According to PlayStation Insider (linked above), a PS3 Firmware 3.0 announcement and details of the new PlayStation Network are planned for Sony's 3-hour press event at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany next week.
To quote: "Our source told us that Sony is planning on announcing firmware 3.0 at the conference, while being very careful to point out that Sony might not release firmware 3.0 on that day, but that they will announce it and detail it's features, possibly in video form.
Our source also said it coincides with the release of the new PlayStation Network, however our source didn't go into any detail as to what this new PSN is supposed to feature. Sony did send out some e-mails recently hinting at a new PSN launching on the 18th, so that lends some credibility to these rumors.
We speculate that it could have some premium features. There was talk a while back about a possible premium service where users pay one flat rate to access unlimited downloads (online gaming and all of it's features would still be free though).
If the price were right, that's something that many could find very appealing. Hopefully this firmware 3.0 will also come with some of our most sought after features, like cross game voice chat, voice or video messaging, etc."
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