Written by Richard 
TheSixthAxis picked up on a forum post by one of Home’s Managers on the PlayStation forums. This patch offers quite a few bug fixes and some performance optimizations. It will no longer be necessary to turn the lights off before you leave your apartment. Although it would probably make Al Gore happy, since being virtually green sets a good example for us all. The patch is supposed to go live on Thursday February 5th, details below.
New features
- We have added a new “Remove Player” function that allows the creator to remove people from a Game Launching session. This is complemented by the Block Player function, accessible via the Safe Screen, which can be used to stop people rejoining.
Changes and Improvements
- The speed of the initial log-on process has been improved and a progress bar has been added to provide you with more information about what is happening.
- Items that you have already purchased will now be loaded when you first log-in, reducing the loading time when you enter stores in the Mall.
- Other players’ avatars will now load faster when you enter a space.
- The names of Home reward items will now be shown when you obtain them.
- Download priorities have been changed so that certain graphics and images (like thumbnail images and World Map chips) will download more quickly.
- The inventory system (that stores Home Reward items) has been reworked and made more robust. We have also implemented additional safeguards to help ensure that you cannot inadvertently lose any of your items.
- The Chat log window will now always be displayed on top of any other on-screen graphics, except when zoomed in to a video or poster. When zoomed in, the chat window will no longer display.
- The size of the text box has been improved on message boards in Clubhouses.
- The option to “Block voice chat” has been changed to “Block chat,” which will allow you to block both voice chat and text chat at the same time. Players blocked with this feature will not be automatically added to the block list on your Friends list.
- The game camera will now go into attract mode once you have been idle for more than 3 minutes.
- The “Resign sub leader” command has been removed from the Menu Pad. Club leaders will now have to downgrade sub leaders if they wish.
- We have further improved the UI for a variety of systems including Game Launching, Clubhouses and the Store.
- We have made several memory optimizations to improve client stability.
- We have made graphical improvements to particle systems and water effects.
Bug fixes
- Furniture in Personal Spaces will no longer occasionally vanish when you leave lights or lamps turned on.
- Single-seat chairs and sofas can no longer be occupied by more than one person at a time.
- You can now turn lighting objects on/off in your Personal Space.
- Furniture layout issues in Clubhouses have been resolved.
- The “Refresh Club Menus” option in the Menu Pad should now work as intended.
- Dates will now be displayed on Clubhouse bulletin board messages.
- A fix has been applied to the Home Safe Screen reporting process.
- Your screen will no longer freeze if you leave a game session with the game disc ejected.
- Item names and prices will now display correctly in the Mall.
- Wallpapers will now be displayed properly when you invite friends to your Harbor Studio.
- You will no longer be able to make a phone call to players who have deactivated voice chat.
- You should now be able to use two-seater sofas properly.
[ Source via TheSixthAxis ]
