PS3 rather than streaming them from the my PC (since it only allows you to view and play with photos that are local, not streaming, which makes sense since there’s a chance the connection isn’t guaranteed).

Integration is where MS did the best job with the NXE making is so that most everything you need is available without launching into anything. With the PS3 you have to launch into just about everything just to get anything done. If the Mac OS X.5 file preview has taught us anything it’s that people want access to their information now. MS took a queue from Apple and included it in Windows 7. Doesn’t work nearly as smooth but they got the idea. Sony needs to follow suit.

The only problem is that if they just released the new photo widget there’s almost no chance of us getting an updated interface any time soon if ever. But that’s what needs to happen. Maybe Sony is just waiting for the right time.

My hope is that when they go NXE0-style that they’ll find a way to integrate Home like the avatars. Again, probably won’t happen since Home takes up so much power, which would explain why MS went with Mii looking characters: less memory and processing power to use when your characters are only a few hundred or so polys.

Overall not a bad update. Still not sure what value Divx video adds since almost everything is in Flash. What they need to do is add .MOV or .MKV support. Now THAT would be a video update worth talking about.