News written by Matti Robinson (November, 2006)

Sony officially announced what most of us considered obvious, the first wave of PS3 was sold out. No exact figure has been given, but some sources estimate not more than 200,000 units. The "small" number of PS3 launch units was however assisted by company's flag-bearing handheld and current gen console.

The sold-out PS3 had obviously more demand than supply, and the 15,000 PS3 units sold on eBay for an average price of $1,200 speaks for itself. Luckily for Sony, they have a pretty strong lineup with PS2 and PSP, the first-mentioned increased sales more than 100 percent and the latter almost tripled the sales.

The second patch for PS3 is out, the patch updates PS3 firmware to v1.11, but no details have been shared. Some speculate that the patch affects Music settings, others that it adds an icon to Account Management, yet no clarifying information. You can download the patch via PS3 System Update feature. Sony also set a limit of 500MB for the downloadable PS3 games, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica director John Hight this was done strictly "to keep download times reasonable."

Sources:
GameSpot(1/2/3)

Xbox Live US Marketplace yesterday launched the service for selling TV shows and renting movies from CBS, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, and few other companies. The pricing of the content depends on media format and type, and whether it is a new release or a classic.

High definition TV shows cost 240 ($3) Microsoft points, while the inferior standard definition media costs a whole lot less at 160 ($2) points. Movie prices vary from 240 to 480 ($6) points, standard definition "classic feature film" will cost you 240, high def classic 360 ($4.5), a new release film in SD 320 ($4), and at the top a brand new HD film 480 Microsoft points.

The movies have a 14-day "rent period", during which you have to watch it, however the movie has to be watched within 24 hours from the first time it is launched.

Full list of available content:

- CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, NCIS and Star Trek from CBS

- Chappelle's Show, Drawn Together and Emmy and Peabody award-winning South Park from COMEDY CENTRAL

- Pimp My Ride and Punk'd from MTV

- Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants from Nickelodeon Read more...

The launch of PlayStation 3 has filled gaming and technology news, but the Open Platform for PS3 has dropped a bomb. Ealier Sony promoted the Open Platform with Yellow Dog Linux operating system available and upgradeable for your PS3, now it seems like it is not going to stop there, you'll be able to install most of you favorite Linux distros also.

The installation of such operating system is made possible by Open Platform for PS3, claiming in its website that "PLAYSTATION®3 allows any desired third-party system software to be installed on it." This means that you'll be able to install any Linux distro with a PowerPC build available, and there a lot of them - Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora Core and SUSE to name a few.

Sony has released documents regarding Linux on the PS3, that includes an installation and setup how-to for Fedora Core 5. All you need is Other OS installer, available later from Sony's own Open Platform website, Addon Packages CD, and Fedora Core 5 installation
DVD.

For detailed Linux on the PS3 documentations visit here.