The best thing about the Firmware 3.0 update, for me, has to be the inclusion of iPlayer under the TV section of the XMB. It allows (UK users at least) instant access to any of BBC’s programmes on PS3, allowing you to watch them on your HDTV. Sure iPlayer has always been on PS3 but wasn’t fully compatible because the PS3’s Flash didn’t support H.264 playback. This has now been fixed which means near broadcast quality TV on demand straight to your HDTV at no extra cost. Unfortunately some users have had problems with iPlayer not showing on the XMB and BBC has offered some solutions;

1. If the iPlayer icon doesn’t appear in the XMB
Some users have reported that the iPlayer icon hasn’t appeared after they’ve installed the V3.0 firmware update, so if you’re not seeing the iPlayer icon here’s what to do:

* Sign up for the PSN network (it’s free) using a UK address, which seems to be a requirement for getting the iPlayer icon to appear.

* Reboot (important). You should now see the iPlayer icon in the XMB.

* If you still don’t see the iPlayer icon, check the serial number on the back of your PS3 – it should end with CECH-XXX3, where the “3” indicates a UK model. Only UK models get the iPlayer icon, meaning that if you purchased your PS3 abroad or through a retailer that imported non-UK models then you won’t get an iPlayer icon.

* If the iPlayer icon still doesn’t appear, don’t worry about it – you can get exactly the same iPlayer experience by launching the PS3 browser and going directly to the iPlayer site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

If you were having issues I hope these solutions help. The blog post also mentions that bug fixes and more intriguingly “extra functionality” is on the way.