From next-gen.biz:
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Research firm DFC Intelligence predicts that PlayStation 3's worldwide installed base will overtake Xbox 360's in 2009, finishing in a "strong second" behind Wii.

Ironically, a slowing economy can actually help the game industry. Videogames provide a high rate of entertainment return and high gas prices actually encourage people to stay home and play games. The latest DFC Intelligence forecasts predict that all three systems (360, Wii, PS3) will have a solid installed base. Nevertheless, it looks like the Nintendo Wii will be the overall installed base leader. The Wii has enormous momentum and appeals to the broadest audience.

The price of the PlayStation 3 has come down to a reasonable level and the software lineup is finally starting to look fairly strong. Most importantly, Sony was able to keep the PlayStation 2 installed base active. For its recently ended fiscal year, Sony Corp. reported that hardware unit sales of the PS2 were down by 7 percent. From our perspective we would say they were ONLY down by 7 percent. This is amazing for a system that launched in 2000. The PS2 managed to outsell both the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.

The sales performance of the PlayStation 3 has been less than stellar, but Sony has survived. The Xbox 360 was unable to take advantage of Sony's struggles to build the type of large lead needed to maintain a long-term advantage. The PS3 survived the onslaught of AAA Xbox 360 titles that hit the market from late 2006 through 2007. Halo 3 had great sales, but it did very little to enhance the Xbox 360's overall position in the marketplace. The Xbox 360 is the system of choice for fans of high-action first-person shooter (FPS) games. However, for the 80 percent-plus of game consumers that DO NOT play FPS games, the Xbox 360 is not the system of choice.
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From gaming-age.com:
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We've finally received word that the long awaited, and much rumored, PlayStation 3 Firmware Update 2.40 is indeed the real deal and is said to be coming relatively soon. Many of the most requested features, such as a universal friends list and in-game messaging will be included, in addition to a few rather nice surprises (*cough*soundtracks*cough*).

We aren't yet 100% sure of the actual release date, but all signs point to sometime in June.
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From gamasutra.com:
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At the ongoing D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, Sony CEO Howard Stringer painted his company as not yet out of its market troubles, but on track.

"We're coming along, I think," he said in an onstage Q&A at the event. "Culturally, the word 'profit' is not high on anybody's agenda in Japan, and we've turned that around. We closed our 5 percent margins... There's a sort of sense of, we're climbing up the mountain. We're nowhere near the top, but we're halfway up... The level of competence is growing, which is the main thing."

According to a paidContent.org report, Stringer admitted the PlayStation 3 was "sort of on life support before," but has improved considerably, in large part because of features such as Blu-ray and PlayStation Network, which expand the machine's capabilities beyond gaming. PlayStation Network recently reached the five million subscriber mark.
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From gamesindustry.biz:
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Sony Computer Entertainment has announced one million PS3 owners have now signed up to PlayStation Network in Japan.

As reported by Kotaku, the company also said around 400,000 people in the region visit the PlayStation Store every month. To say thank you they're giving away 1000 PSN vouchers for use in the Store, each worth JPY 1000 (GBP 4.88 / EUR 6.11).
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From ps3hax.net:
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NDT has released his PS3 PUP Extractor v1.00. According to NDT, the program extracts "Sony Update PUP file in a created pupname.EXT dir, and creates a logfile with useful information such as calculated SHA1 and Sony hashes."
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From gamespot.com:
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A solid year's gone by since we ran our last Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 graphics comparison. The differences between the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 have diminished with every passing batch of games, but some variation still exists between the two machines. Our first graphics comparison between the two consoles showed that the Xbox 360 looked better on most of the games, oftentimes drastically so. The second graphics comparison showed that the PlayStation 3 looked nearly as good as the Xbox 360 in some games, and actually looked better in a few as well. Now with both consoles well into their respective life cycles, developers have had plenty of time to figure out the nuances required to code beautiful games. With our third batch of games[Assassin's Creed, Orange Box, GTA 4, COD 4, Burnout Paradise, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, NFS Pro Street, Madden 08], the two machines seem evenly matched. The two trade blows on various games, each with its own set of advantages.

Conclusion
After going through another eight games, we've found a few trends that follow both of these consoles around. Outside of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, our findings didn't show any drastic differences in image quality between the two consoles--nothing compared to what we found when we compared first-generation games in our original comparison feature. The PlayStation 3 generally lags behind the Xbox 360 in high-quality textures and the depth/normal maps that go with them. However, in the same games, the PlayStation 3 sometimes comes ahead with better shadowing and antialiasing. Games on the PS3 do tend to be blurrier than their Xbox 360 counterparts, but the PlayStation 3 games can look just as good as the Xbox 360 games when developers put some effort into it, as is evident with both Grand Theft Auto IV and Burnout Paradise. Overall, the PlayStation 3 outputs visuals that are either on par with the Xbox 360 or only slightly behind.
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From scrawlfx.com:
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The [Home] beta is now at v0.8.6.
The new space is called the Media and Events Space and it seems to be a harness for all PLAYSTATION related events.

The update also came with a new survey asking questions such as your thoughts on the new space, it's presentation area, your opinion on the photos and video in the gallery, and what not. They want to know if you would like to see more events similar to PlayStation Day, what kind of content you want to see in the Media & Events Space to make your next visit more compelling, etc.
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