IBM's 65nm Cell Could Chip Away PS3 Costs

(url: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/56267.html)
Hyeon Chung

One of the reasons for the high price of Sony's PlayStation 3 is the gaming console's costly 90 nanometer Cell chip. However, IBM on Monday named its first factory to begin producing less expensive 65 nanometer Cell chips. If implemented in the PS3, the smaller Cell could mean a significant drop in the console's hefty price tag.

A state-of-the-art IBM (NYSE: IBM) manufacturing plant located in East Fishkill, N.Y., has become the first facility to produce the 65 nanometer (nm) Cell Broadband Engine, the chip maker announced Monday. The Cell chip, developed through a US$400 million partnership between IBM, Toshiba and Sony (NYSE: SNE) , is the technology underpinning Sony's recently released next-generation video game console, PlayStation 3 (PS3).
IBM invested more than $2.5 billion to build what it calls "the world's most technologically advanced chip manufacturing facility." The chip will provide breakthrough performance for consumer electronics, medical imaging, design engineering and other graphics-intensive applications, according to IBM.

Less Power, Less Money
The technology incorporated inside a Cell chip is a major departure from typical processor designs found in the average PC or even the PS3's predecessor, the PlayStation 2 . Those devices operate using a single processor to perform the calculations necessary for a computer to run properly. Although Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) have begun producing duo- and quad-core processors, the Cell processor uses a multi-core architecture combined with ultra high-speed communications capabilities that provide greatly improved, real-time response for entertainment and rich media applications, IBM said.
The Cell chip uses one dual-threaded PowerPC core and eight "synergistic" processors. Its top clock speed is greater than 4 GHz, making it capable of massive floating point processing.
At around $90, 90nm Cell processors such as the kind found in PS3s were generally considered far too expensive. That high cost is seen as one reason for the PS3's $599 price tag.
The new 65nm processor is smaller and uses less power than its predecessor. That translates into a lower price.



Necessary Steps
"This is something we knew they were going to do and they have to do it," Gartner (NYSE: IT) research fellow Martin Reynolds told TechNewsWorld.
By going to 65nm, several things happen, Reynolds said. First, the chip becomes cheaper, and therefore more chips can be produced. That, he explained, is really important should the chip be implemented in the production of Sony's PS3. "Lower production costs mean more units [and] means more people can buy games."
In addition, the 65nm process will result in a cooler chip that consumes less power and will be more reliable, another potential bonus for the PS3. "That's also important for something sitting in someone's living room," Reynolds added.
While IBM is marketing a Blade server built around the Cell processor, Reynolds does not expect to see the chip in a standard PC because of the difficulty associated with combining the Cell technology and other chips.
"It has eight processors inside the chip and they are different than the other processors in the system," Reynolds said. "So, [the computer] has to understand two languages to make it work. It works well for a lot of gaming stuff, but for a typical corporate IT department it is not such an easy thing to use."



The Golden Key
For IBM, the key is the Cell's inclusion in the PS3, Reynolds noted. That would give IBM a guaranteed market for millions of these chips each quarter, thus supplying IBM with the capital necessary to continue developing the chip and creating uses for new applications.
"So that market will fuel the development of more Cell chips. So it is paid for and IBM can continue developing the technology for other applications," he pointed out.
Martin expects IBM to take the Cell down to 45nm and reduce the price even further. The hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue the company will receive from consumer uses will enable IBM to develop more advanced versions of the processor.
"They've got the money to continue developing the technology," Reynolds concluded. "And that could help it spark in the business world."

IBM starts producing Cell chip at 65nm

http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=hardware&articleId=9012968&taxonomyId=12&intsrc=kc_topDaDavid Hyun

March 12, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- IBM Corp. has started production of a more advanced version of the Cell microprocessor, the chip it developed with Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
The new Cell Broadband Engine is being manufactured at IBM's factory in East Fishkill, New York, using a 65-nanometer manufacturing process, which is an improvement on the current 90-nanometer process. Typically such a step in process technology results in a chip that is physically smaller and uses less power.
The Cell chip is perhaps best known for its place at the heart of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s (SCEI) recently-launched PlayStation 3 games console but it's also used in computers produced by IBM.
The first Cell-based computer was launched by IBM in September last year. The BladeCenter QS20 is being promoted to industrial users in the medical imaging, aerospace, defense, digital animation, communications and energy sectors. Early users include the University of Manchester and Fraunhofer Institute.
IBM has also won a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to supply a supercomputer based on the Cell processor. Code-named "Roadrunner," the computer will be capable of up to 1,000 trillion calculations per second (one petaflop).
SCEI is planning to use a 65-nanometer version of the Cell in future versions of the PlayStation 3 to help cut manufacturing costs.

Rabbit-ear TVs about to reach end of the road

url: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/13/MNGRHOK7S01.DTL
Hyeon Chung


Consumers who depend on old-fashioned antennas to watch television won't miss the 2009 Super Bowl, but their analog sets will stop working soon afterward.
Analog TVs will no longer receive a signal come Feb. 19, 2009, unless users update their hardware to receive a digital signal.
Federal officials announced details Monday about how that transition will work, saying the government will help consumers buy the necessary equipment to upgrade to digital -- a converter box that attaches to the TV set.
The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said it is setting aside $990 million to pay for the boxes. Each home can request up to two $40 coupons for a digital-to-analog converter box, which consumer electronics makers such as RCA and LG plan to produce. Prices for the box have not been determined, but industry and consumer groups have estimated they will run $50 to $75 each.
"Besides our own consumer education efforts, NTIA is working with partners such as broadcasters, consumer electronics retailers, manufacturers and consumer organizations to reach out to those most in need of the coupon program," said the telecommunication administration's Assistant Secretary for Communication and Information John Kneuer. "We welcome partners and ask that interested parties contact our office at (202) 482-6260 to learn how they can help inform the public about the coupon program."
An estimated 20 million consumers in the United States depend on a free, over-the-air signal for television. Another 15 million might have cable or satellite television service but have extra sets in their home that aren't hooked up and depend on their antennas for service.
In the Bay Area, about 325,000 residents still depend on an over-the-air signal, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising, a nonprofit trade association. Out of 2.5 million homes with television, that represents between 12 and 13 percent of the population.
Congress set the deadline several years ago in an effort to free the nation's airwaves for public safety and other services.
"The whole digital TV transition will enable public safety responders to have more spectrum for more operability and public safety uses," said Todd Sedmak, a spokesman for the telecommunications administration.
But the transition to a digital TV world might not be smooth. Consumers were expected to move to digital televisions naturally as they became cheaper and more attractive to buy. New technology and services such as high-definition television also were supposed to push consumers into upgrading their television.
And indeed, as prices continue to drop, consumers are picking up digital televisions, particularly flat-screens, in droves. But consumer groups worry that poor and middle-class families, who can't afford to spring for a new television, will get left behind in the move and that the $40 vouchers won't be enough.
"How do you get it to the people who need it?" said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. "Has Congress set aside enough money to make sure everyone is held harmless? The answer is: probably not. Now you have a problem of certain consumers being hurt. They have a TV set that works today and won't work tomorrow and they have to spend money to make it work again."
Cooper said broadcasters have not made it appealing for consumers to pay for a new TV set, such as by introducing better high-definition programming and other services.
"This is a dilemma made by the broadcasters," Cooper said. "If they had done their job and innovated, we would not have this problem."
Starting Jan. 1, 2008, all U.S. households will be able to start requesting the coupons, said Sedmak. If the initial $990 million allocated is used up, another $510 million will be set aside to cover the cost of the coupons. Consumers must show that they do not subscribe to cable or satellite or other television services.
Tom Lim, owner of TV Man, a television retail and repair shop in Daly City that caters mostly to poor families, said that he is waiting until 2009 to buy a digital television set. "By then, hopefully I can afford it," he said.
Consumers might also resist getting a new television if their current one still works, said Paul E. Astry, owner of Sierra TV in Burlingame. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
"I think it'll be a while before people get rid of their analogs," Astry said. "If they have them, they like to hold on to 'em."

Inkjet printers start cranking out microchips

http://news.com.com/Inkjet+printers+start+cranking+out+microchips/2100-1006_3-6166429.html?tag=cd.top
(By.Lily)
Inkjet printers start cranking out microchipsSpray-on electronics can be mass manufactured, and a new factory in Austria is doing just that. By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: March 13, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT TalkBack E-mail Print del.icio.us Digg this Nanoident Technologies is literally squirting out semiconductors.
The company has officially opened a factory in Linz, Austria, that produces organic semiconductors, which are chips made by spraying intricate patterns of specialized ink onto layers of foil and polymer.
The factory is capable of producing 40,000 square meters of semiconductors a year, says Wasiq Bokhari, CEO of Bioident, a related company that will market Nanoident chips to the health market. The initial customers will be sister companies of Nanoident, but the company has also formed alliances with water testing companies and other industrial concerns.
A traditional factory that can produce 40,000 square meters of silicon computer chips would cost about $1.3 billion and require about 5,000 employees, he said in an interview. The Nanoident factory costs about $10 million and can be run by about 50 people.
Organic semiconductors, however, won't function as memory chips in computers or as processors. They are far slower and degrade over time. Instead, organic semiconductors will be targeted at one-time-only applications such as water purity testers: insert a water drop and the chip will analyze the chemicals floating inside of the drop. The company has also devised lab-on-a-chip chips that can extract data about a person's health through a blood sample.
Organic materials have already crept into some fields. Cell phone manufacturers already sell phones with screens made from organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs, but few other commercial applications exist. Most of the time, organic chips appear as part of scientific papers. At University of California at Berkeley, for instance, researchers have printed an organic semiconductor that can tell its user if a bottle of wine has gone bad.
Traditional silicon chips are too expensive for these types of applications, which now are conducted on lab equipment, the company says.
The company currently has yields--a measure of the number of good chips that come out of a manufacturing run--of about 70 percent and will get to 80 percent, Bokhari said.
Building the organic beastOne of the key differences between regular and organic semiconductors is how transistors get laid down. In standard chips, lithography machines sketch a circuit pattern. Trenches are then dug into silicon and filled with metal through a complex series of chemical spraying and etchings.
With organic semiconductors, 128 inkjet nozzles spray a pattern onto foil or polymer. Researchers, though, have to account for interactions between the ink and the different layers, and the performance character of the ink.
Printed semiconductors have far larger features than silicon chips. Nanoident's first chips will have features measuring 10 to 100 microns wide. That's more than 100 times larger than the features inserted into silicon chips. Current silicon chips sport 65-nanometer features (a nanometer is one thousandth of a micron).
"We can go below 10 microns, but what are the applications that would require that?" Bokhari said. "We'd need a compelling reason for high-speed devices."
Organic semiconductors, however, can come in a variety of sizes. Nanoident has built some that measure 160 centimeters a side, or more than 1.5 meters wide. These large devices are used as sensors.
"You can't do that with silicon," he said.

Gamespy confirmed as the company behind Wii online

Los Angeles (CA) - After a successful stint so far with providing the middleware for online DS games, Gamespy today confirmed that it will be the provider for online multiplayer services for future Wii titles.
Pokemon Battle Revolution, which is due out on June 25, will be Nintendo's flagship title utilizing Gamespy's technology on a home console platform. The pending Super Smash Bros Brawl is also confirmed to include online multiplayer, with third party publishers expected to enter the Wii WiFi community in 2008.


Gamespy, which merged with IGN Entertainment in 2003 and then was subsequently acquired by News Corp, has been providing online multiplayer technology for the Nintendo DS since 2005. So far, the list only includes about two dozens titles and they are not really pushing the technological envelope.
Online multiplayer for the Wii will be a much more intensive project, with Nintendo promising additional services like in-game chatting and global competitions. Most online DS titles sport only a bare bones WiFi multiplayer mode.

Seas Yield Surprising Catch of Unknown Genes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301738.html(by.Lily)

By Rick WeissWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, March 14, 2007; Page A01
It took some mighty fine nets, but scientists who spent two years trawling the world's oceans for bacteria and viruses have completed the most thorough census ever of marine microbial life, revealing an astonishingly diverse and bizarre microscopic menagerie.
Countering a long-held assumption that ocean waters are not rich with microbial life, the new report, released yesterday, reveals an otherworldly world of organismal ferment, including thousands of novel life forms that could help speed the development of new antibiotics and alternative energy sources and clarify the ocean's role in climate change.
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The census -- which in a single stroke has doubled the number of known genes in Earth's biological kingdom -- comes from a 21st-century version of Charles Darwin's 19th-century voyage on the HMS Beagle. Led by a Rockville-based team that circumnavigated the globe on a specially equipped sailboat, the project focused not on the microbes themselves -- most of which are too finicky to be kept alive in culture dishes -- but on their DNA, easily obtained from cells and later decoded on shore.
Perhaps most exciting, said study leader J. Craig Venter, is that the rate of discovery of new genes and proteins -- the building blocks of life -- was as great at the end of the voyage as it was at the start, suggesting that humanity is nowhere close to closing the logbooks on global biodiversity.
"Instead of being at the end of discovery, it means we're in the earliest stages," said Venter, chairman of the J. Craig Venter Institute, a nonprofit gene research center. "That is a pretty stunning view."
Mitchell Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., praised the work as a "remarkable technological achievement." Microbes account for up to 90 percent of the biomass in the oceans, he said, and control all the major biological and geochemical cycles that keep Earth's ecosystems in balance. So it is valuable to learn what those organisms are and where and how they live, he said.
The new findings, described in the March issue of the journal PLoS Biology, build on results Venter obtained during a 2003 test voyage in the Sargasso Sea, which had been considered an especially lifeless body of water. That netted more than 1 million genes entirely new to science -- evidence that Earth's seas harbor microbes far more numerous and far stranger than scientists had imagined.
The latest voyage, on Venter's 95-foot sloop, Sorcerer II, started in Nova Scotia, passed through the Panama Canal, then tagged the Galapagos, Polynesia, the Horn of Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast, collaborating with local biologists as they went.
Every 200 miles, the team pumped 200 liters of seawater through a layered filter system that separated viruses and various kinds of cells by size. Yesterday's analysis covers about one-quarter of the samples -- from Nova Scotia to the Galapagos -- and only the viruses and smallest cells.
Yet DNA analyses on even that limited sample, conducted on an immensely powerful supercomputer designed for the project by the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, tallied genetic coding for more than 6 million new proteins, doubling the number already tabulated in the world's genetic databases.
Among them are more than 2,000 "proteorhodopsins," each of which can convert certain wavelengths of sunlight into biological energy through means wholly independent of photosynthesis, the process used by green vegetation. That gives scientists a slew of new methods to mimic for getting energy from the sun, Venter said.
Some new genes seem designed to help organisms get energy from carbon dioxide in the air, a tantalizing alternative to the oil and coal that most human technologies rely on. Researchers hope those biological blueprints may show them how to scrub greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Venter predicted that other genes will be found to direct the production of novel antibiotics, since bacteria are prodigious makers of such compounds, which they use to fend off other microbes.
The new data are being shared freely on the Web -- an approach many researchers and governments appreciate but that raised alarms in some countries that had considered profiting from the genetic heritages in their territorial waters. Although the Sorcerer team obtained permits for all their collections, there were occasional misunderstandings, Venter conceded -- one of which led to a one-week standoff in French Polynesia during which his boat was threatened by the French navy.
Sogin said follow-up surveys at different depths and locations will surely expand the database greatly.
"As amazing as this inventory is," Sogin said, "it's only scratching the surface of what's really there."

Saturn's Icy Moon May Have Been Hot Enough for Life, Study Finds

David Hyun
URL:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070313-saturn-moon.html

One of the places in the solar system most likely to have extraterrestrial life may have gotten off to a hot, highly radioactive start, scientists reported yesterday at a meeting in Houston, Texas.
Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, stunned scientists two years ago when NASA's Cassini orbiter discovered geyser-like jets of water vapor shooting into space from its south pole.
RELATED Photo in the News: New Saturn Ring Found (September 21, 2006) Saturn Moon's Ice Geysers Create "Cosmic Graffiti" (February 8, 2007) Virtual Solar System
(Read: "Saturn Moon Has Water Geysers and, Just Maybe, Life" [March 10, 2006].)
Now a new study of Enceladus's plume finds that it's rich in nitrogen gas.
"This is interesting, because nitrogen is hard to produce in a body as small as Enceladus without significant heat," said John Spencer, a planetary scientist with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Spencer who was not part of the study.
The find suggests that the moon's core once reached temperatures around 1,070 degrees Fahrenheit (577 degrees Celsius)—hot enough to convert Enceladus's internal stores of ammonia into nitrogen.
This may also be hot enough to produce the possible precursors for life, said the study's lead author, Dennis Matson of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.
"We've got an organic brew, a heat source, and liquid water—all key ingredients for life," Matson said in a press statement.
"And while no one is claiming that we have found life, by any means, we probably have evidence for a place that might be hospitable to life."
Cassini scientist Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said Enceladus should be a leading candidate site for future probes in search of extraterrestrial life.
"I think that if there is liquid water there, then Enceladus is the next 'go-to' place in the solar system."

Viacom sues YouTube over copyrights

(url: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8NRNI701.htm)
Hyeon Chung

Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. is suing YouTube for $1 billion, claiming that the video-sharing site had built a business by using the Internet to "willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale."
Other media companies also have major concerns about YouTube, but Viacom's was the first lawsuit filed by a major media owner.
Several media companies have reached agreements to supply YouTube with clips, including CBS Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal and the British Broadcasting Corp., but many others remain reluctant to deal with the Web site because of copyright concerns.
YouTube had been a quirky, fast-growing startup until the deep-pocketed Internet search behemoth Google Inc. bought the company last November for $1.76 billion.
But YouTube's soaring popularity, especially among younger people who are increasingly tuning out traditional media, has broadcasters frightened of losing viewers and advertising dollars.
Last month, Viacom demanded that YouTube remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips from its site, and since that time, the company has uncovered more than 50,000 additional unauthorized clips, Viacom spokesman Jeremy Zweig said.
A quick search of YouTube's site turned up numerous clips from Viacom programs including segments from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" cartoon.
In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, Viacom says YouTube "harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale" and had "brazen disregard" of intellectual property laws.
Viacom is especially at risk because many of its shows are aimed at younger viewers who also are heavy Internet users. At the same time, Viacom is trying to find other, legal ways to distribute its shows digitally, such as by selling episodes of "The Daily Show" and "South Park" for $1.99 each through Apple Inc.'s iTunes service. Those shows can then be viewed on a computer or iPod.
YouTube says it cooperates with all copyright holders and removes programming as soon as it is notified. But Viacom argues that approach lets YouTube avoid taking the initiative to curtail copyright infringement, instead shifting the burden and costs of monitoring the site onto copyright holders.
Alexander Macgillivray, associate general counsel for products and intellectual property at Google, said YouTube was protected under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which gives online service providers protection from copyright lawsuits so long as they comply with requests to remove unauthorized material.
"We're saying that the DMCA protects what we're doing," Macgillivray said in an interview. On the other hand, he said, "The DMCA is silent on what we have to do if we don't get a notice" to remove material.
Universal Music Group, a unit of France's Vivendi SA, had threatened to sue YouTube, saying it was a hub for pirated music videos, but later reached a licensing deal with them. NBC and the BBC also provide YouTube with clips.
Despite those arrangements, relations between media companies and YouTube remain tense. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told investors last week that its pact with YouTube had provided a big promotional boost for its shows. But he added that many big technology players "don't quite respect the content enough," although that was changing.
NBC has set up a channel to show authorized clips on YouTube, but it recently criticized the site and Google for not doing more to prevent copyrighted material from being posted online.
Bruce Sunstein, co-founder of intellectual property law firm Bromberg & Sunstein in Boston, said YouTube was still in the early stages of what was likely to be a "very long working-out of arrangements" with the owners of broadcast copyrights.
"Finding a way of peaceful coexistence is quite a struggle," Sunstein said. "Google's motto is 'Don't be evil,' and you could argue that with YouTube that motto is wearing a little thin."
Unlike the original Napster file-sharing service, which was shut down following complaints from music companies that it encouraged piracy, Sunstein said he expected YouTube and its corporate owners to eventually make peace with broadcasters. "I think YouTube very much wants to be legitimate," Sunstein said.
That doesn't mean other lawsuits won't follow Viacom's. Now that Viacom has thrown the first punch, other media companies may join the fray, Standard & Poor's analyst Scott Kessler warned in a research note.
A major lawsuit against YouTube has been widely anticipated because so much of the online video pioneer's success has been driven by easy access to copyright clips shared by its users.
While YouTube has yet to generate much revenue, its online traffic has been growing rapidly. According to comScore Media Metrix, YouTube attracted 133.5 million visitors worldwide in January, up from 9.5 million a year earlier.
Google began bracing for a legal onslaught last fall when it withheld nearly $220 million of YouTube's acquisition price in an escrow account. The Mountain View-based company also has another $11.2 billion in cash.
American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson believes Viacom filed the lawsuit to pressure Google into setting clear ground rules and fees for the usage of copyrighted content.
"This is all about a media company trying to protect its future," Sanderson said. "It's not about them trying to get damages for the past sins of YouTube."

Laptops to Ship With Automatic-Encryption Hard Drives

URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258523,00.html
David Hyun


Seagate announced on Monday a new partnership with Fremont-based ASI Computer Technologies to start delivering laptops with the encrypting Momentus 5400 FDE.2 hard drive.
ASI, a company that typically caters to small and medium-sized value added resellers (VARs) and other customers in government, legal, financial, educational, and the health industries, will start selling the C8015 and C8015+ laptops through resellers like Newegg.com starting next month, according to Kent Tibbils, senior director of platform technologies and marketing for ASI.
The notebooks will come in 80-, 120-, and 160-gigabyte capacities, and will feature a 15.4-inch display, integrated biometric fingerprint readers, and will also support Intel Core 2 Duo, Core Duo, Core Solo, and Celeron M Mobile Processors.

to prevent duplicates

(by.Lily)
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
End Sub
Private Function addword(ByVal skey As String) As Boolean On Error Resume Next Static col As New Collection col.add("", skey) If Err.Number <> 0 Then Return False Else Return (True) End If End Function
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click MsgBox(addword(TextBox1.Text)) End SubEnd Class

Video games penetrate psyche of over a third of US adults

(http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/10436/532/)
Hyeon Chung

The report shows that 36.5 percent of U.S. adults own a game console with 15.9 percent owning a hand held portable console of some kind.
A stereotype shattering 71 percent of these adults have managed to snare a spouse and two thirds have at least one child.
As game consoles have become increasingly sophisticated, families have incorporated them into their centralized home media centers, which include the television, digital recording device, digital music player, and the PC,” said Carolyn Creekmore, senior director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Video game technology will only benefit other media, since what makes a video game fun and exciting brings life to movies and music as well. Companies that can leverage these new technologies across a number of products will have a distinct advantage in the competitive marketplace.”
he report goes on to comment on the Nintendo Wii phenomenon, showing that traffic to the official web site Nintendo.com had increased 91 percent to 1.6 Million form February 2006. Microsoft had enjoyed a similar rise in online popularity with a 47 percent increase of those hitting Xbox.com, rising to 1.2 million in the year.
Playstation.com conversely saw a drop off of 8 percent down to a 1.0 million unique visitations. Still Sony realises that the demographic for the massive video gaming and entertainment industry is an aging one. Hence, for better or for worse, they are targeting a more mature market with their PS3, this Neilson reports seems to verify this as a just long term strategy.

PSP redesign in the works

(url: http://www.playfuls.com/news_9766_Sony_Confirms_The_Redesigned_PSP.html)
Hyeon Chung

Comments made by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) executive Ray Maguire indicate that the long awaited redesign of the PSP is planned.Not many details available at this time, but one thing Maguire did confirm is that the praised PSP screen will not be part of the redesign.In an interview with gamesindustry.biz Maguire stated that the current PSP is just the “first iteration” and the aim of a revamped PSP strategy was to make the console “smaller [and] lighter” in the future.From the gamesindustry.biz article; Responding to a query on Sony’s plans for redesigning the system, Maguire added that any changes to the industrial design would not affect the size of PSP’s screen - widely seen as one of the system’s key strengths - which is "fixed". He did not offer any suggestions as to when the new iteration might be released.There has been much speculation around the PSP redesign of late, mostly around adding a Hard Drive or similar increase in storage and a change in the control system. The UMD format has turned out to be somewhat of a failure, with the UMD movies failing to ignite sales. From a gaming perspective, issues with load times also plagued the format.I imagine that UMD will remain in a redesigned PSP, if merely for backwards compatibility, Sony would look forward to a different way of delivering content however, most likely in an extended form of digital delivery online.