Well i have been trying out the new features of the new 1.8 PS3 firmware and so i thought i would post my thoughts, I have to say i'm quite impressed with what it can now do, the upscaling for DVDs and PS1/PS2 games works a treat although it's more noticeable with DVD's than games, the printing option for photos is no good for me i have a HP printer and the PS3 only supports certain epson printers no idea why Sony chose them, i dont have a PSP and i dont see a reason to get one so the remote play option is not of use to me.

The other big part of the update is the media streaming it's a great feature and one i welcome the problem is it doesn't always work very well.. the PS3 has no problem finding my Media server which is my Pc running Tveristy  ( tversity  allows the streaming of video formats that PS3 doesn't use ie Divx,WMV etc by converting them in real time and  then streaming them something WM11 doesn't do) anyway when it comes to streaming one moment the PS3 is fine and happy the next it will come up with a error usually unsupported format or cant find server check settings even if there is nothing wrong with them, it happens mainly for stuff that is streaming online not sure if it's a PS3 thing or Tversity which is still a beta at this stage although i hear some have similar problems using WM11 and streaming media the PS3 does know so it may be a PS3 problem, will have to wait and see if Sony add better supports or a patch in the next update.  

In regards to the update to the HDMI output in giving a full RGB i have to say it improves the quality quite well i have noticed that the texturing in games like Oblivion is more sharp and have a better colour including the lighting and shadow, i did have to adjust my Tv's settings but once that was done it was great what's strange is why this wasn't an option from the start and why Sony haven't mentioned it much in reagrds to the features added,

The 1080p 24fps for blu-ray playback and the superwhite option are not much use at the moment as my TV doesn't support 1080p nor superwhite but it's good they are there for when the time comes and i get a TV that does support them.  All in all Sony have done a good job with this update. I would still like wallpapers and the ability to access the XMB while in game and i'm sure Sony have plans for those at some stage, I wonder what Sony has planned for the next update will have to wait and see.