TGS 2006: Sony unveils PS3 dashboard and browser

Yes, he’s back. The bald-headed legend and Sony‘s president of Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison has given us a sneak preview of the PS3’s Dashboard and Browser. Lets start with the dashboard. Phil Harrison described the PS3’s dashboard as in development, and so instead of giving us a complete walkthrough, all we get is an in-depth look at the photo browser. While this may seem like one of the simpler PS3 features, the true power of the Cell processor and a 1080p display (HD) can be seen with the manipulation of photos from their ordinary 2D state, much like you see a screensaver on your PC, to a 3D screensaver where the photos are scattered across the screen like photos falling from an album. Pretty neat huh?

The dashboard does look rather like the XMB from Sony’s PSP, only with more options and a larger HD display. It has obviously been designed to be native to other Sony product users for easy use, rewarding portable Playstation fans too. The photo image settings are reminiscent of the PSPs video settings display, a translucent menu that does not interrupt what you are viewing but takes up a small portion of the screen with a wide variety of options.

Not, lets get to the juicy part: the PS3’s web browser. The feature that Phil Harrison seems most impressed about is the ability for multiple windows to be open at the same time, which many second-generation web browser users refer to as tabs. This may seem like a rather standard feature but the PS3’s web browser does have more than your standard Firefox browser.

Sony have opened up the ability tabs- multiple windows can be viewed all at the same time on one screen, seeing all of your pages at once. He demonstrated this by having the two Sony websites and the Google homepage open all at once. As Harris ion said, the browser is an important part to the PS3 as it is where “The games and the community merge.”

He also stated that the dashboard will be constantly updated with new features for every component- from the photo viewer to the web browser, so expect to see more details on the PS3’s dashboard in the future. Watch the video but be careful – Harrison does push his luck with a few cheesy jokes at the beginning.

Via GameVideos

Yes, he’s back. The bald-headed legend and Sony‘s president of Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison has given us a sneak preview of the PS3’s Dashboard and Browser. Lets start with the dashboard. Phil Harrison described the PS3’s dashboard as in development, and so instead of giving us a complete walkthrough, all we get is an in-depth look at the photo browser. While this may seem like one of the simpler PS3 features, the true power of the Cell processor and a 1080p display (HD) can be seen with the manipulation of photos from their ordinary 2D state, much like you see a screensaver on your PC, to a 3D screensaver where the photos are scattered across the screen like photos falling from an album. Pretty neat huh?

The dashboard does look rather like the XMB from Sony’s PSP, only with more options and a larger HD display. It has obviously been designed to be native to other Sony product users for easy use, rewarding portable Playstation fans too. The photo image settings are reminiscent of the PSPs video settings display, a translucent menu that does not interrupt what you are viewing but takes up a small portion of the screen with a wide variety of options.

Not, lets get to the juicy part: the PS3’s web browser. The feature that Phil Harrison seems most impressed about is the ability for multiple windows to be open at the same time, which many second-generation web browser users refer to as tabs. This may seem like a rather standard feature but the PS3’s web browser does have more than your standard Firefox browser.

Sony have opened up the ability tabs- multiple windows can be viewed all at the same time on one screen, seeing all of your pages at once. He demonstrated this by having the two Sony websites and the Google homepage open all at once. As Harris ion said, the browser is an important part to the PS3 as it is where “The games and the community merge.”

He also stated that the dashboard will be constantly updated with new features for every component- from the photo viewer to the web browser, so expect to see more details on the PS3’s dashboard in the future. Watch the video but be careful – Harrison does push his luck with a few cheesy jokes at the beginning.

Via GameVideos