Sony PlayStation 3 Beginner's Manual page 6

The Beginner's Guide To The PS3 Page 6 of 35
Preface
On May 16, 2005 Sony held an exciting press conference in Los
Angeles California. Sony offered the world its first look of its next-
™
generation gaming system, the PlayStation 3 . Sony CEO Kaz Hirai
™
called it a "supercomputer for computer entertainment."
The hardware of the PlayStation 3 was simply described as
"enormously powerful." Sony's new system would be capable of
delivering video content in full high definition, at resolutions of up to
1080p(*), which is the most detailed resolution currently supported.
The Cell processor, a joint project between Sony, Toshiba, and IBM,
would be the most powerful processor ever delivered for a gaming
system, comprised of 7 separate processing units, each working
simultaneously.
The system would be backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 disc
format. The PlayStation 3 would also use Blu-ray discs for its media.
Blu-ray is a disc format that can hold almost six times as much data as
current DVDs can. Also, DVD, and CD-ROM would be supported.
The graphics chip inside the PS3 would be the most powerful chip
available on the market. Based on nVidia technology, the chip would
feature 512 MB of graphics memory, and 300 million transistors. In
comparison, the most powerful GeForce video card for PCs could not
perform even half as well.
The PS3 would also feature wireless rechargeable USB controllers,
with motion detecting technology. And the system would be capable
of downloading content from the internet via WiFi or ethernet
connection, and storing it on a 20 or 60 gig hard drive.