Uofw is not gone. People are still working on it, but it well take the devs awhile to finish it.
I have read about it and I well try to point out the good of this project.
the ofw of the psp is going to be open souce, so that means devs can improve the firmware any way they want and if I know the devs wants they will most likely put this.
1. Flash/html5 video support
2. All video format support for psp media center
3. A better browser
and most likely alot more
but, Even though the psp ofw will be open souce, the software will still be bound by the psp hardware limitations, so don't except much improverment with emulators.
So pretty much the uofw will give devs the chance to make the psp reach its full capabily.