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The Home Open Beta is scheduled for release on June 14th.

April 25, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), Inc. today announced the Home® Open Beta trial for its PLAYSTATION3 (PS3) computer entertainment system. Beginning on 14 June 2008, Playstation Network® users in Europe will be able to download the Open Beta for a period of Twenty-two (22) days. SCEE are excited about this venture which will prove to significantly upgrade the Playstation Network®, introducing features such as In-game private chat, in-game friends list, in-game soundtracks and many more innovative features such as your own Home® Space, Live streaming of video content to upto 12 friends in your Home® Space aswell as upto 48 other people in the Home Theater.

The Home® Open Beta Trial will run seperately to the Closed Beta which will receive the majority of upgrades while data is collected from the open beta to improve server response times and data transfer on a mass scale.
Current testers in the Closed Beta will be able to switch between servers through the Community section on the in-game PSP®.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Inc. will releasing the Home® Open Beta Trial to US Playstation Network® Users on June 16th. The Beta will last for Twenty (20) days.
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEI), Inc. will be releasing the Home® Open Beta Trial to Japanese Playstation Network® Users on June 10th. The Beta will last for Twenty-Six (26) days.

Numerous Home®-supporting games will be available from launch of the service. These include:

* Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Support for Home® Avatar walkthrough's of in-game levels

* Resistance: Fall of Man Support for Home® Avatar walkthrough's of in-game levels
* Warhawk Support for a War Room. Support for upto 12 Home® Avatars in each War Room
* Official Playstation Forum integration with a dedicated room to each Playstation forum by locale. Interact with other forum members while they post or are online.

"As we move into the next phase of PS3, it's important that we continue to evaluate our online service, offering consumers the technology and features that meet their growing needs for new forms of interaction and the way in which it is delivered," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA. "The introduction of our Home® Service, our growing library of more than 100 new software titles this fiscal year and, finally, the expansion of even more services for PLAYSTATION Network, will provide even more options for users and will help bring new consumers into the PS3 fold."