PS3 will be introduced world-wide in november 2006. As expected, PS3 will be able to run games developed for PS2. Sony will also offer a model with Linux preinstalled on a hard disk.

"PS3 combines state-of-the-art technologies featuring Cell, a processor jointly developed by IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba Corporation, graphics processor (RSX) co-developed by NVIDIA Corporation and SCEI, and XDR memory developed by Rambus Inc. It also adopts BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc ROM) with maximum storage capacity of 54 GB (dual layer) , enabling delivery of entertainment content in full high-definition (HD) quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology. To match the accelerating convergence of digital consumer electronics and computer technology, PS3 supports high quality display in resolution of 1080p(*) as standard, which is far superior to 720p/1080i.

With an overwhelming computing power of 2 teraflops, entirely new graphical expressions that have never been seen before will become possible. In games, not only will movement of characters and objects be far more refined and realistic, but landscapes and virtual worlds can also be rendered in real-time, thereby elevating the freedom of graphics expression to levels not experienced in the past. Gamers will literally be able to dive into the realistic world seen in large screen movies and experience the excitement in real-time."

According to Ken Kutaragi, from Sony, the processor will power PlayStation 3 and several other devices: mobile phones, digital cameras, televisions etc.

In March 2000 Sony launched its PlayStation 2 (PS2) console in Japan. Six years later more than 100 million PlayStation 2 have been sold around the world. Xbox and GameCube are far behind. The enormous success for PS2 has allowed Sony not to rush the development of a successor.

PlayStation 3 becomes a home entertainment center

According to Sony PS3 will become a home entertainment center that can play games, music, video as well as interactive services over the Internet. PS3 will include a hard drive and be ready to play games online through high speed networks. Sony owns the license for several songs; movies etc that the company plans to distribute using PS3. Sony has also made extensive deals other companies.

In the spring of 2002 it was officially confirmed from Sony and IBM that the CPU in PS3 will be based on the super processor Cell (developed by IBM). April 21 2003, Toshiba and Sony announced plans to build two plants for the fabrication of complex chips such as the Cell CPU.

PLAYSTATION®3 Specifications
Product name     PLAYSTATION®3
  
CPU     Cell Processor
   PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
   1 VMX vector unit per core
   512KB L2 cache
   7 x SPE @3.2GHz
   7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
   7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
   * 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
   total floating point performance : 218
   GFLOPS
GPU     RSX @550MHz
   1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
   Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
   Multi-way programmable parallel floating
   point shader pipelines
Sound     Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-base processing)
Memory     256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth     Main RAM   25.6GB/s
VRAM   22.4GB/s
RSX   20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB   2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)
System Floating Point Performance     2 TFLOPS
Storage     HDD     Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
I/O     USB     Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick     standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD     standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash     (Type I, II) x 1
Communication     Ethernet     (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3
(input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi     IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth     Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller     Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP®)
Network (over IP)
AV Output     Screen size     480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI     HDMI out x 2
Analog     AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio     DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Disc media
* read only     CD     PlayStation®     CD-ROM
PlayStation®2     CD-ROM
CD-DA     CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW
Super Audio CD     Hybrid disc(HD layer/CD layer), HD layer
DualDisc     DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD     PlayStation®2     DVD-ROM
PLAYSTATION®3     DVD-ROM
DVD-Video     DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc     PLAYSTATION®3     BD-ROM
BD-Video     BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE