Originally posted by DefMATRIXense
I dont beleive this for a second but probably according to blooming.com ( japanese news)
Sony to Introduce PlayStation 3 in 2003, Commercial Times Says
By Alan Patterson
Tokyo, March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's second- largest consumer-electronics maker, will introduce the PlayStation 3 video-game console this year, two years ahead of schedule, to widen its lead over rivals, the Commercial Times said, citing unidentified people at Taiwanese parts suppliers.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. of Taiwan, which assembles the PlayStation 2 for Sony, and other parts suppliers on the island will start trial production next month, the report said.
Sony may start selling the PlayStation 3 in Japan as early as midyear and overseas by the end of the year, the report said. The PlayStation 3 will use an unidentified processor different from the PlayStation 2 chip, which is made by Toshiba Corp., the report said. Calls to the public relations department of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony's game unit, were not answered.
Tokyo-based Sony, in collaboration with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba, is developing a new processor capable of handling sophisticated graphics and sound over the Internet. The chip, called ``Cell,'' is still in development, Molly Smith, a spokeswoman with Sony Computer Entertainment America, said on March 4.
and more news that relating to first news, according to gamepro.com,
News: Sony Denies 2003 PS3 Launch
Famitsu: News
The hopes and dreams of rabid PlayStation fans worldwide were realized for a short while last weekend, when the Bloomberg news service reported a Taiwanese manufacturer source as saying that the PlayStation 3 will come out this year, two years ahead of Sony's previous schedule. Unfortunately—judging from Sony's comments today—the source was full of it.
According to the report, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, one of Sony's chief PS2 manufacturers, was set to begin production of the first PS3 test units at the start of next month. The retail system could then hit Japanese stores in the middle of the year, with the U.S. and European version coming out before the end of 2003—giving Sony a giant lead over Nintendo and Microsoft's next-generation systems, both reportedly set for a 2005 release.
However, as Sony spokesman Koichiro Katsurayama told Bloomberg earlier today, "this is a false report... We have not chosen a release date for the new system." Katsurayama also added that Sony has not officially announced the name of their next console, so it might be a bit early to start calling it "PS3" quite yet.
Sony's next system will likely use the Cell technology, a new parallel-processing system under development with Toshiba and IBM, in its core. Toshiba is currently building a new processing plant to manufacture the Cell chip; this factory is not set to go online until 2004, leading to previous speculation that the PS3 will hit stores in 2005. Sony isn't publicly commenting either way, but it's still important to have something to dream about, right?
What do you guys think?
