"Firmware update" sounds like something you'd want. Something solid, yet fresh and new. But lately deciding to update is getting more complicated. The newest firmware is no longer just a nice downloadable present from a benevolent electronics overlord; on many devices, it has been buggy or downright dangerous to install. Manufacturers like Apple, Nintendo and Sony are increasingly releasing firmware that disables functionality for business reasons—or that just make products worse by being halfbaked. Here is a rundown of firmware updates that weren't exactly beloved by users.

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We're all for making hyperbolic statements about how powerful the iPhone is as a gaming system, but John Carmack's taking things to the next level. As you remember, Sega has previously said that the iPhone is as powerful as their Dreamcast system, and EA has previously said that it's more powerful than the DS, but less than the PSP. Carmack, on the other hand, is having none of this. He says that it's more powerful than "a Nintendo DS and PSP combined." Combined! Like, if you taped the two together and had them working simultaneously, he's saying it won't be as good as an iPhone!

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A tipster mailed in these additional PSP spy shots to go along with the ones we saw yesterday. Assuming this is real, it shows a black PSP with the new PlayStation button, the mic hole, and a thinner outer ring. There's also the headphone jack with the TV out port which features more arrows than before. Colour us amazed. If anything, this says that everyone, from Sony themselves to people who have nothing better to do than to make fakes and seed them to news sites online, aren't really expecting much out of the next iteration of the PSP.

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It's tough to make out much from these shots, but according to their source, they are of the next PSP (the PSP model 3000). The specs include a built-in microphone as well as an updated button set that replaces the "Home" button with a PlayStation button (to more closely resemble the PS3).

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Couple of news tidbits from the shadowy Wii homebrew scene today. First is what is supposedly the first custom Wii firmware that its author, Waninkoko, claims will allow the Wii to read burned DVDs without any hardware modification. And from the "just for the hell of it" department is a separate announcement of a PSP emulator running successfully on the Wii--albeit at a blazingly unplayable four to eight frames per second. The PSP emulator smells a bit more of fish than the DVD-R enabling firmware, but neither have been tested officially. [Waninkoko, DCEmu via Slashdot]

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You know that the iPhone is powerful enough to render 3D games like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as various other ones we covered in the marathon review session, but just how powerful is it? How does it compare to actual gaming handhelds like the Nintendo DS and PSP? An EA developer put it this way. On a scale of the three, it's in between the DS and the PSP, but sliding more towards the PSP. That's right. In terms of power, you can expect to see games that look at least as good as the DS once developers get enough (read: more than four months) development time with it.

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Unveiling the new Home, Sony revealed that video rentals and purchases are finally coming to the PS3. Video will be fully integrated into the PlayStation Store, which will have a new video section. And you can transfer them to your PSP via USB, and have them on multiple devices at once! Standard and high def, with rentals running US$3-US$6 and US$10-US$15 for purchases. It takes about an hour to download a two-hour movie. Most of the major studios are on board (Kotaku has a partial list in their liveblog), and it goes live tonight!

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A small, but happy change in the PlayStation Network: Starting this fall all PlayStation users will have a single sign on that works across PS3, PC and PSP. One. That works across all three platforms. Simplicity and logic, meet Sony.

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We're here at Sony's E3 press event, preparing for the onslaught of hardware and software news they've got planned for today. Could there be a price cut? A new WiiMote-like peripheral? Just new games? Just old games? Whatever it is, it's going to be shown on the giant stage full of Sony's TVs. It's about to start, so keep refreshing so you can see the exciting Sony-ness. Sony-osity. Sony-manium. Update: It's started!

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We knew the PSP 4.05 Firmware update was coming soon, but we didn't expect it to come today. The firmware is now out and ready to download, so fire up your PSP and get to it.

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