According to Sony Computer Entertainment in America and Europe, the PlayStation 3’s online service PlayStation Network will be down today, Tuesday October 14th 2008, for approximately 5 hours.
* In America its starting today at 2:00PM EDT (11:00AM PDT) and ending at 7:00PM EDT (4:00PM PDT).
* In Europe its starting today at 20:00 BST (21:00 CEST) and ending tomorrow at 01:00 BST (02:00 CEST).
Sony’s actual “essential maintenance work” reason is currently unknown. But during this time the PlayStation Network is expected to install an update to the service. Which would coincide with their plans to allow users to get on the open beta for PlayStation Home later this year. With Home being a community-based service for the PlayStation Network, I imagine they would need to implement new PlayStation Network functionalities that will be added to the open beta for Home.