PS3 Release Not Until 2006, PSX Firmware Upgrade?

Thanks to GamePro for its coverage of a Famitsu interview from former Sony CTO Nobuichi Okamoto, discussing the PlayStation 3. Okamoto, who is still involved in the Cell project (which will power the PS3) to some degree, notes: "Development of the Cell started in spring of 2001 as a 5-year project. Hence the project will end in spring of 2006. Although it is not known whether or not game consoles will be sold immediately, we can expect products using the Cell chip to start emerging around that time." He also suggests 2004 may not see any console announcements from Sony: "From my experience, to produce games on new hardware it takes at least a year to research the hardware and to start planning for software titles. If at this time the software production environment is not ready, I think it will be difficult to announce new hardware this year." Elsewhere, Sony has announced a downloadable firmware upgrade for its Japanese-released PSX 'media center', which "returns most of the promised features that were cut shortly before the system's release."