Sony Announces PlayStation 3 (PS3) Release as 17 November 2006

Sony has announced that the PlayStation 3 (PS3) will be released simultaneously worldwide on 17 November (18 November in New Zealand), 2006.

The device comes with Gigabit Ethernet and a pre-installed hard disk that will allow users to access on-line games and services through their Internet connection.

The company has released some specific details about their North America release which are:

US model to be in "Clear Black"

US model will be equipped with Blu-ray and pre-installed HDD.

The 20GB model will be priced at US$499 (CAN$549) and the 60GB model will cost US$599 (CAN$659).

The PS3 also supports:

NTSC/PAL TVs

HD 1080i/1080p flat panel displays

Noise output similar to the PS2 slim-line

A new wireless (Bluetooth) controller with a high-precision, highly sensitive six-axis sensing system that is capable of processing all parameters within the controller itself

IBM Cell processor architecture

RSX GPU

Dolby 5.1, DTS and LPCM sound support and digital signal processing done by a Cell processor

256MB XDR Ram for main system memory

256MB GDDR3 VRAM for high performance video memory

2.5" SATA HDD (20/60GB)

USB2.0 support

Memory stick, Secure Digital (SD) and Compact Flash support

IEEE 802.11 b/g wireless Ethernet

Bluetooth 2.0 Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) device support

Video output for 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p

HDMI output

AV Multi out (Video composite and audio left/right)

Digital optical out (TOS link) for digital signal processing by external amplifier

Blu-ray drive support (BD 2x read)

DVD 8x read

CD 2x read

SACD 2x read

The unit will weigh approximately 5kg.