Since the PS3 was released in the states, gamers have been anxiously awaiting an update that allows them to do something other than look at the progress bar and dream while downloading something from the PlayStation Store. Now Inner Bits claims to have stumbled upon some information regarding the upcoming March PS3 patch 1.60, which is supposed to coincide with the European release of the console. The patch is said to feature background downloading for the PS3...but not while you are playing a game. The PlayStation 3 needs the resources for gameplay, so when you enter a game the download will pause, resuming when you exit it. While this is 100% times better than just having to stop your download and start over should the urge to play hit you, it is still rather bleh overall.
Mind you, the Inner Bits article begins with a sentence that reads like dialogue from a Tom Clancy novel...
We have recently obtained through our contacts in the industry a summary of a high level meeting of the major players involved in Sony's network platform
...so you might want to approach this with a certain amount of skepticism. I'll wait for Sony's word on this before officially being disappointed.