From DailyTech: Sony Corp.'s (TYO:6758) PlayStation 4 (PS4) at long last will be receiving a patch to allow it to playback 3D Blu-ray movies. The patch will end months of growing grumblings about Sony's failure to support the technology it once coveted.
Graphically and architecturally speaking, the PS4 was a major leap over the PlayStation 3 (PS3). Moving away from the PS3's powerful, but unusual CELL processor-based design towards a more standardized, PC-like console Sony was able to cut its costs so much that it reportedly turned a profit from day one. What's more, amidst Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) various public relations hiccups, Sony's console has emerged as the clear sales leader, outselling Microsoft's Xbox One nearly 3-to-2.
But for all the ways that the PS4 was a step forward for Sony, in at least one way it was a step back from the PS3: 3D Blu-ray support. Sony was responsible for developing the Blu-ray standard, which it first teased at in 2000 before a commercial release in 2006.
The PS3 was not only the first console to feature Blu-ray playback -- it was one of the first Blu-ray players, period. And while the PS3 lost the sales race to Nintendo Comp., Ltd.'s (TYO:7974) Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360, the PS3 did achieve one crucial victory -- boosting Blu-ray to a win over HD DVD, a rival format that Microsoft had backed with an extension to the Xbox 360.
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