PS3 postponed until Nov - Nikkei

The Wednesday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that PlayStation 3 has been delayed until "early November" because the copy protection technology for the Blu-ray Disc has not yet been finalised.

The "November" date presumably refers to the console's Japanese release. If confirmed, it would almost certainly mean that the console's European release would not take place until 2007. (Update: In the expected press conference later on Wednesday, Sony boss Ken Kutaragi subsequently announced it would be a worldwide release date.)

The report states that other core elements of the PS3, including the high-performance Cell processor developed with Toshiba and IBM, "are believed to have been developed on schedule". Sony had previously stuck to a "spring 2006" release estimate for the console.

The story - the source for which is currently unclear - appears in the Japanese newspaper at the start of a day that is expected to see Sony deliver more concrete details about its plans for PlayStation 3 at a press conference in Japan.

Sony's conference is planned for 3pm in Tokyo on Wednesday - around 6am GMT - and is also expected to feature a first look at some of the launch line-up for the console.

Sony representatives were not immediately available for comment.