You can sign up to beta-test the next PS4 firmware update

Sony is giving PlayStation 4 owners the opportunity to test a beta version of the console's next system software update, the company announced yesterday.

The service will offer testers a look at the new items coming in the update, as well as the opportunity to provide feedback. And if something goes wrong, users will be able to roll back to the PS4's current firmware, v2.57. Sony did not specify the version number of the update or provide any details about the features in it. However, a report last week indicated that Sony was beta-testing PS4 v3.00 — which includes support for streaming games to YouTube and uploading video clips to Twitter — in Japan.

Sony will kick off the beta test in North America in "early September," and the company will provide more details on the update's feature set at that time, according to John Koller, vice president of platforms marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Allowing PS4 owners to beta-test a major system software update seems like a good idea, especially since the last big one, v2.00 in October, wreaked havoc on the console itself as well as individual games.

Interested parties can sign up here, although Sony noted that not everyone who applies will be given access to the beta program.