Xbit Labs rumour: Sony to Introduce “Multimedia-Orientedâ€￾ PlayStation 3

[Jawed]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20061229091844.html

... Sony is mulling to create a version of the console that would appeal more to those wishing to use the PlayStation 3 not as a gaming machine on the first place, but as a primary video player.

PC Watch web-site reports that the PlayStation 3 “media-centricâ€￾-edition will feature anti-vibration mechanism on the Blu-ray disc drive, 512MB XDR memory, more advanced power supply unit and two HDMI connectors to divide audio and video data.

Pretty interesting rumour, huh?

I haven't tried to translate the PC Watch original article, so I dunno if this is mis-translation.

Jawed

 

[Fu3lFr3nzy]

oh boy...

 

[Carl B]

This is only getting reported today by Xbit? If they were going to at all, I thought it would have been sooner. Engadget had their little blurb on this like a week and a half ago... and you know Engadget is not actually anything to talk about. I think Kutaragi was just wondering aload as he often does (which I don't have a problem with) in terms of PS3 family-branching; I doubt that there is a serious effort to this effect at the moment.

 

[Pozer]

good idea!

 

[inefficient]

I'm only interested if it has 2 Cells in it. It needs be able to allow me to play games or watch videos while recording video and acting as a PVR device. I needs to have a BRD writer in it too.

 

[pakotlar]

I'm only interested if it has 2 Cells in it. It needs be able to allow me to play games or watch videos while recording video and acting as a PVR device. I needs to have a BRD writer in it too.

That would be over a grand considering it will need a several 100 GB hard drive for PVR functions to be attractive, nm 2 cells w/ seperate banks of mem/xbr busses. That being said it would be a kickass device.

 

[Skrying]

That would be over a grand considering it will need a several 100 GB hard drive for PVR functions to be attractive, nm 2 cells w/ seperate banks of mem/xbr busses. That being said it would be a kickass device.

I would be near $1000 just because Sony would not subsidize the price and would probably charge $100 more for the fancy rubber mounting use to make the drive quieter.

 

[one]

good idea!

Actually the PSX was a mass-market product with the price cheaper than other DVD recorder products. The new PS3 model Kutaragi suggested (this PC Watch article by Masakazu Honda was sourced from his interview with Kutaragi in an A/V and hometheater magazine) is a high-end A/V component with over $2,000 price tag and not at all meant for the outside of the niche market. For this market, they have to get rid of the spinning fan in the first place.

 

[Capeta]

PSX wasn't mass market nor was it cheaper than DVD recorders. Not only that but it tried to do both but wasn't very good at either. I wonder if they will call this thing PSX2, sell a few tens of thousands, then stop production to never make another revised model.

 

[one]

PSX wasn't mass market nor was it cheaper than DVD recorders.

You have no idea for the consumer electronics market in Japan, don't you? There's no TiVo in Japan.

According to this article in October 2003
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/1014/gyokai73.htm
a DVD recorder with 80GB HDD from Matsushita was about 70,000 yen and the 120GB model was about 80,000 yen while PSX with 160GB HDD (DESR-5000) was 79,800 yen ($670) with the PS2 function included.

 

[Capeta]

You have no idea for the consumer electronics market in Japan, don't you? There's no TiVo in Japan.

According to this article in October 2003
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/1014/gyokai73.htm
a DVD recorder with 80GB HDD from Matsushita was about 70,000 yen and the 120GB model was about 80,000 yen while PSX with 160GB HDD (DESR-5000) was 79,800 yen ($670) with the PS2 function included.

Unfortunately you got what you paid for and that was a crippled PS2 + crippled DVR.

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?p=416748#post416748

As far as pricing is concerned, in the US the Panasonic 80GB unit was selling at retail for $500 in Dec of 2003.

 

[deathkiller]

I don't see why a "Multimedia-Oriented" PS3 would need 512MB X DR. Only if they include a second Cell for multytasking (recording and playing HD at the same time) would make sense.

In any case I don't see this having comercial sucess.

 

[London Geezer]

I don't see why a "Multimedia-Oriented" PS3 would need 512MB X DR. Only if they include a second Cell for multytasking (recording and playing HD at the same time) would make sense.

In any case I don't see this having comercial sucess.

Well i see this as an AV-freak-dream HTPC version of the PS3... So more RAM never really hurts. If they keep the standards high enough, it could be very good.

And it will never sell millions (it won't even be produced in the millions), if you're worried about "commercial success". That's just not the target here.

By the way, yes, this was reported on engadgets.com weeks ago!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

1. What's not multimedia about PS3?!
2. Why do the specs need to be upgraded? If you're not playing games, there's more then enough oomph there to record HD TV channels while playing back a BRD in super fidelity.

I'd have thought a non-gaming rig would be better as cheaper with less specs. Say halve the total RAM. The machine that'd want increased specs would be a workstation.

 

[Skrying]

Well i see this as an AV-freak-dream HTPC version of the PS3... So more RAM never really hurts. If they keep the standards high enough, it could be very good.

And it will never sell millions (it won't even be produced in the millions), if you're worried about "commercial success". That's just not the target here.

By the way, yes, this was reported on engadgets.com weeks ago!

Umm, that's just about the worse way to answer that question. Sony is not going to throw another 256MB into the system just because it satisfies some Sony fan-boys wet dreams.

 

[London Geezer]

Umm, that's just about the worse way to answer that question. Sony is not going to throw another 256MB into the system just because it satisfies some Sony fan-boys wet dreams.

Well i think we all know that 256MB of RAM isn't exactly a lot - putting 512MB in there won't be just to make the fans happy... My post was a bit light hearted as usual.

 

[Crossbar]

Well i think we all know that 256MB of RAM isn't exactly a lot - putting 512MB in there won't be just to make the fans happy....

I agree, even 512 MB isn't really a lot, but it will certainly make a difference and let you have more advanced apps for photo manipulations, together with some open browser windows while converting some movie in the background etc.

Keep in mind, this device will if it ever goes into production, be pitched against hi-end HTPCs and their minimum spec is about 1 GB today and will probably be even higher at this time next year when Vista is widely accepted and memory prices have fallen some more. I am not saying the AV-PS3 needs to match their spec as their OSs are very different, but 256 MB would be limiting.

 

[Skrying]

HTPC are not used for photo editing though, at least I would hope not. I do not see the pleasure of having someones face blown up on your TV and having to zoom in on someone's acne (in widescreen and 1080p!) and use the photoshop heal function. Typically those owning HTPC's and doing such things would do them on their main workstation.

Also, if that is indeed the case then they'll be targeting the PC market. Which is VERY interesting if the case. They'd have to use Linux, have to provide support for a large number of open source programs or develop their own for the linux platform.

It would be interesting if they allowed fast switching between say a Linux based system that could be shoved off into that extra 256MB, and whenever the user wants he can jump from Heavenly Sword to watching some TV with the click of a button and vice versa. It might be a compelling product to some, but it would like a support nightmare and very expensive.

 

[Brad Grenz]

I'm more interested in that "Cell Storage" concept Ken once talked about. Like a TB level NAS device with a Cell CPU that could interface seamlessly with the PS3 to serve and store HD video, audio and stuff. It could have a built in analog/digital tuner for DVR functions which could be controlled from a PS3 hosted front end. It could leverage the Cell's idle processing power to recompress MPEG2 files to MPEG4 to save space. It could also do that ripening thing he talked about; basically offline scaling of SD movies to HD resolution allowing better quality than is possible on realtime scalers.

 

[Crossbar]

HTPC are not used for photo editing though, at least I would hope not. I do not see the pleasure of having someones face blown up on your TV and having to zoom in on someone's acne (in widescreen and 1080p!) and use the photoshop heal function. Typically those owning HTPC's and doing such things would do them on their main workstation.

You may have a point there, I actually have a Windows Media Edition PC that came with 1.5 GB out of the box and I do run Photoshop on it. However, I have two screens attached to it, so I usually don't run apps on my wide screen TV.
But I actually think I will do this more, once I get a bigger screen which lets me browse the Internet with big enough characters that will be readable from my TV chair.

Anyway I think it is very conveniant to have all pictures located at the machine connected to my TV, it is very responsive when flipping through my pictures, and not having to duplicate them to two PCs is also conveniant. I prefer making backups in a different way.

Also, if that is indeed the case then they'll be targeting the PC market. Which is VERY interesting if the case. They'd have to use Linux, have to provide support for a large number of open source programs or develop their own for the linux platform.

It would be interesting if they allowed fast switching between say a Linux based system that could be shoved off into that extra 256MB, and whenever the user wants he can jump from Heavenly Sword to watching some TV with the click of a button and vice versa. It might be a compelling product to some, but it would like a support nightmare and very expensive.

Yes they would target a very specific PC area with such a product, but in the long run it might be expanded. Kutaragi has told us the PS3 is a PC, so it would not really come as a surprise.

Whatever this AV-PS3 turns out like it will probably share the firmware of the PS3 to a great extent, so it may not be that incredibly expensive to make, virtualisation is not that hard these days. The product you describe does indeed sound compelling.