From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA pronounced /ɛnˈvɪ.di.ə/) is a multinational corporation which specializes in the development of graphics processing units and chipset technologies for workstations, personal computers, and mobile devices. Based in Santa Clara, California, the company has become a major supplier of integrated circuits (ICs), designing graphics processing units (GPUs) and chipsets used in graphics cards, in personal-computer motherboards, and in video game consoles.
Notable Nvidia product lines include:

• the GeForce series for gaming
• the Quadro series for computer-aided design and for digital content creation (DCC) on workstations
• the nForce series of integrated motherboard chipsets

Nvidia Corporation

Type	Public (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Founded	1993
Founder(s)	Jen-Hsun Huang Chris Malachowsky
Headquarters	2701 San Tomas Expressway Santa Clara, California USA
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jen-Hsun Huang, Co-founder, President and CEO Chris Malachowsky, Co-founder, Nvidia Fellow, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Operations Jonah M. Alben, Vice President, GPU Engineering Debora Shoquist, Senior Vice President, Operations Dr. Ranga Jayaraman, CIO
Industry	Semiconductors — Specialized
Products	Graphics processing units Chipsets
Revenue	▼ $ 3.424 billion (2009)
Operating income	▼ $ 70.70 million (2009)
Net income	▼ $ 30.04 million (2009)
Total assets	▲ $ 3.350 billion (2009)
Total equity	▼ $ 2.394 billion (2009)
Employees	over 4,985 (as of June 2008[update])
Website	Nvidia.com

 

 

Company history

Three people co-founded Nvidia in 1993:

• Jen-Hsun Huang (As of 2008^[update] CEO), previously Director of CoreWare at LSI Logic and a microprocessor designer at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
• Chris Malachowsky, an electrical engineer who worked at Sun Microsystems
• Curtis Priem, previously a senior staff engineer and graphics chip designer at Sun Microsystems

The founders gained venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital.
In 2000, Nvidia acquired the intellectual assets of its one-time rival 3dfx, one of the biggest graphics companies of the mid- to late-1990s.
On December 14, 2005, Nvidia acquired ULI Electronics, which at the time supplied third-party southbridge parts for chipsets to ATI, Nvidia's competitor.
In March 2006, Nvidia acquired Hybrid Graphics
In December 2006, Nvidia, along with its main rival in the graphics industry AMD (which had acquired ATI), received subpoenas from the Justice Department regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card industry.
Forbes magazine named Nvidia its Company of the Year for 2007, citing the accomplishments it made during the said period as well as during the previous 5 years.
On January 5, 2007, Nvidia announced that it had completed the acquisition of PortalPlayer, Inc.
In February 2008, Nvidia acquired Ageia Technologies for an undisclosed sum. "The purchase reflects both companies' shared goal of creating the most amazing and captivating game experiences," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia. "By combining the teams that created the world's most pervasive GPU and physics engine brands, we can now bring GeForce-accelerated PhysX to twelve million gamers around the world." (The press-release made no mention of the acquisition-cost nor of future plans for specific products.)

Branding

The company's name combines an initial n (a letter usable as a pronumeral in mathematical statements) and the root of video (from Latin videre, "to see"), thus implying "the best visual experience" or perhaps "immeasurable display." The sound of the name Nvidia suggests "envy" (Spanish: envidia; Latin, Italian, or Romanian: invidia); and Nvidia's GeForce 8 series product (manufactured 2006-2008) used the slogan "Green with envy."
The company name appears entirely in upper-case ("NVIDIA") in the company's technical documentation. The mixed-case form ("nVIDIA," with a full-height, lower-case "n") appears only in the corporate logo.

Products

Nvidia's product portfolio includes graphics processors, wireless communications processors, PC platform (motherboard core logic) chipsets, and digital media player software. The community of computer users arguably has come to know Nvidia best for its "GeForce" product line, which consists of both a complete line of discrete graphics chips found in AIB (add-in board) video cards and core graphics technology used in nForce motherboards, the Microsoft Xbox game console, and Sony's PlayStation 3 game console.
In many respects Nvidia resembles its competitor ATI. Both companies began with a focus on the PC market and later expanded their activities into chips for non-PC applications. As part of their operations, both ATI and Nvidia create reference designs (circuit board schematics) and provide manufacturing samples to their board partners. However, unlike ATI, Nvidia does not sell graphics boards into the retail market, instead focusing on the development of GPU chips. As a fabless semiconductor company, Nvidia contracts out the manufacture of their chips to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. (TSMC). Manufacturers of Nvidia video cards include BFG, EVGA, Foxconn, and PNY. The manufacturers ASUS, ECS, Gigabyte Technology, MSI, Palit, and XFX produce both ATI and Nvidia cards.
December 2004 saw the announcement that Nvidia would assist Sony with the design of the graphics processor (RSX) in the PlayStation 3 game console. In March 2006 it emerged that Nvidia would deliver RSX to Sony as an IP core, and that Sony alone would organize the manufacture of the RSX. Under the agreement, Nvidia will provide ongoing support to port the RSX to Sony's fabs of choice (Sony and Toshiba), as well as die shrinks to 65 nm. This practice contrasts with Nvidia's business arrangement with Microsoft, in which Nvidia managed production and delivery of the Xbox GPU through Nvidia's usual third-party foundry contracts. Meanwhile, Microsoft chose to license a design by ATI and to make its own manufacturing arrangements for the Xbox 360 graphics hardware, as has Nintendo for the Wii console (which succeeds the ATI-based Nintendo GameCube).
On February 4, 2008, Nvidia announced plans to acquire physics-software producer Ageia, whose PhysX physics engine program formed part of hundreds of games shipping or in development for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and gaming PCs. This transaction completed on February 13, 2008 and efforts to integrate PhysX into the GeForce 8800's CUDA system began.
On June 2, 2008 Nvidia officially announced its new Tegra product line. The Tegra, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), integrates an ARM CPU, GPU, northbridge and southbridge onto a single chip. Commentators opine that Nvidia will target this product at the smartphone and mobile Internet device markets.

Graphics chipsets

• NV1: Nvidia's first product, based on quadratic surfaces
• RIVA 128 and RIVA 128ZX: DirectX 5 support, OpenGL 1 support, Nvidia's first DirectX-compliant hardware
• RIVA TNT, RIVA TNT2: DirectX 6 support, OpenGL 1 support, Nvidia's first market-leading product
• Nvidia GeForce: graphics processors for personal computers
• Nvidia Quadro: graphics processors for professional workstations
• Nvidia Tesla: dedicated GPGPU processors for high-performance computing systems
• Nvidia GoForce: media processors featuring nPower technology for PDAs and mobile phones
• Nvidia Tegra: system-on-a-chip with an ARM processor for mobile devices such as smartphones, PDAS, and MIDs
• GPUs for game consoles:
  
  • Xbox: GeForce3-class GPU (on an Intel Pentium III/Celeron platform)
  • PlayStation 3: RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'

Desktop motherboard chipsets

• nForce series
  
  • nForce: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron K7 CPUs (System Platform Processor (SPP) and Media and Communications Processor (MCP) or GeForce2 MX-class Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP) and MCP, SoundStorm available)
  • nForce2: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron/Sempron K7 CPUs (SPP + MCP or GeForce4 MX-class IGP + MCP, SoundStorm available)
  • nForce3: AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Opteron/Sempron K8 CPUs (unified MCP only)
  • nForce4
    
    • AMD: Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Opteron/Sempron K8 CPUs (unified MCP, SPP + MCP, or MCP paired with GeForce 6100 series/Quadro NVS 210S IGP)
    • Intel: Pentium 4/Pentium 4 Extreme Edition/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Celeron/Celeron D NetBurst CPUs (SPP + MCP only)
  • nForce 500
    
    • AMD: Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Opteron/Sempron K8 CPUs (unified MCP or SPP + MCP)
    • Intel Pentium 4/Pentium 4 Extreme Edition/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Pentium Dual-Core/Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme/Celeron/Celeron D NetBurst and Core 2 CPUs (SPP + MCP only)
  • nForce 600
    
    • AMD: Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Opteron/Sempron K8 CPUs, Quad FX-capable (unified MCP or MCP paired with GeForce 7000 series/GeForce 7100 series IGP)
    • Intel: Pentium 4/Pentium 4 Extreme Edition/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Pentium Dual-Core/Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme/Core 2 Quad/Celeron/Celeron D NetBurst and Core 2 CPUs (SPP + MCP or MCP paired with GeForce 7000 series/GeForce 7100 series IGP)
  • nForce 700
    
    • AMD: Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon X2/Opteron/Phenom X3/Phenom X4/Sempron K8 and K10 CPUs
    • Intel: Pentium 4/Pentium 4 Extreme Edition/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Pentium Dual-Core/Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme/Core 2 Quad/Celeron/Celeron D NetBurst and Core 2 CPUs
  • nForce 900: AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon X2/Athlon II X2/Athlon II X3/Athlon II X4/Opteron/Phenom X3/Phenom X4/Phenom II X2/Phenom II X3/Phenom II X4/Sempron K8 and K10 CPUs

Documentation and drivers

Nvidia does not publish the documentation for its hardware, meaning that programmers cannot write appropriate and effective open-source drivers for Nvidia's products (compare Graphics hardware and FOSS). Instead, Nvidia provides its own binary GeForce graphics drivers for X.Org and a thin open-source library that interfaces with the Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris kernels and the proprietary graphics software. Nvidia also supports an obfuscated open-source driver that only supports two-dimensional hardware acceleration and ships with the X.Org distribution. Nvidia's Linux support has promoted mutual adoption in the entertainment, scientific visualization, defense and simulation/training industries, traditionally dominated by SGI, Evans & Sutherland, and other relatively costly vendors.
The proprietary nature of Nvidia's drivers has generated dissatisfaction within free-software communities. Some Linux and BSD users insist on using only open-source drivers, and regard Nvidia's insistence on providing nothing more than a binary-only driver as wholly inadequate, given that competing manufacturers (like Intel) offer support and documentation for open-source developers, and that others (like ATI) release partial documentation.Because of the closed nature of the drivers, Nvidia video cards do not deliver adequate features on several platforms and architectures, such as FreeBSD on the x86-64 architecture and the other BSD operating systems on any architecture. Support for three-dimensional graphics acceleration in Linux on the PowerPC does not exist; nor does support for Linux on the hypervisor-restricted PlayStation 3 console. While some users accept the Nvidia-supported drivers, many users of open-source software would prefer better out-of-the-box performance if given the choice. However, the performance and functionality of the binary Nvidia video card drivers surpass those of open-source alternatives following VESA standards.
X.Org Foundation and Freedesktop.org have started the Nouveau project, which aims to develop free-software drivers for Nvidia graphics cards by reverse engineering Nvidia's current proprietary drivers for Linux.

Market share

According to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2007 by market watch firm Jon Peddie Research, Nvidia occupied the top slot in the desktop graphic devices market with a market share of 37.8%. However, in the mobile space, it remained third with 22.8% of the market. Overall Nvidia has maintained its position as the second-largest supplier of PC graphic shipments, which includes both integrated and discrete GPUs, with 33.9% market share, their highest in many years, which puts them just behind Intel (38%).
According to the Steam hardware survey conducted by the game developer Valve, Nvidia had 64.64% of PC video card market share (as of 1 December 2008 (2008 -12-01)^[update]). ATI had 27.12% of the PC video card market share. But this could relate to Valve releasing trial versions of The Orange Box compilation to Nvidia graphics card users: the compilation provided a link to the survey. However, free copies of The Orange Box were also released to purchasers of ATI cards, notably to those who purchased the Radeon 2900XT.

Market history

Before DirectX

Nvidia released its first graphics card, the NV1, in 1995. Its design used quadratic surfaces, with an integrated playback-only sound card and ports for Sega Saturn gamepads. Because the Saturn also used forward-rendered quadratics, programmers ported several Saturn games to play on a PC with NV1, such as Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter Remix. However, the NV1 struggled in a marketplace full of several competing proprietary standards.
Market interest in the product ended when Microsoft announced the DirectX specifications, based on polygons. Subsequently NV1 development continued internally as the NV2 project, funded by several millions of dollars of investment from Sega. Sega hoped that an integrated chip with both graphics and sound capabilities would cut the manufacturing cost of the next Sega console. However, Sega eventually realized the flaws in implementing quadratic surfaces, and the NV2 project never resulted in a finished product.

Transition to DirectX

Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang realized at this point that after two failed products, something had to change for the company to survive. He hired David Kirk as Chief Scientist from software developer Crystal Dynamics. Kirk would combine Nvidia's experience in 3D hardware with an intimate understanding of practical implementations of rendering.
As part of the corporate transformation, Nvidia sought to provide full support for DirectX, and dropped multimedia functionality in order to reduce manufacturing costs. Nvidia also adopted the goal of an internal six-month product cycle, based on the expectation that it could mitigate a failure of any one product by having a replacement moving through the development pipeline.
However, since the Sega NV2 contract remained secret, and since Nvidia had recently laid off employees, it appeared to many industry observers that Nvidia had ceased active research and development. So when Nvidia first announced the RIVA 128 in 1997, the market found the specifications hard to believe: performance superior to market-leader 3dfx Voodoo Graphics, and a fully hardware-based triangle setup engine. The RIVA 128 shipped in volume, and the combination of its low cost and high performance made it a popular choice for OEMs.

Ascendancy: RIVA TNT

Having finally developed and shipped in volume a market-leading integrated graphics chipset, Nvidia set itself the goal of doubling the number of pixel pipelines in its chip, in order to realize a substantial performance gain. The TwiN Texel (RIVA TNT) engine which Nvidia subsequently developed could either apply two textures to a single pixel, or process two pixels per clock cycle. The former case allowed for improved visual quality, the latter for doubling the maximum fillrate.
New features included a 24-bit Z-buffer with 8-bit stencil support, anisotropic filtering, and per-pixel MIP mapping. In certain respects (such as transistor count) the TNT had begun to rival Intel's Pentium processors for complexity. However, while the TNT offered an astonishing range of quality-integrated features, it failed to displace the market leader, 3dfx's Voodoo2, because the actual clock rate ended up at only 90 MHz, about 35% lower than expected.
Nvidia followed with a refresh part: a die shrink for the TNT architecture from 350 nm to 250 nm. A stock TNT2 now ran at 125 MHz, a TNT2 Ultra at 150 MHz. Though the Voodoo3 beat Nvidia to the market, 3dfx's offering proved disappointing; it did not run much faster and lacked features that were becoming standard, such as 32-bit color and textures of resolution greater than 256 x 256 pixels.
The RIVA TNT2 marked a major turning point for Nvidia. They had finally delivered a product competitive with the fastest on the market, with a superior feature set, strong 2D functionality, all integrated onto a single die with strong yields, and that ramped to impressive clock rates. Nvidia's six-month cycle refresh took the competition by surprise, giving it the initiative in rolling out new products.

Market leadership: GeForce

The northern-hemisphere autumn of 1999 saw the release of the GeForce 256 (NV10), most notably introducing on-board transformation and lighting (T&L) to consumer-level 3D hardware. Running at 120 MHz and featuring four pixel pipelines, it implemented advanced video acceleration, motion compensation, and hardware sub-picture alpha blending. The GeForce outperformed existing products - including the ATI Rage 128, 3dfx Voodoo3, Matrox G400 MAX, and RIVA TNT2 - by a wide margin.
Due to the success of its products, Nvidia won the contract to develop the graphics hardware for Microsoft's Xbox game console, which earned Nvidia a $200 million advance. However, the project drew the time of many of Nvidia's best engineers away from other projects. In the short term this did not matter, and the GeForce2 GTS shipped in the summer of 2000.
The GTS benefited from the fact that Nvidia had by this time acquired extensive manufacturing experience with its highly integrated cores, and as a result it succeeded in optimizing the core for higher clock-rates. The volume of chips produced by Nvidia also allowed the segregation of parts: Nvidia could pick out the highest-quality cores from the same batch as regular parts for its premium range. As a result, the GTS shipped at 200 MHz. The pixel fillrate of the GeForce256 nearly doubled, and texel fillrate nearly quadrupled because multi-texturing was added to each pixel pipeline. New features included S3TC compression, FSAA, and improved MPEG-2 motion compensation.
In 2000 Nvidia shipped the GeForce2 MX, intended for the budget and OEM market. It had two fewer pixel pipelines and ran at 165 MHz (later at 250 MHz). Offering strong performance at a mid-range price, the GeForce2 MX became one of the most successful graphics chipsets. Nvidia also shipped a mobile derivative called the GeForce2 Go at the end of 2000.
Nvidia's success proved too much for 3dfx to recover its past market share. The long-delayed Voodoo 5, the successor to the Voodoo3, did not compare favorably with the GeForce2 in either price or performance, and failed to generate the sales needed to keep the company afloat. With 3dfx on the verge of bankruptcy near the end of 2000, Nvidia purchased most of 3dfx's intellectual property (in dispute at the time). Nvidia acquired anti-aliasing expertise and about 100 engineers, but not the company itself, which filed for bankruptcy in 2002.
Nvidia developed the GeForce3, which pioneered DirectX 8 vertex and pixel shaders, and eventually refined it with the GeForce4 Ti line. Nvidia announced the GeForce4 Ti, MX, and Go in January 2002, one of the largest releases in Nvidia's history. The chips in the Ti and Go series differed only in chip and memory clock rates. The MX series lacked the pixel and vertex shader functionalities; it derived from GeForce2 level hardware and assumed the GeForce2 MX's position in the value segment.

Stumbles with the FX series

At this point Nvidia dominated the GPU market. However, ATI Technologies remained competitive due to its new Radeon product, which had performance comparable to the GeForce2 GTS. Though ATI's answer to the GeForce3, the Radeon 8500, came later to market and initially suffered from issues with drivers, the 8500 proved a superior competitor due to its lower price. Nvidia countered ATI's offering with the GeForce4 Ti line. ATI concentrated efforts on its next-generation Radeon 9700 rather than on directly challenging the GeForce4 Ti.
During the development of the next-generation GeForce FX chips, many Nvidia engineers focused on the Xbox contract. Nvidia also had a contractual obligation to develop newer and more hack-resistant NV2A chips, and this requirement left even fewer engineers to work on the FX project. Since the Xbox contract did not anticipate or encompass falling manufacturing costs, Microsoft sought to re-negotiate the terms of the contract, and relations between Nvidia and Microsoft deteriorated as a result. The two companies later settled the dispute through arbitration without releasing the terms of the settlement to the public.
Following their dispute, Microsoft did not consult Nvidia during the development of the DirectX 9 specification, allowing ATI to establish much of the specification themselves. During this time, ATI limited rendering color support to 24-bit floating point, and emphasized shader performance. Microsoft also built the shader compiler using the Radeon 9700 as the base card. In contrast, Nvidia's cards offered 16- and 32-bit floating-point modes, offering either lower visual quality (as compared to the competition), or slower performance. The 32-bit support made them much more expensive to manufacture, requiring a higher transistor count. Shader performance often remained at half or less of the speed provided by ATI's competing products. Having made its reputation by designing easy-to-manufacture DirectX-compatible parts, Nvidia had misjudged Microsoft's next standard and paid a heavy price: As more and more games started to rely on DirectX 9 features, the poor shader performance of the GeForce FX series became more obvious. With the exception of the FX 5700 series (a late revision), the FX series did not compete well against ATI cards.
Nvidia released an "FX only" demo called "Dawn," but a hacked wrapper enabled it to run on a Radeon 9700, where it ran faster despite translation overhead. Nvidia began to use application detection to optimize its drivers. Hardware review sites published articles showing that Nvidia's driver auto-detected benchmarks and that it produced artificially inflated scores that did not relate to real-world performance. Often tips from ATI's driver development team lay behind these articles. While Nvidia did partially close the performance gap with new instruction-reordering capabilities introduced in later drivers, shader performance remained weak and over-sensitive to hardware-specific code compilation. Nvidia worked with Microsoft to release an updated DirectX compiler that generated code optimized for the GeForce FX.
Furthermore, GeForce FX devices also ran hot, because they drew as much as double the amount of power as equivalent parts from ATI. The GeForce FX 5800 Ultra became notorious for its fan noise, and acquired the nicknames "dustbuster" and "leafblower." Nvidia jokingly acknowledged these accusations with a video in which the marketing team compares the cards to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Although the quieter 5900 replaced the 5800 without fanfare, the FX chips still needed large and expensive fans, placing Nvidia's partners at a manufacturing cost disadvantage compared to ATI.
Seemingly as a culmination of these events at the corporate level and the subsequent weaknesses of the FX series, Nvidia ceded its market leadership position to ATI.

GeForce 6 series and later

With the GeForce 6 series Nvidia moved beyond the DX9 performance problems that had plagued the previous generation. The GeForce 6 series not only performed competitively against other Direct 3D shaders, but also supported DirectX Shader Model 3.0, while ATI's competing X800 series chips only supported the previous 2.0 specification. This proved an insignificant advantage, mainly because games of that period did not employ extensions for Shader Model 3.0. However, it demonstrated Nvidia's desire to design and follow through with the newest features and deliver them in a specific timeframe. What became more apparent during this time was that the products of the two firms, ATI and Nvidia, offered equivalent performance. The two firms traded the performance lead in specific titles and specific criteria (resolution, image quality, anisotropic filtering/anti-aliasing), but the differences were becoming more abstract. As a result, price/performance ratio became the reigning concern in comparisons of the two. The mid-range offerings of the two firms demonstrated consumer appetite for affordable, high-performance graphics cards. This price segment came to determine much of each firm's profitability. The GeForce 6 series emerged at a very interesting period: The game Doom 3 had just been released, and ATI's Radeon 9700 was found to struggle with OpenGL performance in the game. In 2004, the GeForce 6800 performed excellently, while the GeForce 6600GT remained as important to Nvidia as the GeForce2 MX a few years previously. The GeForce 6600GT enabled users of the card to play Doom 3 at very high resolutions and graphical settings, which had been thought to be highly unlikely considering its selling price. The GeForce 6 series also introduced SLI, which is similar to technology that 3dfx had employed with the Voodoo2. A combination of SLI and other hardware performance gains returned Nvidia to market leadership.
The GeForce 7 series represented a heavily beefed-up extension of the reliable 6 series. The introduction of the PCI Express bus standard allowed Nvidia to release SLI (Scalable Link Interface), a solution that employs two similar cards to share the workload in rendering. While these solutions do not equate to double the performance, and require more electricity (two cards vis-à-vis one), they can make a huge difference as higher resolutions and settings are enabled and, more importantly, offer more upgrade flexibility. ATI responded with the X1000 series, and with a dual-rendering solution called "ATI CrossFire". Sony selected Nvidia to develop the "RSX" chip (a modified version of the 7800 GPU) used in the PlayStation 3.
Nvidia released a GeForce 8 series chip towards the end of 2006, making the 8 series the first to support Microsoft's next-generation DirectX 10 specification. The 8 series GPUs also featured the revolutionary Unified Shader Architecture, and Nvidia leveraged this to provide better support for General Purpose Computing on GPU (GPGPU). A new product line of "compute only" devices called Nvidia Tesla emerged from the G80 architecture, and subsequently Nvidia also became the market leader of this new field by introducing the world's first C programming language API for GPGPU, CUDA.
Nvidia released two models of the high-end 8 series (8800) chip: the 8800GTS (640 MB and 320 MB) and the 8800GTX (768 MB). Later, Nvidia released the 8800 Ultra (essentially an 8800GTX with a different cooler and higher clocks). All three of these cards derive from the 90 nm G80 core (with 681 million transistors). The GTS model had 96 stream processors and 20 ROPS and the GTX/Ultra had 128 stream processors and 24 ROPS.
In early 2007 Nvidia released the 8800GTS 320 MB. This card resembles an 8800GTS 640 MB, but with 32 MB memory chips instead of 64 MB (the cards contained 10 memory chips).
In October 2007 Nvidia released the 8800GT. The 8800GT used the new 65 nm G92 GPU and had 112 stream processors. It contained 512 MB of VRAM and operated on a 256-bit bus. It had several fixes and new features that the previous 8800s lacked.
Later in December 2007 Nvidia released the 8800GTS G92. It represented a larger 8800GT with higher clocks and all of the 128 stream processors of the G92 unlocked. Both the 8800GTS G92 and 8800GT have full PCI Express 2.0 support.
In February 2008 Nvidia released a GeForce 9 series chip, which supports Microsoft's DirectX 10 specification, in response to ATI's release of the Radeon HD3800 series. After March, Nvidia released the GeForce 9800 GX2, which effectively packaged two GeForce 8800 GTS G92s working in an internal SLI configuration on a single card.
In June 2008 Nvidia released its new flagship GPUs: the GTX 280 and GTX 260. The cards used the same basic Unified Architecture deployed in the previous 8 and 9 series cards, but with a upgrade in power. Both of the cards use the GT200 GPU as a basis for their design. This GPU contains 1.4 billion transistors on a 65 nm fabrication process. The GTX 280 has 240 shaders (stream processors) and the GTX 260 has 192 shaders (stream processors). The GTX 280 has 1 GB of GDDR3 VRAM and uses a 512-bit memory bus. The GTX 260 has 896 MB of GDDR3 VRAM on a 448-bit memory bus (revised in September 2008 to include 216 shaders). The GTX 280 allegedly provides approximately 933 GFLOPS of floating point power.
In January 2009 Nvidia released a 55 nm die shrink of GT200 called GT200b. Cards using this chip include an update to the GTX 280 card (called GTX 285) which allegedly provides 1062.72 GFLOPS of floating point power), an update to the GTX 260 (still called the GTX 260) with 216 shaders, and a multi-chip card (called GTX 295) which features two GT200b chips. Distinctively, each individual GPU features 240 stream processors, but only a 448-bit memory bus. The GTX 295 has 1.75 GB (1792 MB, 896 MB per GPU) of GDDR3 VRAM. The GTX 295 allegedly provides approximately 1788.48 GFLOPS of floating point power.
March 2009 saw the release of the GTS 250 mainstream chip, based on a 55 nm die shrink of G92, called G92b. The GTS 250 derives from the 9800GTX+ (some cards consist of rebranded 9800GTX+s) and has 128 shaders (stream processors) with a 256-bit memory bus and 512 MB or 1 GB of GDDR3 VRAM.
On May 12, 2009, Nvidia released images of a new revised edition of the GTX 295. This design, while similar to ATI's HD4870x2, differs from the original. The first production run of the GTX 295 literally consisted of two separate graphics accelerators sandwiched in the same casing and connected by an SLI ribbon cable. The new design encompasses both GPUs on one PCB. The card still has the same specifications of the first production run, although speculation admits it will sell for less due to lower manufacturing costs for the more compact device.
Nvidia plans to launch the Geforce 300 series - based on the Fermi architecture. - postponed to March 2010.

Defective mobile video adapters

In July 2008, Nvidia noted increased rates of failure in certain mobile video adapters. In response to this issue, Dell and HP released BIOS updates for all affected notebook computers which turn on the cooling fan at lower temperatures than previously configured in an effort to keep the defective video adapter from reaching higher temperatures. Leigh Stark of APC Magazine has suggested that this may lead to the premature failure of the cooling fan. This resolution/workaround may possibly only delay component failure past warranty expiration.
But at the end of August 2008, Nvidia reportedly issued a product change notification announcing plans to update the bump material of GeForce 8 and 9 series chips "to increase supply and enhance package robustness." In response to the possibility of defects in some mobile video adapters from Nvidia, some manufacturers of notebooks have allegedly turned to ATI to provide graphics options on their new Montevina notebook computers.
On August 18, 2008, according to the direct2dell.com blog, Dell began to offer a 12-month limited warranty "enhancement" specific to this issue on affected notebook computers worldwide.
On September 8, 2008, Nvidia made a deal with large OEMs, including Dell and HP, that Nvidia would pay $200 per affected notebook to manufacturers as compensation for the defects.
On October 9, 2008, Apple Inc. announced on a support page that some MacBook Pro notebook computers had exhibited faulty Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics adapters. The manufacture of affected computers took place between approximately May 2007 and September 2008. Apple also stated that it would repair affected MacBook Pros within three years of the original purchase date free of charge and also offered refunds to customers who had paid for repairs related to this issue.



Source : Wikipedia

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The PlayStation 3 (officially abbreviated as PS3) is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.
A major feature that distinguishes the PlayStation 3 from its predecessors is its unified online gaming service, the PlayStation Network, which contrasts with Sony's former policy of relying on video game developers for online play. Other major features of the console include its robust multimedia capabilities, connectivity with the PlayStation Portable, and its use of a high-definition optical disc format, Blu-ray Disc, as its primary storage medium. The PS3 was also the first Blu-ray 2.0-compliant Blu-ray player on the market.
The PlayStation 3 was first released on November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in North America and South America, and March 23, 2007 in Europe and Oceania. Two SKUs were available at launch: a basic model with a 20 GB hard drive (HDD), and a premium model with a 60 GB hard drive and several additional features (the 20 GB model was not released in Europe or Oceania). Since then, several revisions have been made to the console's available models, most notably with the release of a new slim model in September 2009 to coincide with rebranding of the console and its logo.

 

PlayStation 3

(Counter-clockwise from top) Original logo, new logo, original model, controller, newer slim model design.
Manufacturer	Sony EMCS, Foxconn, Lanix, ASUSTeK for SCEI
Product family	PlayStation
Type	Video game console
Generation	Seventh generation era
Retail availability	November 11, 2006 (details)
Units sold	27 million (as of September 30, 2009)
Media	Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Compact Disc, PlayStation game disc, PlayStation 2 game disc (1st & 2nd generations only), Super Audio CD (1st & 2nd generations only) and Digital distribution
Operating system	XrossMediaBar system software version 3.15
CPU	3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine with 1 PPE & 7 SPEs
Storage capacity	2.5" SATA hard drive (20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 120 GB, 160 GB, or 250 GB included) (upgradeable)
Graphics	550 MHz NVIDIA/SCEI RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'
Controller input	Sixaxis, DualShock 3, Logitech Cordless Precision™ controller, standard USB controllers, GT Force, Rhythm game controllers, PlayStation Motion Controller, GunCon 3, Keyboard and Mouse
Connectivity	(details) Flash memory input MemoryStick/PRO/Duo* SD/MMC* CompactFlash/Microdrive* Audio/video output HDMI 1.3a out S/PDIF out AV Multi out Composite video/stereo audio cable** S-Video cable SCART cable Component video cable D-Terminal cable Other IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi*** Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) 4 × USB 2.0 (2 × in 40 GB and all later models) Wired gigabit Ethernet *60 GB and CECHExx 80 GB models **Included in box ***All except 20 GB model
Online services	PlayStation Network
Backward compatibility	PlayStation (all models) PlayStation 2 (20 GB, 60 GB, and some CECHExx 80 GB models)
Predecessor	PlayStation 2

History

Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation 3 (then marketed as PLAYSTATION 3) to the public on May 16, 2005, during the E3 2005 conference. A functional version of the system was not present there, nor at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although demonstrations (such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) were held at both events on devkits and comparable PC hardware. Video footage based on the predicted PlayStation 3 specifications was also shown (notably a Final Fantasy VII tech demo). The initial prototype shown in May 2005 featured two HDMI ports, three Ethernet ports and six USB ports; however, when the system was shown again a year later at E3 2006, these were reduced to one HDMI port, one Ethernet port and four USB ports, presumably to cut costs. Two hardware configurations were also announced for the console: a 20 GB model and a 60 GB model, priced at $499 (€499) and $599 (€599), respectively. The 60 GB model would be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and a chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both models were announced for a simultaneous worldwide release: November 11 for Japan, and November 17 for North America and Europe.
On September 6, 2006, Sony announced that the PAL region (Europe and Oceania) PlayStation 3 launch would be delayed until March 2007, due to a shortage of materials used in the Blu-ray Disc drive.
At the Tokyo Game Show on September 22, 2006, Sony announced that it would include an HDMI port on the 20 GB system, but a chrome trim, flash card readers, silver logo, and Wi-Fi would not be included. Also, the launch price of the Japanese 20 GB model was reduced by over 20%, and the 60 GB model was announced for an open pricing scheme in Japan. During the event, Sony showed 27 playable PS3 games running on final hardware.

Launch

The PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006 at 07:00. According to Media Create, 81,639 PS3 systems were sold within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan.
Soon after its release in Japan, the PS3 was released in North America on November 17, 2006.Reports of violence surrounding the release of the PS3 include a customer shot, campers robbed at gunpoint,customers shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns, and 60 campers fighting over 10 systems.
The console was originally planned for a global release through November, but the European and rest-of-the-world's release was delayed "until March" at the start of September. With it being a somewhat last-minute delay, some companies had taken deposit-based pre-orders, to which Sony informed customers that they were eligible for full refunds or could continue the pre-order. On January 24, 2007, Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 would go on sale on March 23, 2007 in Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and New Zealand. The system sold about 600,000 units in its first two days. On March 7, 2007, the 60 GB PlayStation 3 launched in Singapore with a price of S$799. The console was launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007 in a single version equipped with an 80 GB hard drive and IPTV.

PS3 Slim and console rebranding

Following speculation that a 'slim' model was in the pipeline Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 on August 18, 2009 at the Sony Gamescom press conference. Among its features are a slimmer form factor and quieter noise when powered on. It was released in major territories by September 2009. As part of the release for the slim model, the logo was changed from the "Spider-Man font" and capitalised PLAYSTATION 3 to a more traditional PlayStation and PlayStation 2 like 'PlayStation 3' logo with "PS3" imprinted on the console. Along with the console and logo redesign, the boot screen of all consoles changed from saying "Sony Computer Entertainment" to "PS3 PlayStation 3", with a new chime and the game start splashscreen being dropped. The packaging of games has also been changed to reflect the new consoles logos and image.

Hardware

System unit

The PlayStation 3 is convex on its left side, with the PlayStation logo upright, when vertical (the top side is convex when horizontal), and has a glossy black finish. PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto stated that the Spider-Man font-inspired logo "was one of the first elements SCEI president Ken Kutaragi decided on and the logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3".
The PlayStation 3 features a slot-loading 2x speed Blu-ray Disc drive for games, Blu-ray movies, DVDs, CDs, and other optical media. It was originally available with hard drives of 20 and 60 GB (only the 60 GB model was available in PAL regions). An 80 GB model has since been introduced in NTSC regions, and a 40 GB model has been introduced in all regions. All PS3 models have user-upgradeable 2.5" SATA hard drives.
The PlayStation 3 uses the Sony, Toshiba, IBM-designed Cell microprocessor as its CPU, which is made up of one 3.2 GHz PowerPC-based "Power Processing Element" (PPE) and eight Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). The eighth SPE is disabled to improve chip yields. Only six of the seven SPEs are accessible to developers as the seventh SPE is reserved by the console's operating system. Graphics processing is handled by the NVIDIA RSX 'Reality Synthesizer', which can output resolutions from 480i/576i SD up to 1080p HD. The PlayStation 3 has 256 MB of XDR DRAM main memory and 256 MB of GDDR3 video memory for the RSX.
The system has Bluetooth 2.0, gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.3a built in on all currently shipping models. Wi-Fi networking is also built-in on the 40, 60 and 80 GB models while a flash card reader (compatible with Memory Stick, SD/MMC, and CompactFlash/Microdrive media) is built-in on 60 GB and CECHExx 80 GB models. The system supports up to 7 controllers that are connected via Bluetooth 2.0 technology.
The PS3's hardware has also been used to build supercomputers for high-performance computing. Terra Soft Solutions has a version of Yellow Dog Linux for the PlayStation 3, and sells PS3s with Linux pre-installed, in single units, and 6 and 32 node clusters. In addition, RapidMind is pushing their stream programming package for the PS3. Also, on January 3, 2007, Dr. Frank Mueller, Associate Professor of Computer science at NCSU, clustered 8 PS3s. Mueller commented that the 256 MB of system RAM is a limitation for this particular application, and is considering attempting to retrofit more RAM. Software includes: Fedora Core 5 Linux ppc64, MPICH2, OpenMP v 2.5, GNU Compiler Collection and CellSDK 1.1. As a more cost-effective alternative to conventional supercomputers, the U.S. military has purchased clusters of PS3 units for research purposes.Retail PS3 Slim units cannot be used for supercomputing, because the PS3 Slim lacks the ability to boot into a third-party OS.
On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University released the Folding@home project for the PlayStation 3. This program allows PS3 owners to lend the computing power of their consoles to help study the physical process of protein folding.
In December 2008, a group of hackers used a cluster of 200 PlayStation 3's to hack the security protocol SSL.

Original model

There are five original PlayStation 3 hardware models, which are commonly referred to by the size of their included hard disk drive: "20", "40", "60", "80" and "160" GB. The only difference in the appearance of the first five models was the color of the trim and number of USB ports. All retail packages include one or two Sixaxis controllers and/or a DualShock 3 controller (beginning June 12, 2008), one miniUSB to USB cable (for connecting the controller to the system), one composite video/stereo audio output cable, one Ethernet cable (20, 60, and CECHExx 80 GB only) and one power cable. All models support software emulation of the original PlayStation, but support for PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility has continually diminished with later models.Compatibility issues with games for both systems are detailed in a public database hosted by the manufacturer. All models, excluding the 20GB model, include 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi. In addition to all of the features of the 20 GB model, the 60 GB model has internal IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, multiple flash card readers (SD/MultiMedia Card, CompactFlash Type I/Type II, Microdrive, Memory Stick/PRO/Duo), and a chrome colored trim. In terms of hardware, the 80 GB model released in South Korea is identical to the 60 GB model released in the PAL regions, except for the difference in hard drive size.
Like the South Korean and European models, the North American 80 GB (2007) model also excludes the PlayStation 2 "Emotion Engine" CPU chip. However, it still keeps the "Graphics Synthesizer" GPU. Due to the elimination of the "Emotion Engine", the level of compatibility was reduced. The 40 GB, 80 GB (2008), and 160 GB models have two USB ports instead of the four USB ports on other models, and do not include multiple flash card readers, SACD support, or any backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 games. This was due to the removal of "Graphics Synthesizer" GPU, which stripped the units of all PlayStation 2 based hardware.
No official Wi-Fi or flash memory card readers were ever released by Sony for the 20 GB system, although Sony had plans to do so. As of September 2009 Sony have placed no further emphasis on these proposed add-ons. Nevertheless, as the model features four USB 2.0 ports, wireless networking and flash memory card support can already be obtained through the use of widely available external USB adapters and third-party PS3-specific media hubs.
It was rumored that the Cell processors in the third-generation PS3s (40 GB, 2008 80 GB, and 160 GB) would move from a 90 nm process to the newer 65 nm process, which SCEI CEO Kaz Hirai later confirmed, and later to 45 nm. This change lowers the power consumption of the console and makes it less expensive to produce.

Slim model

The PS3 slim (officially called the PS3 CECH-2000) is the redesigned model of the console, and currently the only model in production. It features an upgradeable 120GB hard drive and is 33% smaller, 36% lighter, and consumes 34% less power than previous models. The cooling system has been redesigned and Cell processor has moved to a 45nm manufacturing process. It sold in excess of a million units in its first 3 weeks on sale.
The PS3 slim also includes support for CEC (more commonly referred to by its manufacturer brandings of BraviaSync, VIERA Link, EasyLink and others) which allows control of the console over HDMI by using the remote control to use as a controller. The PS3 slim also runs quieter and cooler than previous models due to its 45 nm Cell. The PS3 Slim no longer has the ability to install third party operating systems such as Linux, and also no longer has the "main power" switch (similar with PlayStation 2 slim), like the previous PS3 models, which was located at the back of the console. The PS3 slim was officially released on September 1, 2009 in North America and Europe and on September 3, 2009 in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. However, some retailers such as Amazon.com, Best Buy, and GameStop started to sell the PS3 slim on August 25, 2009. A 250GB Final Fantasy XIII-themed PS3 Slim which was white in color with pink designs, was officially announced on September 24, 2009 at the Tokyo Game Show as part of a bundle in Japan for Final Fantasy XIII, it was initially revealed in FCC filings as the PS3 CECH-2000B. Sony Computer Entertainment Australia also announced later that day that it would be bringing the 250GB PS3 slim to Australia which would be bundled with other games and will not feature the Final Fantasy XIII theme. Although no American bundles have been announced for the 250GB PS3 slim, it will be sold as a stand-alone console.

Accessories

Numerous accessories for the console have been developed including the wireless Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controllers, the BD Remote, the PlayStation Eye camera and the PlayTV DVB-T tuner/digital video recorder accessory.
At its press conference at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced the DualShock 3 (trademarked DUALSHOCK 3), a PlayStation 3 controller with the same function and design as the Sixaxis, but with vibration capability included. Hands-on accounts describe the controller as being noticeably heavier than the standard Sixaxis controller, and capable of vibration forces comparable to the DualShock 2. It was released in Japan on November 11, 2007, in North America on April 5, 2008, in Australia on April 24, 2008, in New Zealand on May 9, 2008, in Europe on July 2, 2008, the United Kingdom and Ireland on July 4, 2008 and Seychelles on March 2010. During E3 2009, Sony unveiled plans to release a motion controller in 2010.

Model comparison

Generation	Model	Available colors	First available	In production	Other features/information
1st 4 USB ports, Hardware-based PS2 emulation, SACD playback, Third-party OS install	20 GB CECHBxx NTSC	Piano Black with black trim	2006-11-01November 2006	No	No 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
	60 GB CECHAxx NTSC	Piano Black with chrome trim		No	Flash memory readers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
2nd 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Flash memory readers, 4 USB ports, Partially software-based PS2 emulation, SACD playback, Third-party OS install	60 GB CECHCxx PAL		2007-03-01March 2007	No
	80 GB CECHExx NTSC		2007-08-01August 2007	No	Some models came bundled with MGS4 or MotorStorm DualShock 3 controller (MGS4 bundles only)
3rd 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 2 USB ports, No PS2 emulation, No SACD support, Third-party OS install	40 GB CECHGxx, CECHHxx, CECHJxx PAL, NTSC	Piano Black Ceramic White  Satin Silver Gun-Metal Gray (all have satin silver trim)	2007-10-01October 2007 EU AU November 2007 NA JP	No	Gun-Metal Gray model bundled with MGS4.
	80 GB CECHKxx, CECHLxx PAL, NTSC	Piano Black Ceramic White Satin Silver  (all have satin silver trim)	2008-08-01August 2008 NA EU AU October 2008 JP	No	Some models were bundled with Greatest Hits versions of MGS4 and Killzone 2
	160 GB CECHPxx PAL, NTSC	Piano Black with satin silver trim	2008-10-01October 2008 EU November 2008 NA	No	NTSC models bundled with Uncharted
4th 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 2 USB ports, No PS2 emulation, No SACD support, Bravia Sync XMB control, No third party OS install, Slim form factor
	120 GB slim CECH-20xxA PAL, NTSC	Charcoal Black	2008-08-011 September 2009 NA EU 3 September 2009 AU NZ JP	Yes	Some NTSC models bundled with LittleBigPlanet and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
	250 GB slim CECH-20xxB PAL,NTSC	Charcoal Black White and Pink	October 2009EU 2009-10-1515 October 2009 AU NZ 2009-11-033 November 2009 NA 2009-12-1717 December 2009 JP	Yes	Bundled with: Final Fantasy XIII (Japan) Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, SingStar Motown, or Eyepet (Australia) Tekken 6 (North America)

Reliability

According to Ars Technica, the number of PlayStation 3 consoles that have experienced failure is well within the normal failure rates in the consumer electronics industry.
However, the BBC television programme Watchdog aired a report investigating the purported "yellow light of death" issue, which affects about 0.5% of PlayStation 3s. The yellow light indicates a non-specific hardware failure.
The program also noted that the PlayStation 3 has a one-year warranty (typical of most consumer electronics products). Out-of-warranty PlayStation 3 owners can pay Sony a set fee for a refurbished console.
In response to the tone of the program, senior vice president and managing director, Ray Maguire issued a document criticizing the program and citing potential attempt to harm Sony and PlayStation brand, and stating that the numbers of faulty PlayStation 3 systems the program mentioned are not evidence of a manufacturing defect.

PlayStation Portable connectivity

The PlayStation Portable can connect with the PlayStation 3 in many ways, including in-game connectivity. For example, Formula One Championship Edition, a racing game, was shown at E3 2006 using a PSP as a real-time rear-view mirror. In addition, users are able to download original PlayStation format games from the PlayStation Store, transfer and play them on the PSP as well as the PS3 itself. It is also possible to use the Remote Play feature to play these, and some PlayStation Network games, remotely on the PSP over a network or internet connection.
Sony has also demonstrated the PSP playing back video content from the PlayStation 3 hard disk across an ad-hoc wireless network. This feature is referred to as Remote Play located under the browser icon on both the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable. Remote play has since expanded to allow remote access to the PS3 via PSP from any wireless access point in the world.

Operating system

System Software

Sony has included the ability for the operating system, referred to as System Software, to be updated. The updates can be acquired in several ways:

• If the PlayStation 3 has an active Internet connection, updates may be downloaded directly from the PlayStation Network to the PS3 and subsequently installed. Systems with active Internet will automatically check online for software updates each time the console is started.
• Using an external PC, a user may download the update from the official PlayStation website, transfer it to portable storage media, and install it on the System.
• Some game discs come with system software updates on the disc. This may be due to the game requiring the update in order to run. If so, the software may be installed from the disc.

The PlayStation 3 also includes the ability to install other operating systems, such as Linux.This ability has been removed with the introduction of the new slim model and will not be available in any future hardware revisions.

Graphical user interface

The standard PlayStation 3 version of the XrossMediaBar (pronounced Cross Media Bar, or abbreviated XMB) includes nine categories of options. These are: Users, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, Network, PlayStation Network, and Friends (similar to the PlayStation Portable media bar). A tenth TV category is displayed between Music and Video if PlayTV or trone is installed or if the console meets certain criteria to access select catch-up television services. By default, the What's New section of PlayStation Network is displayed when the system starts up. The PS3 includes the ability to store various master and secondary user profiles, manage and explore photos with or without a musical slide show, play music and copy audio CD tracks to an attached data storage device, play movies and video files from the hard disk drive, an optional USB mass storage or Flash card, or an optical disc (Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video), compatibility for a USB keyboard and mouse, and the web browser supporting in/compatible file download function. Additionally, UPnP media will appear in the respective audio/video/photo categories if a compatible media server or DLNA server is detected on the local network. The Friends menu allows mail with emoticon and attached picture features and video chat which requires an optional PlayStation Eye or EyeToy webcam. The Network menu allows online shopping through the PlayStation Store and connectivity to the PlayStation Portable via Remote Play.

Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery is an optional application to view, create and group photos from the PS3, which is installed separately from the system software at 105MB. It was introduced in system software version 2.60 and provides a range of tools for sorting through and displaying the system's pictures. The key feature of this application is that it can organize photos into groups according to various criteria. Notable categorizations are colors, ages, or facial expressions of the people in the photos. Slideshows can be viewed with the application, along with music and playlists.

VidZone

VidZone is an online music video download service, accessible from the Music category on the XMB, which allows for free streaming of music videos from the VidZone.tv website. The VidZone catalogue encompasses over 1.5 million tracks, 25,000 music videos and 15,000 realtones,including full access to catalogues from Sony BMG and EMI.
On June 11, 2009, VidZone’s service was extended to the PlayStation 3 video game system in Europe and Australia, allowing users to watch music videos for on their PS3 or streamed to their PSP via Remote Play.

PlayStation Network

PlayStation Network is the unified online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service provided by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, announced during the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing meeting in Tokyo. The service is always connected, free and includes multiplayer support. The network enables online gaming, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home and other services. PlayStation Network uses real currency and PlayStation Network Cards as seen with the PlayStation Store and PlayStation Home.

What's New

What's New was announced at Gamescom 2009 and was released on September 1, 2009, with PlayStation 3 system software 3.0. The feature was to replace the existing [Information Board], which displayed news from the PlayStation website associated with the user's region. The concept was developed further into a major PlayStation Network feature, which interacts with the [Status Indicator] to display a ticker of all content, excluding recently played content (currently in North America and Japan only).
The system displays the What's New screen by default instead of the [Games] menu (or [Video] menu, if a movie was inserted) when starting up. What's New has four sections: "Our Pick", "Recently Played", latest information, and new content available in PlayStation Store. There are four kinds of content the What's New screen displays and links to, on the sections. "Recently Played" displays the user's recently played games and online services only, whereas, the other sections can contain website links, links to play videos, and access to selected sections of the PlayStation Store.
The PlayStation Store icons in the [Game] and [Video] section act similarly to the What's New screen, except that they only display and link to games and videos in the PlayStation Store, respectively.

PlayStation Home

PlayStation Home is a virtual community-based service for the PlayStation Network, announced during the 2007 Game Developers Conference. Home allows users to create a custom avatar, which can be made to suit the user's liking. Users can decorate their avatar's personal apartment ("HomeSpace") with default, bought, or won items. Users can shop for new items to express themselves more through their avatars or HomeSpace. Users interact and connect with friends and customise content in a virtual world. Home also acts as a meeting place for users that want to play multiplayer games with others.
A closed beta began in Europe from May 2007 and expanded to other territories soon after. Home was delayed and expanded several times before initially releasing. The Open Beta test was started on December 11, 2008. Home is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar. Membership is free, and only requires a PSN account.
Home is the host to avatars, a virtual economy, personal spaces and clubs. It features places to meet and interact, dedicated game spaces, developer spaces, company spaces, and events. The service undergoes a weekly maintenance and frequent updates. Xi, a once notable feature in Home, is the world's first console-based Alternate Reality Game. Adventures, puzzles and spaces were set up to continuously puzzle those who participated in finding clues. The meaning of Xi and the mysterious character "Jess" were the objects of study in this game. At TGS 2009, Kazuo Hirai announced that Home has been downloaded by 8 million users.

Life with PlayStation

On 18 September 2008 the PlayStation 3's Folding@home application became Life with PlayStation. Life with PlayStation shows Earth's light at night in locations where it is night time and shows cloud patterns to reflect recent weather patterns (if zoomed out far enough). Along with the existing Folding@home functionality, the application also provides the user with access to three other information "channels", the first of which being the Live Channel which offers news headlines and weather through a 3D globe. The user can rotate and zoom in to any part of the world to access information provided by Google News, The Weather Channel, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center, among other sources. The second channel is the World Heritage channel which offers historical information about historical sites. The third channel is the United Village channel. United Village is a project designed to share information about communities and cultures worldwide.

Games

The PlayStation 3 launched in North America with 14 titles, with another three being released before the end of 2006. After the first week of sales it was confirmed that Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games was the top-selling launch game in North America. The game was heavily praised by numerous video game websites, including GameSpot and IGN, both of whom awarded it their PlayStation 3 Game of the Year award for 2006. Some titles missed the launch window and were delayed until early 2007, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, F.E.A.R. and Sonic the Hedgehog. During the Japanese launch, Ridge Racer 7 was the top-selling game, while Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire also fared well in sales,^[159] both of which were offerings from Namco Bandai. The PlayStation 3 launched in Europe with 24 titles, including ones that were not offered in the North American and Japanese launches, such as Formula One Championship Edition, MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5. Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm were the most successful titles of 2007, and both games subsequently received sequels in the form of Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.
At E3 2007, Sony was able to show a number of their upcoming video games for the PlayStation 3, including Heavenly Sword, Lair, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune; all of which were released in the third and fourth quarters of 2007. They also showed off a number of titles that were set for release in 2008 and 2009; most notably Killzone 2, Infamous, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, LittleBigPlanet and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation. A number of third-party exclusives were also shown, including the highly-anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, alongside other high-profile third-party titles such as Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin's Creed, Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5. Two other important titles for the PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, were shown at TGS 2007 in order to appease the Japanese market.
Sony have since launched their budget range of PlayStation 3 titles, known as the Greatest Hits range in North America, the Platinum range in Europe and The Best range in Japan. Among the titles available in the budget range include Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Call Of Duty 3, Assassin's Creed and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. As of October 2009 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Devil May Cry 4, Army of Two, Battlefield: Bad Company, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles have also joined the list. When they are put on the "Greatest Hits" list the new unused copies retail for $30 USD and are re-shipped in a new red case.
As of March 31, 2009, there have been 174.9 million games sold for the PlayStation 3.

Stereoscopic 3D

In December 2008 the CTO of Blitz Games announced that they would bring stereoscopic 3D gaming and movie viewing to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with their own technology. According to Blitz Games, SCE confirmed that they intend to support stereoscopic 3D games and Blu-ray movies and that the functionality will be introduced to the PlayStation 3 via a firmware update in 2009.This technology was first demonstrated publicly on the PS3 in January 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show. Journalists were shown Wipeout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 3D as a demonstration of how the technology might work if it is implemented in the future.

Sales and production costs

Region	Units sold	First available
Canada	520,000 as of August 1, 2008	November 17, 2006
Europe	10 million+ as of August 18, 2009	March 23, 2007
Japan	4.39 million as of December 28, 2009	November 11, 2006
United Kingdom	3 million as of January 26, 2010	March 23, 2007
United States	9 million+ as of August 18, 2009	November 17, 2006
Worldwide	27 million as of September 31, 2009	November 11, 2006 (details)

The PlayStation 3's initial production cost is estimated to have been US$805.85 for the 20 GB model and US$840.35 for the 60 GB model.However, they were priced at US$499 and US$599 respectively, meaning that every unit was sold at an estimated loss of $250, contributing to Sony's games division posting an operating loss of ¥232.3 billion (US$1.97 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2007. In April 2007, soon after these results were published, Ken Kutaragi, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, announced plans to retire. Various news agencies, including The Timesand The Wall Street Journal reported that this was due to poor sales, whilst SCEI maintains that Kutaragi had been planning his retirement for six months prior to the announcement.
In January 2008, Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, suggested that the console may start making a profit by early 2009, stating that, "the next fiscal year starts in April and if we can try to achieve that in the next fiscal year that would be a great thing" and that "[profitability] is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for". However, market analysts Nikko Citigroup have predicted that the PlayStation 3 could be profitable by August 2008. In a July 2008 interview, Hirai stated that his objective is for the PlayStation 3 to sell 150 million units by its ninth year, surpassing the PlayStation 2's sales of 140 million in its nine years on the market. In January 2009 Sony announced that their gaming division was profitable in Q3 2008.
Since the system's launch, production costs have been reduced significantly as a result of phasing out the Emotion Engine chip and falling hardware costs. The cost of manufacturing Cell microprocessors has fallen dramatically as a result of moving to the 65 nm production process, and Blu-ray diodes have become cheaper to manufacture. As of January 2008, each unit cost around $400 to manufacture; by August 2009, Sony had reduced costs by a total of 70%, meaning it only costs Sony around $240 per unit.

Reception

Early PlayStation 3 reviews soon after launch were critical of its high price and lack of quality launch games, but commended the system's hardware capabilities and potential. However, after a series of price revisions, Blu-ray's victory over HD DVD, and the release of several well received titles, the system received better reviews. IGN judged the PlayStation 3 to have the best game line-up of 2008, based on their review scores in comparison to those of the Wii and Xbox 360.
The PS3 was given the number-eight spot on PC World magazine’s list of "The Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006," where it was criticized for being "Late, Expensive, and Incompatible". GamesRadar ranked the PS3 as the top item in a feature on game-related PR disasters, asking how Sony managed to "take one of the most anticipated game systems of all time and — within the space of a year — turn it into a hate object reviled by the entire internet", but added that despite its problems the system has "untapped potential". Business Week summed up the general opinion by stating that it was "more impressed with what [the PlayStation 3] could do than with what it currently does".
Developers have also found the machine difficult to program for. In 2007, Gabe Newell of Valve said "The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think it's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted". He continued "I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a do over. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it'". Doug Lombardi VP of Marketing for Valve has since stated that they are interested in developing for the console and are looking to hire talented PS3 programmers for future projects. However he stated, "Until we have the ability to get a PS3 team together, until we find the people who want to come to Valve or who are at Valve who want to work on that, I don't really see us moving to that platform".
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has criticised the PS3’s high development costs and inferior attach rate and return to that of the Xbox 360 and Wii. He believes these factors are pushing developers away from working on the console. In an interview with The Times Kotick stated "I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform." He continued, "It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation." Kotick also claimed that Activision Blizzard may stop supporting the system if the situation is not addressed. “[Sony has] to cut the [PS3’s retail] price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.” However, this has gotten Kotick some heavy criticism about the validity of the statement and whether such a statement, or such a move, would even be appropriate, with Bioware even calling the statement "silly."
However, even Kazuo Hirai, Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, said that the PS3 was intentionally difficult to develop for.
Despite the initial negative press, several websites have given the system very good reviews. CNET United Kingdom praised the system saying, "the PS3 is a versatile and impressive piece of home-entertainment equipment that lives up to the hype [...] the PS3 is well worth its hefty price tag." CNET awarded it a score of 8.8 out of 10 and voted it as its number one "must-have" gadget, praising its robust graphical capabilities and stylish exterior design while criticizing its limited selection of available games.
In addition, both Home Theater Magazine and Ultimate AV have given the system's Blu-ray playback very favorable reviews, stating that the quality of playback exceeds that of many current standalone Blu-ray players.
Hexus Gaming reviewed the PAL version and summed the review up by saying, "as the PlayStation 3 matures and developers start really pushing it, we’ll see the PlayStation 3 emerge as the console of choice for gaming." At GDC 2007, Shiny Entertainment founder Dave Perry stated, "I think that Sony has made the best machine. It's the best piece of hardware, without question". A second review of the PS3 by Ars Technica in June 2008 gave the console an overall mark of 9/10, while the original launch review marked only 6/10.

Slim model and rebrand

The PlayStation 3 Slim has received extremely positive reviews as well as a boost in sales; less than 24 hours after its announcement the PS3 Slim took the number-one bestseller spot on Amazon.com in the video games section for fifteen consecutive days before regaining the position again one day later. The PS3 Slim also received praise from PC World giving it a 90 out of 100 praising its new repackaging and the new value it brings at a lower price as well as praising its quietness and the reduction in its power consumption. This is in stark contrast to the original PS3's launch in which it was given position number-eight on their "The Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006" list.
CNET awarded the PS3 Slim four out of five stars praising its Blu-ray capabilities, 120GB hard drive, free online gaming service and more affordable pricing point, but complained about the lack of backwards compatibility for PlayStation 2 games. TechRadar gave the PS3 Slim four and a half stars out of five praising its new smaller size and summed up its review stating, "Over all, the PS3 Slim is a phenomenal piece of kit. It's amazing that something so small can do so much", however they criticized the exterior design of the PS3 Slim as being "ugly", however it wasn't criticized as ugly to the same degree as the original system's design.



Source : Wikipedia