PS4 vs. Xbox One: PS4 Firmware 2.0 Introduces Share Play as Microsoft Brings TV Streaming to Mobile

IN PHOTO: Shoppers browse for video games near a poster advertising a FIFA soccer video game played on Sony Corp's PlayStation 4 console, at an electronics retail store in Tokyo June 10, 2014. Sony joined other sponsors on Sunday to call on soccer's rulers to deal thoroughly with allegations of bribery to secure the 2022 World Cup for Qatar, an issue overshadowing this week's kickoff in Brazil. With its four yearly showpiece event only four days away, soccer's governing body FIFA is on the defensive, conducting an internal investigation into the decisions to hold the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 Cup in Qatar. Both countries have denied any wrongdoing. REUTERS

Just weeks after releasing the PS4 Firmware 1.74 and 1.75 Update, Sony has taken to Gamescom to announce its next system update, this time tagged as the PS4 Firmware 2.0.

"Let's go a step further together. Let's go from sitting back and watching friends play to actually jumping into games remotely and sharing great experiences together in real time. Today at the PlayStation press conference at Gamescom, we will deliver on yet another promise from the PS4 announcement and introduce Share Play, coming to PlayStation 4 later this fall," Scott McCarthy, SCEA director for product planning and software innovation, said at the PlayStation Blog.

Share Play is like having a "virtual couch" for the PS4, where you will have an online local co-op by letting you invite a friend to a game and playing against him, even when he doesn't have a copy of the game.

Touted as a first-of-its-kind feature, the Share Play even lets you jump into a game to assist your friend with his progress. So the next time you are stuck on a level, you can easily hand over the controls to your friend, even if you are not in the same room or even have the same DualShock 4 controller.

Share Play will be the biggest feature coming to the PS4 2.0 Update, scheduled for a fall release. But according to PlayStation Blog, there will be other features, such as broadcast and video share, enhanced real-time activity in What's New and instant access for friends' broadcasts, among others.

TV Streaming to Mobile Made Possible

Microsoft is putting more emphasis on the Xbox One's media components, as it revealed the new features coming with the next system update.

Announcing it over its press conference in Cologne, Germany, Microsoft had introduced TV streaming over the home network. PC World reports that the preview of the Xbox One update will be rolled out to select testers. And this update will already allow the ability to stream TV from the console to the Microsoft SmartGlass app for all three OS, the iOS, Android and Windows.

However, the catch is that the streaming will only be possible if the media you're sharing to is on the same network as the Xbox One, and that it will be coming first in Europe. the TV streaming feature to SmartGlass on the new Xbox One Digital TV Tuner will also first land in the U.K., Italy, Spain, Germany and France in the fall, while the U.S. has not been given any release dates yet.

The last of the hardware coming to the Xbox One is a new media player, which allows video playback from a USB or DLNA-compatible connected device. It will support a more varied array of file formats for the Xbox one.

The upcoming Xbox One updates will bring in more features, including booting TV outside of standby mode for the Xbox One, a live TV guide on the bottom screen for OneGuide, a new Friends section, Snap Center for app and feature viewing, and an improved Xbox Messages app that now features threaded messages.