Sony just announced sales of seven million PlayStation

Sony just announced sales of seven million
PlayStation 4 consoles and promised more
details on its upcoming software update
would follow soon, now here they are. We
still don't have an exact timetable for when
firmware 1.70 will arrive, but now we know
more about its new "SHAREfactory" video
editor and that game pre-loading is in the
update. Many people are familiar with pre-
loading via Steam and other PC services,
which allows gamers to download pre-
ordered games ahead of their release, then
simply unlock the digital copy on the day it's
"released." All it takes is enabling the PS4's
"auto download" feature, and you're done, no
more waiting while overloaded servers choke
on release day.
The other big addition is SHAREfactory, a rich
video editor app that will let gamers spice up
their game recordings (which are getting a
resolution bump to 720p) with filters and
effects, music and picture-in-picture feeds
from the PlayStation Camera. The music
element is particularly interesting because it
mentions both provided tracks and the ability
to import your own original songs, even
though the PS4 can't play MP3s right now. If
that's a surprise addition to the list later, we
won't argue. One other tweak is letting users
decide which friends they will share a clip or
screenshot with from the Share menu itself,
instead of having to go back into settings
first. Additionally, a Japanese press release
indicates the update will bring Remote Play to
Sony's Vita TV mini-console and the ability to
archive those HD Ustream / Twitch
broadcasts online.
While the Xbox One's Upload Studio shares
some of the same features, Sony is going a
step further by letting users post
SHAREfactory videos directly to Facebook, or
move them directly to an external USB storage
device to upload them elsewhere (YouTube).
We called out the PS4's lack of a video editor
when we compared the two system's services
and apps , and while we'll have to wait for
some hands-on time to be sure, that gap may
be closed. Of course, if you prefer DIY
capture and editing, FW 1.70's HDCP-off that
will allow video capture of games over HDMI
will be the big addition, but this makes it
easier for anyone to try it. Now, if only we
knew when we will get to see the new update
(and, hopefully, successive ones to fill in
missing features like MP3, Blu-ray 3D, DLNA).