Sony Computer Entertainment conducted maintenance work on the newly launched PlayStation Home for the PS3 last night and the service was updated from version 1.03 to version 1.04. The service was down for around six hours and users were not able to access it. Sony says that the reason for the downtime is that the server architecture supporting the social space needed to be tweaked because so many PlayStation 3 users are trying to access and use Home at the same time.

Now that Home is back up again, users will notice that they can no longer use voice chat services to talk to other players present in Home. Sony says that the feature has been "temporarily suspended." No clear reason has been provided for the move by the company but one can speculate that either a hardware issue needs to be fixed or some gamers have used the voice chat to transmit messages that Sony deems unacceptable, like insults. Sony doesn't say when the feature is turned on again but any news will be delivered to PS3 users in due time. Meanwhile, the Wireless Keypad and the Bluetooth enabled keyboard can be used to communicate within PlayStation Home.

Sony's Home, which was delayed for a long time before launch, is seen as one of the company's efforts to create a more social friendly image for the PS3, even as the console is losing ground in its battle with the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Nintendo Wii. Home allows players to create a very detailed avatar (although beards are currently rather sparse) which can then be used to interact with the surrounding world and with other avatars. As the service develops, more themed spaces, based on games available for the PS3, will be offered and more activities will be launched.