The PSP has been riding a rather rough wave of negativity, with harsh criticisms from both Ubisoft and Microsoft, but that hasn’t slowed Sony down. In an announcement on the Playstation.Blog, Eric Lempel detailed the next firmware update for the popular handheld.

"This new upgrade replicates the Google Internet search experience, delivering the same search results that you’d get at www.google.com. And with a search history recall of 20 items, Web searches couldn’t be easier. After you download and install the firmware on your PSP, click on the XMB’s Network icon and then the new Internet Search icon. Enter your keywords and then let Google’s algorithms do the work."

Also on the docket for improvements are the PSP’s video playback capabilities. The new firmware update allows users to change the playback speeds of videos played through a Memory Stick PRO Duo using nothing more than the D-pad. I would normally expect more from an integer-numerated firmware, but I’m really more interested in what the next PS3 firmware has in store for gamers.