PSP FW 5.00 in action: PSP Store walkthrough; PSN North America gets downtime too, FW updates imminent

Three things from PlayStation Store senior manager Grace Chen today: First, a demo video of PSP FW 5.00 and the PSP Store. Next, a reaffirmation that PS3 FW 2.50 will indeed include Flash Player 9 support, an interesting bit we uncovered just earlier. And finally, a public announcement that PSN will be unavailable in North America from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST today.

PlayStation Store senior manager Grace Chen posted a demo video of what we can expect from the PSP Store once the PSP firmware 5.00 goes live. It’s quick one:

No word yet on when FW 5.00 will go live, but if yesterday’s speculation holds true once more, it could roll out maybe this week or the next.

Remember how a PSN EU community leader announced yesterday that PSN (EU) would be down for system maintenance? Assumedly, this system maintenance would herald the launch of the PSP Store (which requires you to upgrade your PSP to FW 5.00).

Grace Chen also confirmed that PSN will be unavailable in North America from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST today. Considering how Sony‘s rolling out press release after press release about their upcoming PSP and PS3 firmwares, it seems as if they’re already setting up shop (so to speak) for a go-live date.

Meanwhile, Chen also reaffirmed that the PS3 FW will indeed include Flash Player 9 support, an interesting bit we uncovered earlier.

Thanks to tipster Fadil for the heads up!

• More PSP FW 5.00, PS3 FW 2.50 features surface: PSP TV-out feature expanded, PS3 gets Flash 9
• PSN downtime tomorrow, may herald FW updates by Oct 15
• Sony confirms features for PSP FW 5.00, PS3 FW 2.50
• Confirmed: PSP FW 5.00 required for PSP Store, may go live next week
• Rumor: PSP FW 5.0, PS3 FW 2.5 go live next week?