PlayStation Vita updated to version 1.61, adds new app and more

In preparation for the launch of the PlayStation Vita on Wednesday, Sony has begun to roll out a new firmware update (version 1.61). If you’ve managed to score a PlayStation Vita, the update should be available to you now.

Here’s what you’ll be getting out of PlayStation Vita update 1.61:

• A new application, (Maps), has been added to the home screen.
• In addition to photos, you can now take videos using the Photo application.
• You can now publish stories about the products that you rate in PlayStation Store to Facebook.
• In near, players’ information is now displayed on the Discoveries screen. On this screen, a list of the online IDs of up to 100 players that you have encountered, and the number of times that you encountered each player, are displayed. Tap an online ID to display that player’s profile screen.
• The Mac OS version of Content Manager Assistant for PlayStation has been released. The Windows version has also been updated.

If you’ve recently updated your PlayStation Vita to version 1.60, Sony recommends that you go ahead and make the upgrade to version 1.61 as the latest update adds in some systemwide improvements.

Additionally, Sony made the update available for download straight to your PC/Mac. For more information on how that works, check out Sony’s blog post at this link.