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138-458: The system comprises five main parts: the battery, the electronics, the laser or LED light sources, the combiner optic, and in some cases, scanning micromirror devices . First, the electronics system turns the image into an electronic signal. Next, the electronic signals drive laser or LED light sources with different colors and intensities down different paths. In the combiner optic, the different light paths are combined into one path, defining

276-535: A GameStop exclusive with 250 GB storage. 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

414-519: A gain medium , a mechanism to energize it, and something to provide optical feedback . The gain medium is a material with properties that allow it to amplify light by way of stimulated emission. Light of a specific wavelength that passes through the gain medium is amplified (power increases). Feedback enables stimulated emission to amplify predominantly the optical frequency at the peak of the gain-frequency curve. As stimulated emission grows, eventually one frequency dominates over all others, meaning that

552-471: A lens system, as is always included, for instance, in a laser pointer whose light originates from a laser diode . That is possible due to the light being of a single spatial mode. This unique property of laser light, spatial coherence , cannot be replicated using standard light sources (except by discarding most of the light) as can be appreciated by comparing the beam from a flashlight (torch) or spotlight to that of almost any laser. A laser beam profiler

690-463: A "huge demand" for the system. System sales for the following week were down 82%, selling 30,000 units, with a 60% drop in sales of the two most popular titles, MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man . Its UK launch price of £ 425 was higher than its Japanese and American prices, with value-added tax cited as a reason by a staff member. The continental Europe price was €599, while in Ireland it

828-494: A 2009 study by SquareTrade , a warranty provider, found a two-year failure rate of 10% for PlayStation 3s. In September 2009, BBC 's Watchdog television program aired a report investigating the issue, calling it the "yellow light of death" (YLOD). Among the consoles that experienced the failure, they found that it usually occurred 18–24 months after purchase, while the standard Sony warranty covers one year after purchase. After this time period, PlayStation 3 owners can pay Sony

966-465: A USB keyboard and mouse and a web browser supporting 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

1104-464: A broad spectrum of light or emit different wavelengths of light simultaneously. Certain lasers are not single spatial mode and have light beams that diverge more than is required by the diffraction limit . All such devices are classified as "lasers" based on the method of producing light by stimulated emission. Lasers are employed where light of the required spatial or temporal coherence can not be produced using simpler technologies. A laser consists of

1242-504: A chain reaction. The materials chosen for lasers are the ones that have metastable states , which stay excited for a relatively long time. In laser physics , such a material is called an active laser medium . Combined with an energy source that continues to "pump" energy into the material, it is possible to have enough atoms or molecules in an excited state for a chain reaction to develop. Lasers are distinguished from other light sources by their coherence . Spatial (or transverse) coherence

1380-587: A chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both models were announced for a simultaneous worldwide release: November 11, 2006, for Japan and November 17, 2006, for North America and Europe. On September 6, 2006, Sony announced that PAL region PlayStation 3 launch would be delayed until March 2007, because of a shortage of materials used in the Blu-ray drive. At the Tokyo Game Show on September 22, 2006, Sony announced that it would include an HDMI port on

1518-436: A coherent beam has been formed. The process of stimulated emission is analogous to that of an audio oscillator with positive feedback which can occur, for example, when the speaker in a public-address system is placed in proximity to the microphone. The screech one hears is audio oscillation at the peak of the gain-frequency curve for the amplifier. For the gain medium to amplify light, it needs to be supplied with energy in

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1656-562: A dedicated GPU , believing the Cell microprocessor could handle all graphics processing tasks. However, game developers, including Sony’s ICE team (the central graphics technologies group for its game studios), demonstrated that without a dedicated GPU, the PlayStation 3’s performance would fall short, particularly when compared to the Xbox 360 . This feedback prompted the late-stage addition of

1794-505: A demonstration of how the technology might work if it is implemented in the future. Firmware update 3.30 officially allowed PS3 titles to be played in 3D, requiring a compatible display for use. System software update 3.50 prepared it for 3D films. While the game itself must be programmed to take advantage of the 3D technology, titles may be patched to add in the functionality retroactively. Titles with such patches include Wipeout HD , Pain , and Super Stardust HD . The basic design of

1932-419: A device lacks the spatial and temporal coherence achievable with lasers. Such a device cannot be described as an oscillator but rather as a high-gain optical amplifier that amplifies its spontaneous emission. The same mechanism describes so-called astrophysical masers /lasers. The optical resonator is sometimes referred to as an "optical cavity", but this is a misnomer: lasers use open resonators as opposed to

2070-649: A fixed fee for a refurbished console. Sony claimed that, according to its statistics of returned consoles, approximately 0.5% of consoles were reported as showing the YLOD. In response to the televised report, Sony issued a document criticizing the program's accuracy and conclusions; specifically that the faults were evidence of a manufacturing defect. The document also complained that the report had been inappropriate in tone and might damage Sony's brand name. PS3's hardware has also been used to build supercomputers for high-performance computing . Fixstars Solutions sells

2208-508: A gain medium must have a gain bandwidth sufficiently broad to amplify those frequencies. An example of a suitable material is titanium -doped, artificially grown sapphire ( Ti:sapphire ), which has a very wide gain bandwidth and can thus produce pulses of only a few femtoseconds duration. Such mode-locked lasers are a most versatile tool for researching processes occurring on extremely short time scales (known as femtosecond physics, femtosecond chemistry and ultrafast science ), for maximizing

2346-480: A given pulse energy, this requires creating pulses of the shortest possible duration utilizing techniques such as Q-switching . The optical bandwidth of a pulse cannot be narrower than the reciprocal of the pulse width. In the case of extremely short pulses, that implies lasing over a considerable bandwidth, quite contrary to the very narrow bandwidths typical of CW lasers. The lasing medium in some dye lasers and vibronic solid-state lasers produces optical gain over

2484-506: A headset. It has been demonstrated that pico projectors integrated in headsets could be used as interaction devices, e.g. , using additional hand and finger tracking . The MIT Media Lab proposed a wearable gestural interface device named SixthSense . Chris Harrison developed a working system called Omnitouch . Finally, the Light Blue Optics Light Touch is yet another similar device. Lisa Cowan from UCSD showed

2622-399: A higher energy level with energy difference ΔE, it will not stay that way forever. Eventually, a photon will be spontaneously created from the vacuum having energy ΔE. Conserving energy, the electron transitions to a lower energy level that is not occupied, with transitions to different levels having different time constants. This process is called spontaneous emission . Spontaneous emission is

2760-476: A laser beam, it is highly collimated : the wavefronts are planar, normal to the direction of propagation, with no beam divergence at that point. However, due to diffraction , that can only remain true well within the Rayleigh range . The beam of a single transverse mode (gaussian beam) laser eventually diverges at an angle that varies inversely with the beam diameter, as required by diffraction theory. Thus,

2898-471: A laser is normally a material of controlled purity, size, concentration, and shape, which amplifies the beam by the process of stimulated emission described above. This material can be of any state : gas, liquid, solid, or plasma . The gain medium absorbs pump energy, which raises some electrons into higher energy (" excited ") quantum states . Particles can interact with light by either absorbing or emitting photons. Emission can be spontaneous or stimulated. In

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3036-401: A laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as optical communication, laser cutting , and lithography . It also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances ( collimation ), a feature used in applications such as laser pointers , lidar , and free-space optical communication . Lasers can also have high temporal coherence , which permits them to emit light with

3174-418: A multi-level system as a method for obtaining the population inversion, later a main method of laser pumping. Townes reports that several eminent physicists—among them Niels Bohr , John von Neumann , and Llewellyn Thomas —argued the maser violated Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and hence could not work. Others such as Isidor Rabi and Polykarp Kusch expected that it would be impractical and not worth

3312-549: A palette of colors. An important design characteristic of a handheld projector is the ability to project a clear image on various viewing surfaces. Major advances in imaging technology have allowed the introduction of hand-held (pico) type video projectors . The concept was also introduced by Explay in 2003 to various consumer electronics players. Their solution was publicly announced through their relationship with Kopin in January 2005. Insight Media market research has divided

3450-441: A process called pumping . The energy is typically supplied as an electric current or as light at a different wavelength. Pump light may be provided by a flash lamp or by another laser. The most common type of laser uses feedback from an optical cavity —a pair of mirrors on either end of the gain medium. Light bounces back and forth between the mirrors, passing through the gain medium and being amplified each time. Typically one of

3588-526: A proof of concept of gesture recognition using shadow-occluding of the projector, called ShadowPuppets. A modified laser projector has been used to perform gesture recognition and finger tracking using laser-based active tracking techniques at the University of Tokyo ( Smart Laser Scanner and Laser Sensing Display ). Combining a pico projector with a webcam , a laser pointer , and image processing software enables full control of any computing system via

3726-468: A quantum-mechanical effect and a direct physical manifestation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle . The emitted photon has a random direction, but its wavelength matches the absorption wavelength of the transition. This is the mechanism of fluorescence and thermal emission . A photon with the correct wavelength to be absorbed by a transition can also cause an electron to drop from the higher to

3864-432: A seminar on this idea, and Charles H. Townes asked him for a copy of the paper. In 1953, Charles H. Townes and graduate students James P. Gordon and Herbert J. Zeiger produced the first microwave amplifier, a device operating on similar principles to the laser, but amplifying microwave radiation rather than infrared or visible radiation. Townes's maser was incapable of continuous output. Meanwhile, in

4002-426: A single or triple architecture format. Manufacturers that have adopted this technology include Digislide, Optoma's PK201 / PK301 (DLP), 3M's MPro 160 / 180 (LCoS), Aiptek's V50 (DLP), AAXA's M2 (LCoS), Bonitor MP302 (LCos), Micron's PoP Video (LCoS), and Vivitek's High Definition Qumi (DLP). Some older models incorporated a single LCoS imager chip with single white LED for low cost, high resolution, and fast response at

4140-431: A small volume of material at the surface of a workpiece can be evaporated if it is heated in a very short time, while supplying the energy gradually would allow for the heat to be absorbed into the bulk of the piece, never attaining a sufficiently high temperature at a particular point. Other applications rely on the peak pulse power (rather than the energy in the pulse), especially to obtain nonlinear optical effects. For

4278-467: A third-party OS. On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University released the Folding@home software for PlayStation 3. This program allows PS3 owners to lend the computing power of their consoles to help study the process of protein folding for disease research. In December 2008, a group of hackers used a cluster of 200 PlayStation 3 computers to crack SSL authentication. In November 2010

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4416-425: A user's PlayStation Network ID. PlayStation 3 also limits the transfer of copy protected videos downloaded from its store to other machines and states that copy protected video "may not restore correctly" following certain actions after making a backup such as downloading a new copy protected movie. Photo Gallery is an optional application to view, create, and group photos from PS3, which is installed separately from

4554-412: A version of Yellow Dog Linux for PlayStation 3 (originally sold by Terra Soft Solutions). RapidMind produced a stream programming package for PS3, but were acquired by Intel in 2009. 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

4692-646: A very narrow frequency spectrum . Temporal coherence can also be used to produce ultrashort pulses of light with a broad spectrum but durations as short as an attosecond . Lasers are used in optical disc drives , laser printers , barcode scanners , DNA sequencing instruments , fiber-optic and free-space optical communications, semiconductor chip manufacturing ( photolithography , etching ), laser surgery and skin treatments, cutting and welding materials, military and law enforcement devices for marking targets and measuring range and speed, and in laser lighting displays for entertainment. Semiconductor lasers in

4830-430: A wide bandwidth, making a laser possible that can thus generate pulses of light as short as a few femtoseconds (10 s). In a Q-switched laser, the population inversion is allowed to build up by introducing loss inside the resonator which exceeds the gain of the medium; this can also be described as a reduction of the quality factor or 'Q' of the cavity. Then, after the pump energy stored in the laser medium has approached

4968-492: A wide range of technologies addressing many different motivations. Some lasers are pulsed simply because they cannot be run in continuous mode. In other cases, the application requires the production of pulses having as large an energy as possible. Since the pulse energy is equal to the average power divided by the repetition rate, this goal can sometimes be satisfied by lowering the rate of pulses so that more energy can be built up between pulses. In laser ablation , for example,

5106-404: Is a transition between energy levels that match the energy carried by the photon or phonon. For light, this means that any given transition will only absorb one particular wavelength of light. Photons with the correct wavelength can cause an electron to jump from the lower to the higher energy level. The photon is consumed in this process. When an electron is excited from one state to that at

5244-569: Is also built-in on all but one early model. A couple of early models also had a built-in flash card reader (compatible with Memory Stick , SD and CompactFlash ). PlayStation 3 has been produced in various models: the original, the Slim, and the Super Slim. Successive models have added or removed various features, reduced the console's initial purchase price and weight, and increased storage capacity (with exceptions). Numerous accessories for

5382-480: Is also required for three-level lasers in which the lower energy level rapidly becomes highly populated, preventing further lasing until those atoms relax to the ground state. These lasers, such as the excimer laser and the copper vapor laser, can never be operated in CW mode. In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretical foundations for the laser and the maser in the paper " Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung " ("On

5520-406: Is an anacronym that originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation . The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories , based on theoretical work by Charles H. Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow . A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light that is coherent . Spatial coherence allows

5658-413: Is called an optical amplifier . When an optical amplifier is placed inside a resonant optical cavity, one obtains a laser. For lasing media with extremely high gain, so-called superluminescence , light can be sufficiently amplified in a single pass through the gain medium without requiring a resonator. Although often referred to as a laser (see, for example, nitrogen laser ), the light output from such

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5796-417: 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 PS3 Slim lacks the ability to boot into

5934-462: Is emitted by stimulated emission is identical to the photon that triggered its emission, and both photons can go on to trigger stimulated emission in other atoms, creating the possibility of a chain reaction . For this to happen, many of the atoms or molecules must be in the proper excited state so that the photons can trigger them. In most materials, atoms or molecules drop out of excited states fairly rapidly, making it difficult or impossible to produce

6072-421: Is formed by single-frequency quantum photon states distributed according to a Poisson distribution . As a result, the arrival rate of photons in a laser beam is described by Poisson statistics. Many lasers produce a beam that can be approximated as a Gaussian beam ; such beams have the minimum divergence possible for a given beam diameter. Some lasers, particularly high-power ones, produce multimode beams, with

6210-443: Is frequently used in the field, meaning "to give off coherent light," especially about the gain medium of a laser; when a laser is operating, it is said to be " lasing ". The terms laser and maser are also used for naturally occurring coherent emissions, as in astrophysical maser and atom laser . A laser that produces light by itself is technically an optical oscillator rather than an optical amplifier as suggested by

6348-421: Is impossible. In some other lasers, it would require pumping the laser at a very high continuous power level, which would be impractical, or destroying the laser by producing excessive heat. Such lasers cannot be run in CW mode. The pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as a continuous wave so that the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition rate. This encompasses

6486-405: Is not the result of random thermal processes. Instead, the release of a photon is triggered by the nearby passage of another photon. This is called stimulated emission . For this process to work, the passing photon must be similar in energy, and thus wavelength, to the one that could be released by the atom or molecule, and the atom or molecule must be in the suitable excited state. The photon that

6624-570: Is now only available to users of original consoles who choose not to update their system software beyond version 3.15 or who have installed third-party, modified and unofficial versions of the firmware instead. The standard PlayStation 3 version of the XrossMediaBar (pronounced "Cross Media Bar" and abbreviated XMB) includes nine categories of options. These are: Users , Settings , Photo , Music , Video , TV/Video Services , Game , Network , PlayStation Network and Friends (similar to

6762-412: Is tested , and if one defective SPE is identified, it is disabled using using laser trimming , allowing the processor to function with seven SPEs. This approach minimizes waste by utilizing processors that would otherwise be discarded. Even in chips without defects, one SPE is still disabled to ensure uniformity. Of the seven active SPEs, six are available for developers, while the seventh is reserved for

6900-489: Is to heat an object; some of the thermal energy being applied to the object will cause the molecules and electrons within the object to gain energy, which is then lost through thermal radiation , that we see as light. This is the process that causes a candle flame to give off light. Thermal radiation is a random process, and thus the photons emitted have a range of different wavelengths , travel in different directions, and are released at different times. The energy within

7038-504: Is to pump the laser material with a source that is itself pulsed, either through electronic charging in the case of flash lamps, or another laser that is already pulsed. Pulsed pumping was historically used with dye lasers where the inverted population lifetime of a dye molecule was so short that a high-energy, fast pump was needed. The way to overcome this problem was to charge up large capacitors which are then switched to discharge through flashlamps, producing an intense flash. Pulsed pumping

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7176-441: Is typically expressed through the output being a narrow beam, which is diffraction-limited . Laser beams can be focused to very tiny spots, achieving a very high irradiance , or they can have a very low divergence to concentrate their power at a great distance. Temporal (or longitudinal) coherence implies a polarized wave at a single frequency, whose phase is correlated over a relatively great distance (the coherence length ) along

7314-430: Is used to measure the intensity profile, width, and divergence of laser beams. Diffuse reflection of a laser beam from a matte surface produces a speckle pattern with interesting properties. The mechanism of producing radiation in a laser relies on stimulated emission , where energy is extracted from a transition in an atom or molecule. This is a quantum phenomenon that was predicted by Albert Einstein , who derived

7452-625: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) created a powerful supercomputer by connecting together 1,760 Sony PS3s which include 168 separate graphical processing units and 84 coordinating servers in a parallel array capable of performing 500 trillion floating-point operations per second (500 TFLOPS). As built the Condor Cluster was the 33rd largest supercomputer in the world and would be used to analyze high definition satellite imagery. Sony has included

7590-785: The Dubai Autodrome . The PS3 sold 600,000 units in the first two days of its release in Europe. It became the fastest-selling home system in the United Kingdom with 165,000 units sold in two days, and became the second-fastest-selling system in the UK overall, the fastest being the PlayStation Portable . Some British retailers claim that the PS3 was subjected to as many as 20,000 pre-order cancellations, while others cited

7728-601: The Instant Game Collection Bundle . The Garnet Red and Azurite Blue colored models were launched in Japan on February 28, 2013. The Garnet Red version was released in North America on March 12, 2013, as part of the God of War: Ascension bundle with 500 GB storage and contained God of War: Ascension as well as the God of War Saga . The Azurite Blue model was released on October 8, 2013, as

7866-462: The PlayStation 2 , it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November 17, 2006, in North America, and March 23, 2007, in Europe and Australasia. The PlayStation 3 competed primarily against Microsoft 's Xbox 360 and Nintendo 's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles . The PlayStation 3 was developed on

8004-528: The PlayStation Network online service, and was also the first to be controllable from a handheld console through its Remote Play connectivity. In September 2009, the Slim model of the PlayStation 3 was released; it no longer provided the hardware ability to run PS2 games, but it was lighter and thinner than the original version. A Super Slim redesign was released in late 2012, further refining

8142-450: The PlayStation Portable media bar). The TV/Video Services category is for services like Netflix and if PlayTV or torne is installed; the first category in this section is "My Channels", which lets users download various streaming services, including Sony's own streaming services Crackle and PlayStation Vue . By default, the What's New section of PlayStation Network is displayed when

8280-581: The PlayStation Store and connectivity to PlayStation Portable via Remote Play. PlayStation 3 console protects certain types of data and uses digital rights management to limit the data's use. Purchased games and content from the PlayStation Network store are governed by PlayStation's Network Digital Rights Management (NDRM). The NDRM allows users to access the data from up to 2 different PlayStation 3's that have been activated using

8418-611: The Super Slim model were revealed: one with a 500 GB hard drive, a second with a 250 GB hard drive which was not available in PAL regions , and a third with a 12 GB flash storage that was available in PAL regions, and in Canada. The storage of 12 GB model was upgradable with an official standalone 250 GB hard drive, and a vertical stand was also released for the model. In

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8556-712: 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 software development kits and comparable personal computer 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

8694-768: The United Kingdom , the 500 GB model was released on September 28, 2012; and the 12 GB model was released on October 12, 2012. In the United States , the PS3 Super Slim was first released as a bundled console. The 250 GB model was bundled with the Game of the Year edition of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and released on September 25, 2012; and the 500 GB model was bundled with Assassin's Creed III and released on October 30, 2012. In Japan,

8832-410: The phase of the emitted light is 90 degrees in lead of the stimulating light. This, combined with the filtering effect of the optical resonator gives laser light its characteristic coherence, and may give it uniform polarization and monochromaticity, depending on the resonator's design. The fundamental laser linewidth of light emitted from the lasing resonator can be orders of magnitude narrower than

8970-421: The transverse modes often approximated using Hermite – Gaussian or Laguerre -Gaussian functions. Some high-power lasers use a flat-topped profile known as a " tophat beam ". Unstable laser resonators (not used in most lasers) produce fractal-shaped beams. Specialized optical systems can produce more complex beam geometries, such as Bessel beams and optical vortexes . Near the "waist" (or focal region ) of

9108-505: The "pencil beam" directly generated by a common helium–neon laser would spread out to a size of perhaps 500 kilometers when shone on the Moon (from the distance of the Earth). On the other hand, the light from a semiconductor laser typically exits the tiny crystal with a large divergence: up to 50°. However even such a divergent beam can be transformed into a similarly collimated beam employing

9246-622: 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. 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. There were reports that many of

9384-616: 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 Australia and The Best range in Japan. Among the titles available in the budget range include Resistance: Fall of Man , MotorStorm , Uncharted: Drake's 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

9522-655: The Japanese market. The PlayStation 3 began development on March 9, 2001 when Ken Kutaragi , then the President of Sony Computer Entertain ment , announced that Sony , Toshiba , and IBM would collaborate on developing the Cell microprocessor. At the time, Shuhei Yoshida led a group of programmers within this hardware team to explore next-generation game creation. By early 2005, focus within Sony shifted towards developing PS3 launch titles. In September 2004, Sony stated that

9660-845: The Netflix streaming service would also be available on PlayStation 3 in the United States. A paid Netflix subscription was required for the service. The service became available in November 2009. Initially users had to use a free Blu-ray disc to access the service; however, in October 2010 the requirement to use a disc to gain access was removed. In April 2010, support for MLB.tv was added, allowing MLB.tv subscribers to watch regular season games live in HD and access new interactive features designed exclusively for PSN. In November 2010, access to

9798-493: 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. As of March 31, 2012 , there have been 595 million games sold for PlayStation 3. The best selling PS3 games are Grand Theft Auto V , Gran Turismo 5 , The Last of Us , Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . The last game released on

9936-438: The PlayStation 3 remained the same across all three major hardware revisions with a black plastic case with a convex top side when placed horizontal, which could also be placed vertical, with the convex on the left side. The original case design had piano black plastic with a Spider-Man -font-inspired logo that PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto stated that "was one of the first elements SCEI president Ken Kutaragi decided on and

10074-571: The PlayStation 3 was Shakedown: Hawaii , on August 20, 2020. In December 2008, the CTO of Blitz Games announced that it would bring stereoscopic 3D gaming and movie viewing to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with its own technology. This was first demonstrated publicly on PS3 using Sony's own technology in January 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show . Journalists were shown Wipeout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 3D as

10212-478: The PlayStation 3 would utilize Blu-ray and that the console would also play DVDs and CDs, and the following December, Nvidia was announced as a design partner for the console's graphics chip. Sony officially unveiled PlayStation 3 to the public on May 16, 2005, at E3 2005 , along with a boomerang -shaped prototype design of the Sixaxis controller. A functional version of the system was not present there, nor at

10350-677: The Quantum Theory of Radiation") via a re-derivation of Max Planck 's law of radiation, conceptually based upon probability coefficients ( Einstein coefficients ) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. In 1928, Rudolf W. Ladenburg confirmed the existence of the phenomena of stimulated emission and negative absorption. In 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant predicted using stimulated emission to amplify "short" waves. In 1947, Willis E. Lamb and R.   C.   Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effected

10488-655: The RSX GPU during the console’s development. Physical media games for the PlayStation 3 were sold on Blu-ray discs and the console features a 2× speed drive which is also capable of reading Blu-ray movies, DVDs, and CDs. It was originally available with hard drives of 20 and 60 GB but various sizes up to 500 GB were later made available (see: model comparison ). All PS3 models have user-upgradeable hard drives. The system has Bluetooth 2.0 (with support for up to seven Bluetooth devices), Gigabit Ethernet , USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.4 built in. Wi-Fi networking

10626-509: The Soviet Union, Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov were independently working on the quantum oscillator and solved the problem of continuous-output systems by using more than two energy levels. These gain media could release stimulated emissions between an excited state and a lower excited state, not the ground state, facilitating the maintenance of a population inversion . In 1955, Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of

10764-767: 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, both of which were offerings from Namco Bandai Games . PlayStation 3 launched in Europe with 24 titles, including ones that were not offered in North American and Japanese launches, such as Formula One Championship Edition , MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5 . Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm were

10902-471: The ability for the operating system , referred to as System Software , to be updated. The updates can be acquired in several ways: The original PlayStation 3 also included the ability to install other operating systems, such as Linux . This was not included in the newer slim models and was removed from all older PlayStation 3 consoles with the release of firmware update 3.21 in April 2010. The functionality

11040-609: The ability to cut videos and add music and captions. Videos can then be rendered and uploaded to video sharing websites such as Facebook and YouTube. In addition to the video service provided by the Sony Entertainment Network , the PlayStation 3 console has access to a variety of third-party video services, dependent on the region: Since June 2009, VidZone has offered a free music video streaming service in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In October 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment and Netflix announced that

11178-710: The ability to project an image up to 50 inches (1,300 mm) (1270 mm) on any surface in optimum lighting conditions. In 2014 Texas Instruments DLP's imagers occupied a significant portion of the handheld projector market share. In combination with Osram's Ostar series LEDs optical engines based on DLP technology have achieved over 15 lumens per watt for high brightness applications (300–500 lumens with 0.45" imager) and over 20 lumens per watt in low brightness applications (10–50 lumens with 0.2" or 0.3" imagers). Three major image technologies for micro projectors are commonplace: Most micro projectors employ one of these imagers, combined with color-sequential ( RGB ) LEDs in either

11316-427: The ability to store thousands of photos and can take photos of good quality. Projector phones allow sharing them with a larger audience than on the phone's small screen. One study found that people preferred to view and share photos with projector phones, compared to using conventional mobile phones. Handheld projectors, in particular projector phones, could offer new possibilities for mobile gaming, as demonstrated by

11454-488: The ability to zoom into 3D environments and change the angle and perspective of panoramas. It requires system software 3.40 or higher; 3D photos; a 3D HDTV, and an HDMI cable for the 3D images to be viewed properly. A new application was released as part of system software version 3.40 which allows users to edit videos on PlayStation 3 and upload them to the Internet. The software features basic video editing tools including

11592-614: The acronym. It has been humorously noted that the acronym LOSER, for "light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation", would have been more correct. With the widespread use of the original acronym as a common noun, optical amplifiers have come to be referred to as laser amplifiers . Modern physics describes light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as the group behavior of fundamental particles known as photons . Photons are released and absorbed through electromagnetic interactions with other fundamental particles that carry electric charge . A common way to release photons

11730-414: The adaptation of the PlayStation 3 game LittleBigPlanet . Players can sketch a world on a sheet of paper or use an existing physical configuration of objects and let the physics engine simulate physical procedures in this world to achieve game goals. Size reduction of mobile devices is often limited by the size of the used display. Apart from the display a complete phone can be, for example, integrated in

11868-486: The application, along with music and playlists. The software was updated with the release of system software version 3.40 allowing users to upload and browse photos on Facebook and Picasa . PlayMemories is an optional stereoscopic 3D (and also standard) photo viewing application, which is installed from the PlayStation Store at 956 MB. The application is dedicated specifically to 3D photos and features

12006-476: The beam. A beam produced by a thermal or other incoherent light source has an instantaneous amplitude and phase that vary randomly with respect to time and position, thus having a short coherence length. Lasers are characterized according to their wavelength in a vacuum . Most "single wavelength" lasers produce radiation in several modes with slightly different wavelengths. Although temporal coherence implies some degree of monochromaticity , some lasers emit

12144-441: The black colored Super Slim model was released on October 4, 2012; and the white colored Super Slim model was released on November 22, 2012. The Super Slim model is 20 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the Slim model and features a manual sliding disc cover instead of a motorized slot-loading disc cover of the Slim model. The white colored Super Slim model was released in the United States on January 27, 2013, as part of

12282-425: The blue to near-UV have also been used in place of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to excite fluorescence as a white light source; this permits a much smaller emitting area due to the much greater radiance of a laser and avoids the droop suffered by LEDs; such devices are already used in some car headlamps . The first device using amplification by stimulated emission operated at microwave frequencies, and

12420-773: The console have been developed. These accessories include the wireless Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controllers, the Logitech Driving Force GT , the Logitech Cordless Precision Controller , the Blu-ray Disc Remote , the PlayStation Eye camera, and the PlayTV DVB-T tuner/ digital video recorder accessory. At Sony's E3 press conference in 2006, the then-standard wireless Sixaxis controller

12558-412: The console. During its early years, the system received a mixed reception, due to its high price ($ 599 for a 60-gigabyte model, $ 499 for a 20 GB model), a complex processor architecture, and lack of quality games, but was praised for its Blu-ray capabilities and "untapped potential". The reception improved over time. The system had a slow start in the market but managed to recover, particularly after

12696-518: The console’s operating system . The Cell processor has access to 256 MB of XDR DRAM main memory. Graphics processing is managed by the RSX Reality Synthesizer , designed by Nvidia and paired with 256 MB of GDDR3 video memory. The RSX chip can produce resolutions ranging from standard-definition ( 480i / 576i ) up to high-definition ( 1080p ). Initially, Sony’s hardware development team did not plan to include

12834-561: The effect of nonlinearity in optical materials (e.g. in second-harmonic generation , parametric down-conversion , optical parametric oscillators and the like). Unlike the giant pulse of a Q-switched laser, consecutive pulses from a mode-locked laser are phase-coherent; that is, the pulses (and not just their envelopes ) are identical and perfectly periodic. For this reason, and the extremely large peak powers attained by such short pulses, such lasers are invaluable in certain areas of research. Another method of achieving pulsed laser operation

12972-557: The effort. In 1964, Charles H. Townes, Nikolay Basov, and Aleksandr Prokhorov shared the Nobel Prize in Physics , "for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser–laser principle". PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 ( PS3 ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The successor to

13110-549: The expense of color quality. Other models such as the Dell M109S employed a color wheel plus white LED technology, which improves color quality but generally requires a larger form factor. Other micro projectors employ RGB laser technology, such as Microvision's beam-steering plus laser technology, and AAXA's laser plus LCoS technology. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. For example, while DLP typically has slightly lower resolution than their LCoS counterparts due to

13248-603: The first demonstration of stimulated emission. In 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobel Prize for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping , which was experimentally demonstrated two years later by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter. In 1951, Joseph Weber submitted a paper on using stimulated emissions to make a microwave amplifier to the June 1952 Institute of Radio Engineers Vacuum Tube Research Conference in Ottawa , Ontario, Canada. After this presentation, RCA asked Weber to give

13386-608: The first week generating "over NZ$ 6.8 million dollars in hardware and software retail sales." On April 27, 2007, it launched in India, with the 60 GB model retailing for ₹ 39,990 (US$ 1000 at the conversion rate at the time). In Mexico, the 20 GB model launched with a price of 10,495 pesos, or US$ 974 at the time. The console was launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007, as a single version equipped with an 80 GB hard drive and IPTV . Following speculation that Sony

13524-415: The initial systems were obtained by businessmen who paid mainly Chinese nationals to buy the system without any software to resell on eBay , and, as a result of this, there were more hardware units sold than there were games. Ridge Racer 7 was the highest selling game on launch day. Soon after its release in Japan, the PS3 was released in North America on November 17, 2006. Reports of violence surrounded

13662-431: The introduction of the Slim model, and managed to sell 87.4 million units to outsell the competing Xbox 360 and become the eighth-bestselling video game console in history . Its successor, the PlayStation 4 , was released in November 2013; Sony started discontinuing the PlayStation 3 within two years' time, with shipments of new units ending in most of the world by 2016, and the final units produced until May 29, 2017 in

13800-413: The laser pointer. Pointer on/off actions, motion patterns (e.g., dwell, repetitive visit, circles, etc.) and more can all be mapped to events which generate standard mouse or keyboard events, or user-programmable actions. Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation . The word laser

13938-422: The laser power inside the cavity; this equilibrium determines the operating point of the laser. If the applied pump power is too small, the gain will never be sufficient to overcome the cavity losses, and laser light will not be produced. The minimum pump power needed to begin laser action is called the lasing threshold . The gain medium will amplify any photons passing through it, regardless of direction; but only

14076-501: The lasing medium or pumping mechanism, then it is still classified as a "modulated" or "pulsed" continuous wave laser. Most laser diodes used in communication systems fall into that category. Some applications of lasers depend on a beam whose output power is constant over time. Such a laser is known as a continuous-wave ( CW ) laser. Many types of lasers can be made to operate in continuous-wave mode to satisfy such an application. Many of these lasers lase in several longitudinal modes at

14214-414: The latter case, the photon is emitted in the same direction as the light that is passing by. When the number of particles in one excited state exceeds the number of particles in some lower-energy state, population inversion is achieved. In this state, the rate of stimulated emission is larger than the rate of absorption of light in the medium, and therefore the light is amplified. A system with this property

14352-850: The leading players in this application into various categories: Various manufacturers have produced handheld projectors exhibiting high-resolution, good brightness, and low energy consumption in a slightly larger format than pico since 2008. However, most handheld LED projectors, as of December 2017, have been widely criticized for having insufficient brightness for everyday use in a normally lit room. In 2011, Texas Instruments DLP announced improved chipsets that enable brighter images, and LED advances were such that pico projectors using that technology were also increasing in brightness. The DLP chip sets are designed to enhance image brightness without increasing power usage for both WVGA (native DVD resolution) devices, such as mobile phones, and VGA devices, such as digital cameras and camcorders. The chip sets have

14490-890: The light source and also present an image that is always in focus. However, high speckle noise along with thermal instability in the image remains a major challenge, primarily due to the pumped green laser. The new "Direct Green Laser" (DGL) technologies that replace the "pumped green laser" in next generation laser projectors , in combination with improved hardware optics, MEMS Mirror designs and other operational methods, are being deployed or are under development. Speckle noise should be reduced significantly, and thermal issues and power consumption greatly reduced. Handheld projectors can be used for different applications from small conventional projectors. Since 2008 researchers are studying applications that are specifically designed for handheld projectors often using prototypes of mobile phones with an integrated projector. 21st century mobile phones have

14628-450: The linewidth of light emitted from the passive resonator. Some lasers use a separate injection seeder to start the process off with a beam that is already highly coherent. This can produce beams with a narrower spectrum than would otherwise be possible. In 1963, Roy J. Glauber showed that coherent states are formed from combinations of photon number states, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics . A coherent beam of light

14766-402: The literal cavity that would be employed at microwave frequencies in a maser . The resonator typically consists of two mirrors between which a coherent beam of light travels in both directions, reflecting on itself so that an average photon will pass through the gain medium repeatedly before it is emitted from the output aperture or lost to diffraction or absorption. If the gain (amplification) in

14904-450: The logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3". The PlayStation 3 uses the 64-bit Cell microprocessor , developed jointly by Sony, Toshiba and IBM , as its CPU . The processor consists of a 3.2 GHz PowerPC -based Power Processing Element (PPE) and seven Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). To improve manufacturing yields , the chip is initially manufactured with eight SPEs. After production, each chip

15042-522: The lower level, emitting a new photon. The emitted photon exactly matches the original photon in wavelength, phase, and direction. This process is called stimulated emission. The gain medium is put into an excited state by an external source of energy. In most lasers, this medium consists of a population of atoms that have been excited into such a state using an outside light source, or an electrical field that supplies energy for atoms to absorb and be transformed into their excited states. The gain medium of

15180-412: The maximum possible level, the introduced loss mechanism (often an electro- or acousto-optical element) is rapidly removed (or that occurs by itself in a passive device), allowing lasing to begin which rapidly obtains the stored energy in the gain medium. This results in a short pulse incorporating that energy, and thus a high peak power. A mode-locked laser is capable of emitting extremely short pulses on

15318-498: The medium is larger than the resonator losses, then the power of the recirculating light can rise exponentially . But each stimulated emission event returns an atom from its excited state to the ground state, reducing the gain of the medium. With increasing beam power, the net gain (gain minus loss) reduces to unity and the gain medium is said to be saturated. In a continuous wave (CW) laser, the balance of pump power against gain saturation and cavity losses produces an equilibrium value of

15456-418: 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 PlayStation 3, including Heavenly Sword , Lair , Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction , Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune ; all of which were released in

15594-404: The object is not random, however: it is stored by atoms and molecules in " excited states ", which release photons with distinct wavelengths. This gives rise to the science of spectroscopy , which allows materials to be determined through the specific wavelengths that they emit. The underlying physical process creating photons in a laser is the same as in thermal radiation, but the actual emission

15732-456: The order of tens of picoseconds down to less than 10  femtoseconds . These pulses repeat at the round-trip time, that is, the time that it takes light to complete one round trip between the mirrors comprising the resonator. Due to the Fourier limit (also known as energy–time uncertainty ), a pulse of such short temporal length has a spectrum spread over a considerable bandwidth. Thus such

15870-418: The photons in a spatial mode supported by the resonator will pass more than once through the medium and receive substantial amplification. In most lasers, lasing begins with spontaneous emission into the lasing mode. This initial light is then amplified by stimulated emission in the gain medium. Stimulated emission produces light that matches the input signal in direction, wavelength, and polarization, whereas

16008-426: The popularity of the competing Nintendo Wii. The Move’s "wand" controllers use internal inertial sensors detect motion while the position of a glowing orb is tracked using a PlayStation Eye or PlayStation Camera . It went on sale in late 2010. 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;

16146-409: The power output is essentially continuous over time or whether its output takes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course, even a laser whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off at some rate to create pulses of light. When the modulation rate is on time scales much slower than the cavity lifetime and the period over which energy can be stored in

16284-662: The properties of the emitted light, such as the polarization, wavelength, and shape of the beam. Electrons and how they interact with electromagnetic fields are important in our understanding of chemistry and physics . In the classical view , the energy of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is larger for orbits further from the nucleus of an atom . However, quantum mechanical effects force electrons to take on discrete positions in orbitals . Thus, electrons are found in specific energy levels of an atom, two of which are shown below: An electron in an atom can absorb energy from light ( photons ) or heat ( phonons ) only if there

16422-475: The purpose-built Cell processor, co-developed with Toshiba and IBM ; SCE's president Ken Kutaragi envisioned a home entertainment system akin to supercomputers . It was the first console to use the Blu-ray disc as its primary storage medium, the first to be equipped with an HDMI port, and graphically was the first to be able to output at 1080p (Full HD) resolution. The console launched together with

16560-457: The relationship between the A coefficient , describing spontaneous emission, and the B coefficient which applies to absorption and stimulated emission. In the case of the free electron laser , atomic energy levels are not involved; it appears that the operation of this rather exotic device can be explained without reference to quantum mechanics . A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, depending on whether

16698-462: The release of the PS3. A customer was shot, campers were robbed at gunpoint, customers were shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns , and 60 campers fought over 10 systems. The PS3 was released on the same day in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well. The console was originally planned for a global release through November, but at the start of September the release in Europe and the rest of the world

16836-442: The same font as the logos of Sony 's then-current Spider-Man films ), with a new "PS3" wordmark evoking the design of the PlayStation 2 wordmark replacing the capitalized PlayStation 3 lettering. In September 2012 at the Tokyo Game Show , Sony announced that a new, slimmer PS3 redesign (CECH-4000) was due for release in late 2012 and that it would be available with either a 250 GB or 500 GB hard drive. Three versions of

16974-470: The same function and design as Sixaxis, but with vibration capability added. The controller is heavier than the standard Sixaxis controller and capable of vibration forces comparable to DualShock 2. It was released in Japan in November 2007 and rolled out to the rest of the world throughout 2008. During E3 2009 , Sony unveiled a motion controller, the PlayStation Move , partly in response to

17112-410: The same time, and beats between the slightly different optical frequencies of those oscillations will produce amplitude variations on time scales shorter than the round-trip time (the reciprocal of the frequency spacing between modes), typically a few nanoseconds or less. In most cases, these lasers are still termed "continuous-wave" as their output power is steady when averaged over longer periods, with

17250-408: The system software at 105 MB. 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

17388-408: The system starts up. 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 optical disc (Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video) or an optional USB mass storage or Flash card, compatibility for

17526-441: 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 US$ 499 (€499) and US$ 599 (€599), respectively. The 60 GB model was to be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and

17664-724: The third and fourth quarters of 2007. It 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 IV , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , Assassin's Creed , Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5 . Two other important titles for PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII , were shown at TGS 2007 in order to appease

17802-453: The tiny mirrors used in DLP technology, 3-LED DLP projectors are generally regarded as having a higher contrast, better efficiency and lower power consumption as opposed color-sequential LCoS units and better color quality than white LED LCoS units. Laser scanning projectors such as Microvision's ShowX and AAXA's L1 offer very good color gamut and low power consumption due to the use of lasers as

17940-425: The two mirrors, the output coupler , is partially transparent. Some of the light escapes through this mirror. Depending on the design of the cavity (whether the mirrors are flat or curved ), the light coming out of the laser may spread out or form a narrow beam . In analogy to electronic oscillators , this device is sometimes called a laser oscillator . Most practical lasers contain additional elements that affect

18078-410: The very high-frequency power variations having little or no impact on the intended application. (However, the term is not applied to mode-locked lasers, where the intention is to create very short pulses at the rate of the round-trip time.) For continuous-wave operation, the population inversion of the gain medium needs to be continually replenished by a steady pump source. In some lasing media, this

18216-410: The video and social networking site MUBI was enabled for European, New Zealand, and Australian users; the service integrates elements of social networking with rental or subscription video streaming, allowing users to watch and discuss films with other users. Also in November 2010 the video rental service VUDU , NHL GameCenter Live , and subscription service Hulu Plus launched on PlayStation 3 in

18354-477: Was announced. The controller was based on the same basic design as the DualShock 2 controller for the PlayStation 2 but was wireless, lacked vibration capabilities, and had a built-in accelerometer that could detect motion in three directional and three rotational axes (six in total, hence the name Sixaxis). At its press conference at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show , Sony announced the DualShock 3 controller with

18492-598: Was called a maser , for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". When similar optical devices were developed they were first called optical masers , until "microwave" was replaced by "light" in the acronym, to become laser . Today, all such devices operating at frequencies higher than microwaves (approximately above 300 GHz ) are called lasers (e.g. infrared lasers , ultraviolet lasers , X-ray lasers , gamma-ray lasers ), whereas devices operating at microwave or lower radio frequencies are called masers. The back-formed verb " to lase "

18630-476: Was delayed until March. Since it was a somewhat last-minute delay, some companies had taken deposits for pre-orders, at which Sony informed customers that they were eligible for full refunds or could continue the pre-order. On January 24, 2007, Sony announced that PlayStation 3 would go on sale on March 23, 2007, in Europe, Australia, the Middle East , Africa and New Zealand . Its European launch price

18768-566: Was working on a 'slim' model, Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 model on August 18, 2009, at the Sony Gamescom press conference. New features included a slimmer form factor, decreased power consumption, and a quieter cooling system. It was released in major territories by September 2009. At the same time, a new logo was introduced for the console to replace the previous " Spider-Man " wordmarks (named due to their use of

18906-797: Was €599 (€629 in Ireland, £ 425 in Britain), R 6499 minimum in South Africa, AU$ 999.95 in Australia, NZ$ 1199.95 in New Zealand. On March 7, 2007, the 60 GB PlayStation 3 launched in Singapore with a price of S$ 799. In the United Arab Emirates , the system retailed for 2499 dirhams on March 23, slightly less than the price in Europe. Sony also hosted a large launch party with singer Shakira performing at

19044-563: Was €629. Over 27,000 units were sold in Australia over the course of the first ten days of sales and nine of the top ten best-selling games, including systems and handheld, of the week were for the PS3; overall, software and hardware sales resulted in A$ 33 million netted for Sony. One analyst called it "a spike in retail spending not previously witnessed at the launch of any other system in Australia". In New Zealand, over 4,800 units were sold in

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