Sony PS Vita 1.6 Firmware Update with Video, Map & Mac Support

[PS3 News]

Following up on their previous update, today Sony has announced that the PS Vita 1.6 Firmware / System Software update is slated to arrive this Wednesday and will include Video, Map and Mac support.

Download: PS Vita 1.6 Firmware Update (JPN)

To quote via Andriasang.com (linked above): "Sony will be giving PlayStation Vita its first major firmware update on February 8. The system's version 1.6 update adds two major features.

Your Home screen will now have a Map app. Open this up, and you'll be able to see your positional information on a map. The map can be viewed with satellite imagery turned on and off. You can also search for walking and driving directions and view details about your current location.

The system's photo app will be updated with the ability to take videos. The app is currently limited to static photos. As a smaller change, the Home button will now flash blue when you have the Vita hooked up to power.

Separate from the system's firmware, Sony will release a MAC OS version of its Content Management Assistant for PlayStation program. Since the Vita's launch, this has been available only for Windows. The program is required for transferring data between your Vita and computer.

This update will also reflect Sony's previously announced naming change from "PlayStation Network Account" to "Sony Entertainment Network Account." This is just a name change. There's no difference in the service features."

PlayStation Vita 1.6 Changelog and User's Guide via: manuals.playstation.net/document/en/psvita/cm/index.html

• The lighting pattern of the PS button has been changed to light up blue when the system is on.
• The PS Vita system now automatically starts up in a safe mode the first time you turn it on after the system was turned off by pressing and holding the power button for 30 seconds. This approach for turning the power off is used when you cannot turn the system off using the normal steps, or when the system does not operate correctly. Safe mode is a start-up mode for your PS Vita system, in which only a few system functions are available for solving problems. When the system starts up in safe mode, follow the on-screen instructions.
• A new application, (Maps), has been added. The icon for the application is on the home screen. For details about the application, refer to the PS Vita system user’s guide.
  
• You can now take videos in (Photos). For details about this operation, refer to the PS Vita system user’s guide.
  
• In (Settings), the position where [Flight Mode] appears has changed. You can adjust the flight mode setting under (Settings) > [Start] > [Flight Mode].
  
• You can now publish stories about the products that you rate in (PS Store) to Facebook. You must first tap the checkbox [Publish Rating Stories] under (Settings) > [Start] > [PlayStation Network] > [Facebook] to set a checkmark.
  
• In (near), players’ information is now displayed on the (Discoveries) screen.
  On this screen, a list of the online IDs of at most 100 players that you have encountered, and the number of times that you encountered each player, are displayed. Tap an online ID to display that player’s profile screen.
  
• You can now report inappropriate messages in (Group Messaging) and inappropriate comments about an activity. To report inappropriate messages or comments, tap [Grief Report] under (Options) on the screen that shows entire messages or the screen that lists comments for activities.
  
• You can now delete backup files in (Content Manager). For details about this operation, refer to the PS Vita system user’s guide.
  
• The Mac OS version of Content Manager Assistant for PlayStation has been released. The Windows version has also been updated. Download Content Manager Assistant from the following website: http://cma.dl.playstation.net/cma/
  
  Refer to the website for the installation instructions. To use Content Manager Assistant, you must use the Content Manager Assistant version that supports a specific PS Vita system software version. Always update Content Manager Assistant and the system software of your PS Vita system to the latest version.
  
• “PlayStation Network account” has been renamed to “Sony Entertainment Network account”. You can continue using your current sign-in ID and password to sign in to PlayStation Network.

More PlayStation 3 News...

[HeyManHRU]

Well the map app is kind of useful since I walk to a lot of places and I usually need to pull my phone out to see where I am. TBH though, this should have been a feature with the initial release of the Vita, same thing with the mac support.

[GrandpaHomer]

From some unconfirmed rumors Sony was sorting out some licensing issues with Google maps hence the delayed release for the mapping app. Looks though like you'd need to be online for the mapping to work, I'd much more prefer to have option to cache (at least the specific regions of) maps instead. Video recording is good as well depends though on what kind of codec it will be using, resulting size of the video files and most of all if you'll be able to either send them via attachments in group messaging or at least uplaod to YOuTube otherwise it's pretty much useless with dubm way it is trasferring currently the files to PC.

[Nabnab]

Well i wonder how they come up with a Mac os support only now.

Look like they listen and saw my Mac OS version of CMA, still need to add a Linux support (but it would be easy from the Mac OS version to port into Linux)

[GrandpaHomer]

It mainly down to the fact the MAC is not that popular / much used in Japan / Asia so it could be they were simply aiming to have it ready prior the US / EU release and used the resources elsewhere instead.

[Nabnab]

Actually they didn't think about releasing a Mac OS support version of CMA, i just received the confirmation of that

[Tidusnake666]

Is it still HBL-friendly?

[PS3 News]

Here is a brief update from wololo on VHBL still working on PS Vita 1.60 Firmware via: wololo.net/wagic/2012/02/16/vhbl-still-works-on-the-1-60-firmware/

To quote: Today I updated my Vita to 1.60 and could confirm that HBL for the Vita still works as of firmware 1.60. One thing I noticed is that the Vita, after being updated to 1.60, made me update the Content Manager Assistant on the PC as well (is it because my PC was connected to the internet? As far as the release is concerned, it will happen in a few days, for now all the info I can share is on this page. Stay tuned!

Revised version: Today I updated my Vita to 1.60 and could confirm that HBL for the Vita still works as of firmware 1.60 (assuming the game itself hasn’t been patched). A few days ago, Teck4 had confirmed on Twitter that his exploit still works on the most recent firmware.