Ways for Sony to improve the Playstation 3

The Playstation 3 has given me many hours of fun; hours that I should have spent revising for my exams. Nevertheless it has some problems and a lot of potential for improvement.

1. MP4 Streaming
   Fix MP4 streaming playback on the 40GB PS3. When most movies in your library are in MP4 format, it makes the PS3 far less useful as a media centre device.
   (Update 3/10/2009 - Fixed on my console now)
   
2. In game XMB
   Such as being able to access the friends features.
   (Update 5/7/2008 - This has been implemented, though not very well yet)
   (Update 3/10/2009 - Implementation has improved considerably but is still fundamentally limited given that video games take most of the memory)
   
3. Custom game music
   Sony should work with game developers to allow in-game music to be replaced by any music the PS3 can play (stored locally or over the network). It'd probably be best if integrated to the in-game XMB, with the menu item Music -> Game music set by default.
   (Update 5/7/2008 - This has been implemented, though doesn't support network yet)
   (Update 3/10/2009 - Apparently lack of network is due to patents)
   
4. Storage manager
   At the moment I've got a very small amount of hard drive space left, despite having no media and very little "game data" saved to the console. I can only assume the space is used on downloaded patches and content, even for games I no longer own. Unfortunately there seems no way to view, back up, delete or move what's taking this space.
   
5. Better patch downloading
   Make it possible to download game patches in the background while playing other games. What'd be even better is if you could "subscribe" to games and the patches/free content would automatically download while playing other games, without you even having to ask.
6. Download mode
   A mode (or modes) in-between standby and fully turned on, where the graphics and most of the Cell SPUs are off or in power saving mode, but plugged in controllers still charge and downloads still run in the background. After the charging and downloads are complete, the console could turn off fully, perhaps briefly waking up every 12 hours or so to check for new downloads. The console could also cache things like the PS Store images during this time.
   
7. Controller power saving
   Automatic power-off for controllers after a sane period of inactivity, for example 30 minutes.
   (Update 3/10/2009 - This has been implemented exactly as described)
   
8. In-game user switching
   Make it so that you can change what user profile is logged in while in the middle of playing a game through the in-game XMB.
9. Player associated profiles
   Should two people be playing on the same console via local multiplayer, for example in Warhawk, the second player should be able to select a second profile to use on the local console, optionally with an associated PSN ID. No more MyPsnId(1), MyPsnId(2).
   (e.g. Fred comes to my house, I create a Warhawk match, he presses "Start", clicks "Create new profile", inputs his PSN ID and password. He now has an account on my PS3 as well as being logged in to his PSN account so he can use his own online ranks and customisations. This is also useful for co-op games where save-games, and in the future, accomplishments, could be linked on both profiles rather than on just one.)
   (Update 3/10/2009 - This has been implemented in most recent games featuring local multiplayer such as LittleBigPlanet. Naturally it's a game-dependent feature, but I wish Sony would force developers to implement it)
   
10. Online profiles
    As an extension of the above idea, the ability to dual-store your entire PS3 profile online so that you can use them on a friend's console would be useful. Hell, why have local-only profiles at all unless you have no internet? Just make it so that the login screen displays recently used/selected online profiles and can run offline (like the roaming profiles concept in Windows networking).
    (e.g. Fred comes to my house, brings GTA IV with him, starts up my PS3, and on the log in screen clicks "Use PSN ID" rather than selecting a local account, types his PSN ID/Password then he's logged in using a sort of online-stored profile and can access all the game saves he has at home. When he goes back home, the new game saves are downloaded back to the console and it's as if he never left)
11. Home
    Actually bring out Home with accomplishments and trophies, finally.
    (Update 5/7/2008 - trophies are here)
    (Update 3/10/2009 - home is here, but is still a bit rubbish)