Admitted Gametrailers.com board 'lurker' Neobara, has leaked information gathered from a friend that works in the R&D Department of Sony regarding the newest features of the upcoming 2.7 firmware:
" Friends List:
- Voice Messaging is now available as an alternative to text after selecting a user on the friends list. Voice message recordings are capped at 30 seconds.
- Home Integration: Saved Playstation Home avatar photos can be selected as photo ID for Gamer Card/Friends List.
- Trophy number and Gamer Level are listed under Friend names for quick reference.
Gamer Card & Trophies:
- Gamer Card layout has been changed to more closely resemble the Playstation Store aesthetic.
- Past Trophy information can be viewed in detail by selecting "Recent Trophy History" option.
- Newly aquired trophies auto-sync in the background
- Server infrastructure for Trophies has been optimized. Resulting in faster retrieval time for Gamer Card and Trophy information.
In-Game XMB:
- Loading time for In-Game XMB has been drastically reduced, resulting in a more seemless in-game experience.
- "Theme settings" options while in-game is now available, allowing custom themes to be applied to the In-Game XMB.
- Internet Browser can now be accessed while in-game.
- Voice messaging and voice chat options can be used while in-game.
- Options that cannot be used in the XMB during game sessions are grayed out (but still selectable) to eliminate user accessibility confusion.
Misc:
- Other slight UI tweaks and enhancements. "
So it would seem PSN is getting on the ball with very similar features to Xbox 360's 'live' format.
and why not in a world where companies dispute and steal ideas over avatars
Source:
http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/736764?page=1 
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Seriously, how hard is it to incorporate this into a game console, especially one made by Sony? I remember when Counter-Strike added VOIP (I think UT or Quake had it first) and that was like 7 years ago!
If true, this update is sounding good.
I'm with Pedrovay, let me sign more than one account in at the same fucking time.
Sounds like a nice update and now I can voice spam my friends, yay!
You cheating mother fuc.....lol
It takes too long to load them.
i didnt even consider that! i was just playing crisis core (not ps3 i know but the xmb and layout are obviously similar if not the same) and i was like damn i wish i could just go to the internet and see the materia fusion guide on my psp internet rather than having to stop the game to do so
Wait, couldn't this be done before? I distinctly remember having to use the web browser to access the MGO Reward Shop web page while playing the game, or is it that only a game could open the web browser?
Erm...looks like a good update though.