Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on Tuesday that it will offer its next software update for the PlayStation 3 on March 22, which will add features including Folding@home, a project that will allow Stanford University to utilize participating PS3 owners' computing power for medical research.

The Folding@home distributed computing program will use the PS3's powerful Cell Broadband Engine to perform calculations on protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases -- such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's -- in a similar fashion to the SETI@home project that allows users to donate computing power to the search for extraterrestrial life.

In addition, the PS3 software update will enhance downloading of content from the PlayStation Store; provide support for Bluetooth keyboards and mice; add a full QWERTY on-screen keyboard; provide access to PS3 photos, videos and music from a nearby PSP; and add playback support for the Blu-ray Disc Rewriteable (BD-RE) format.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2e54lm

http://www.us.playstation.com/ps3/network/updates

http://www.scei.co.jp/folding/en (Folding@home)