The processor in Sony's PlayStation
3 gaming console can potentially support Apple's Mac
OS X Tiger operating system according to a recent posting
to Sony's UK website.
The highly anticipated successor to the PlayStation
2 is expected to hit the streets in 2006, shortly after
Microsoft releases its rival XBox 360 system.
"Sony is expected to offer optional hard drives
for the PlayStation 3 with potential memory capacity
of 80 or 120 GB. It remains to be decided whether the
standard version of the PS3 will come complete with
a hard drive," reads a company statement.
"The operating system
has also yet to be clarified. The integrated Cell
processor will be able to support a variety of operating
systems (such as Linux or Apple's Tiger)."
It's unclear at the moment exactly what this will
mean for Mac or PlayStation 3 users. Sony's Cell processor
is a derivative of IBM's PowerPC chip used by Apple
in its personal computers.
Previous mumblings had presented the possibility that
Apple was looking to form a partnership with Sony on
the PlayStation 3 that would make some of the console's
games compatible with the Mac OS X operating system.
With Apple's announced switch to Intel processors,
this now seems less likely.
Analysts at Wedbush Morgan Securities recently said
that Sony may delay the release of the PlayStation
3 until 2007 if the Microsoft's Xbox 360 launch is
less than stellar.
