French website PSPGen has gotten word about an upcoming firmware update for the PSP. If their sources are to be believed, a beta edition of PSP FW 5.0 has already been released by Sony. And the guys who supposedly get first dibs on FW 5.0? Official game developers, of course!

As of writing, there's still no information on what changes are incorporated in the new firmware. You'd think that, since this is a big bump up from 4.xx, 5.xx might bring in a couple of huge changes... or not.

If you remember last time, the 4.00 "milestone" brought with it Google Search and some added video playback functions - not really a "huge" change in some people's books.

So, what can we expect from FW 5.00? Well, if recent rumors hold true, we could find some tweaks that are specifically oriented towards the PSP-3000. Famitsu previously revealed some "hidden features" in the 3000, saying that it has a new "Color Space" setting under the system settings, as well as an option for Automatic USB Connection.

Also, we previously heard Sony talking about the possibility of giving the PSP a native PlayStation Store - meaning, you can directly access the PS Store without having to connect via PS3 or PC. Could FW 5.xx introduce a new browser for this native PS Store? Your guess is as good as mine.

Probably, there's also that one question burning in your head: when FW 5.0 gets released, will Dark AleX be hot on its heels with a CFW 5.xx M33? Hmm...

Thanks to DaNoob for the tip!

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