Rambus (RMBS)

[cordob]

PS3 in stores by June?

They must have the year wrong, expect this story to disappear:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=abUbYgyfhgBg&refer=japan

Sony Plans to Begin Selling PlayStation 3 by June (Update1)

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., looking to protect its No. 1 position in video-game machines from Microsoft Corp.'s new Xbox 360, disclosed details of the new PlayStation 3 and said the machine will be available in stores by June.

Executives including Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, demonstrated the graphics capabilities of the new machine today in Los Angeles, showing explosions, falling leaves and a simulation of a bathtub full of plastic ducks.

Sony is revealing details of the new game console days after Microsoft unveiled its Xbox 360. Microsoft hopes the Xbox 360 will topple Sony from the No. 1 spot in game machines, a $6.16 billion market. Sony's PlayStation 2 outsells Microsoft four to one globally and has a 57 percent share of the U.S. market.

Customers with older PlayStation games will be able to use them on the new machine, Sony said. The PlayStation 3 will have wireless-fidelity, or Wi-Fi, access for Internet connections.

The PlayStation 3 will be compatible with the Blu-ray format for next-generation digital video discs, Sony said. The device will include ports that let users connect digital cameras and music players and will let users manipulate photographs.

The new machine will support up to seven controllers, connected using Bluetooth wireless technology. Owners will also be able to connect two televisions to the device.

The machine will include the ``Cell' chip developed by Sony, International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. and a graphics chip made by Nvidia Inc.

The 2005 launch of the Xbox 360, coming before the new PlayStation, could cut Sony's 57 percent share of the North American market, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Anthony Gikas estimates. Microsoft has spent $12 billion and incurred losses of more than $2.4 billion developing and selling Xbox.

Kutaragi spoke at a press conference in Los Angeles ahead of this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo video-game conference.
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in edit here is a Reuter's link saying 2006 again:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8508552

Sony to launch PlayStation 3 in 2006
Mon May 16, 2005 08:24 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp. will launch its next video game console, the PlayStation 3, in 2006, with the promise of high-definition graphics and broadband connectivity, the company said on Monday.

The electronics and entertainment conglomerate said the new game console will feature a next-generation DVD player that supports high-capacity Blu-ray technology and will be powered by the "Cell" chip, which pledges to be significantly more powerful than Intel Corp.'s Pentium 4.

Sony boasted that the PS3 would have twice the processing speed of the Xbox 360, the new console from Microsoft Corp. that will be released later this year. Sony developed the "Cell" microprocessor with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. ...
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Cor