I realize that it's only a snippet of what's to come, but it has been confirmed that the Playstation 3 will in fact be backward-compatible. This may or may not prove to be a critical issue in the impending console wars, as Microsoft claims to be undecided on the issue, and Nintendo... well, no one really knows what's going on inside Nintendo. Additionally, the advantage that the PS3's Cell processor has finally been quantified: the Cell processor is supposedly capable of 2.18 teraflops as opposed to the Xbox 360's 1.15. Even I admit that this sounds farfetched, although it came straight from the horse's mouth.

Update! Jeez, when it rains, it pours. Here is, according to Joystiq, the finalized PS3 specs:

• It will support Blu-ray (obviously), DVD±R/W, CD-R/RW
  
• Backwards compatible with the PlayStation 2 and original Playstation
  
• One 3.2GHz Cell processor—total system performance rated at 2.18 teraflops (uh, that’s actually about twice what Microsoft is claiming the Xbox 360 will do); it will have 256MB system RAM 3.2GHz, and 256MB GDDR VRAM at 700MHz
  
• The nVidia graphics will be called the RSX (”Reality Synthesizer”), and will trump the Xbox 360 with 1080p (yes, that’s a p) graphics support.
  
• Memory Stick Duo slot, and very surprisingly, an SD and CF slots
  
• Bluetooth support with up to seven wireless controllers
  
• Six USB system ports

And of course, the obligatory money-shot:

I'll be editing this post throughout the fine as more details are revealed, so stay tuned.