Update: Sony today confirmed that the PS4 5.00 update does indeed add streaming notifications. On top of that, it supports 5.1ch and 7.1ch virtual surround sound for headphones while in cinematic mode, making movies more cinematic. A beta for the update is rolling out today and the full version should be here within the next few weeks.
Original story: An early leak of the release notes for PlayStation 4 firmware 5.0 indicates that Twitch streaming at 1080p and 60 frames-per-second is coming to Sony’s high-end console, the PlayStation 4 Pro. Until this point, streamers were limited by framerate and resolution when showcasing VR titles. The improvements will allow Twitch viewers to see more accurate representations of virtual reality content. Streamers will also finally get push notifications while streaming in VR mode.
These framerate and image enhancements are limited to the PlayStation 4 Pro, but standard PS4 owners see other benefits to Sony’s social and streaming infrastructure. Users will be able to follow and receive updates about the activities of any other PlayStation Network account. When combined with the Twitch streaming improvements, it seems clear that Sony is making their console’s social features a priority.
Other improvements include system level options for family and sub-accounts, parental controls, and the addition of Czech, Thai, Greek, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Romanian and Hungarian language options.
Sony hasn’t given a release date for the 5.0 firmware, but given that 4.0 rolled-out late summer last year, and 4.5 hit six months later, expect to be staring at update progress bars for a few minutes in the next six weeks.
