Good news, Sony PlayStation Portable owners! It seems that the latest firmware for Sony's handheld, version 3.95, is almost ready - and with it comes something that we've been waiting for: improved PSone control customization AND improved Sony PlayStation 3 connectivity. Awesome!

This comes directly from the US PlayStation Blog, where PlayStation Network Operations Director Eric Lempel made a news post about the upcoming firmware. His post, verbatim:

While playing PSone games on your PSP, you can now customize how the buttons are assigned by going to [Controller Settings] > [Assign Buttons] and select [Custom].

You can now quit Remote Play and choose to turn off your PS3 or leave it on after quitting. This is useful if you are performing a download and want to quit Remote Play, but still want your download to continue on the PS3.

Select [Quit and Turn Off the PS3 System] or [Quit Without Turning Off the PS3 System] from [Quit Remote Play] when you press the HOME button on the PSP system.

Pretty neat trick, being able to quit remote play without turning off your PS3. This pretty much leaves your Cell Processor-powered beast to continue downloading media off the PlayStation Network store, or if you simply want to switch to the full console experience. Here's to more updates like these!

Thanks to Darkshneider for the tip!

---

Update: To quote a certain Tim Y., cripes, that WAS fast! The firmware looks like it's been released early. No new details here - it's the same as was previously reported above, so if you're in the mood to get your PSP up to date, here's your chance. Be sure to exercise caution, however - we haven't quite yet received official word. Other than that, enjoy!

Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development Forums