It’s good to talk, isn’ it? Well, chat on PS3, that is. And then only once you’ve downloaded firmware update v2.70. Yeah, like you’ll have any choice in the matter. Grumble etc.

Yes, good old Text Chat is the key selling point of the latest update for PS3. Sony’s done its very best to make the feature as good as possible too. Players will be able to connect with up to 15 of their Playstation Network friends simultaneously, using either the wireless keypad, on-screen keyboard or any other compatible device. Better yet this functionality is available even while playing PS3 games, and users can get stuck into up to three chat rooms at the same time. Good luck to you if you’ve got the patience (and fingers) to manage all that. Xbox 360-style live voice chat is still cooler, though, and who the heck has got time to break out mid-game to text-chat with their chums? But moving on.

v.2.70 boasts a couple of other interesting features. In the first instance users can sort PSN friends via their online status and attach larger files to the messages they send to one another - now up to 3MB. And then a feature that won’t have much relevance for UK gamers just yet - the ability to back up purchased videos on any suitable external storage device. Video files can then be deleted from the PS3 hard-drive - freeing up vital space for all those killer downloads - and restored as and when the mood suits. Videos purchased for PSP can be transferred to PS3 too, and backed-up similarly, we presume. As soon as Sony Europe gets around to launching the Video Shop over here we’re all over this.

Firmware update bv.2.70 is released shortly. Find out more and see the video demo on the official Playstation blog - http://blog.us.playstation.com.