One thing I’m pretty keen on about the PlayStation 3 is that it, like the PSP, has a nice wee web browser built into the firmware. While it’s not the most suitable bit of software for the job, it takes on the task with good intent and – memory constraints aside – usually does a pretty good job of showing websites. Hey, even Sarcastic Gamer only takes about 20 seconds to load, and that’s great!
The thing is, Sony’s been making some pretty big claims about the latest incarnation of the browser lately, and I’m not quite sure if they’re getting too big for their boots. That all-important speculation, after the break.
In a column on Japanese IT news site Impress Watch, writer Munechika Nishida got in touch with a handful of Sony’s firmware developers for both PS3 and PSP, and sat down for a wee chat. On a first note, the developers made a point of reiterating the latest additions to the PS3’s firmware (that’d be version 2.50), making a rather big point of the upgrades made to the web browser.
First up was the addition of Flash 9. While some of us were a little skeptical having a read of the effort it took to bring an upgrade of the software to PS3 I can only take my hat off to the folks at Sony. It turns out the Flash 9 implementation uses an entire SPE of the console’s Cell chip (of which it has eight) to process videos and animations, entirely customized from a special build provided by Adobe.
Because it’s using an entirely different SPE from the web browser, it means that the processing of webpages and of Flash files can be handled simultaneously and more efficiently than if they were processed on the same SPE. Because of this, the folks at Sony Nishida interviewed believe that Javascript processing time has increased by 2.8 times and, while not up to Google Chrome’s pace, is a damn sight faster than Internet Explorer 7.
Is this really a verifiable sort of claim? I might, actually say so, despite being a little skeptical. To be honest, anything is faster than Internet Explorer 7. If it wasn’t, why would I prefer to type this article up in Chrome, and then perhaps write something up tomorrow in university on Firefox?
While the PS3’s browser seems to have picked up in pace since 2.50, I’m not sure if it’s as nippy as Internet Explorer (using the term ‘nippy’ loosely, of course). Even with Flash support transferred to another SPE, it’s not super-fast to use and some YouTube videos don’t even work anymore; I’m guessing that’s to do with the encoding of the video when it was originally uploaded to the site.
I’m a pretty regular user of my PS3’s web browser, logging on to everything from my emails to SG and a bunch of news sites every day, so the fact that work’s still being done to make it faster is pretty damn pleasing. However, to call it as fast as the slowest PC internet browser out there is still a bit of a stretch.
Maybe it’s just me; do you think the PS3’s web browser is as fast as Internet Explorer 7? Do you even use the web browser at all? Vent your metaphorical spleen below…
Sony Talks Firmware – IGN
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i hardly ever use my ps3’s web browser since there isn’t a proper keyboard attached and i have a desktop computer right next to it.
Like you said though, anything is faster than IE! I’ve used Safari, Firefox and Chrome and they’re all much faster.. and more reliable – so wouldn’t supprise me if the ps3’s browser had overtaken IE lol
I have used the PS3 web-browser before and they [IE7 / PS3] seem about the same. Both moderately speed browsers, but I prefer FireFox.
pah! better than IE mabey but not better than Firefox, no Firefox is like better than everything in the world, ever!
But seriously shouldn’t sony just scrap it alltogether? I mean who the hell browses the internet on their TV?
I’ve already got internet on my PC, My Laptop, My Phone, My PDA, probabally soon my watch and eventually I’m gonna have it wired directly into my skull so I personally don’t care to have it on my games console. It’s like the one bit of technology where I can stay away from the bl**dy thing.
Who Cares? Use your PC if you want to surf he Web. Plus Firefox >
I use it occasionally, when my computer was on the fritz, that was my way to get my shot of SG. This site wins.
My PC is rigged through my tv and is a bit of a geriatric in tech terms so I use my PS3 browser quite regularly. It’s not the best, a USB keyboard goes a long way in making it manageable. The flash update was a welcome addition but having to use the zoom feature to get a full screen view is still a little grating.
my times for sarcastic gamer as my home page is
ie7 14.3 seconds and firefox 7.4 seconds
so 20 seconds on a ps3 not so fast. and i would not chose a my ps3 over my acer 6920 gemstone
trying to post this it said error fill in required fields i am trying firefox and the email box dose not get high lighted on ie7 it is and don’t miss the email. i would say firefox sucks but unlike ie7 it picks up on spelling
Some of us use the PS3 for more than just gaming. My wife uses it to watch online Japanese TV from our home in England, I use it to watch the BBC iplayer, it has its limitations but it does the trick. The browser is painfully slow as it is on the PSP and I feel Sony could do better, but in both cases they are promoting a games console rather than a TV browser. Yes, we could watch the same content on any one of the 5 other pcs in other parts of the house but its not the same as sitting on the sofa and watching the TV in comfort.