PS3 controllers: play and toss [update 1]

A report from the Japanese site Broadband Watch has new details about the PlayStation 3 controllers (if you can read Japanese, check out the link). The report states that the PS3 controller has to be connected via an included USB cable in order to pair it with the console. Okay, no big deal right? However, the report goes on to say that this might have to happen every time the controller loses power -- read is turned off or the charge dies. This is a larger pain, having to find the cable, haul it out, reconnect, pair the controller, and then disconnect the cable and put it away. So, it might be a hassle, but it won't kill you.

Oh, one more tiny thing. According to the report, the rechargeable battery inside the PS3 controller can't be replaced once it reaches the end of its recharge life-cycle. That means you have to toss it out and get a new one, like the iPod (although third-party battery replacement units have popped up on the iPod so those aren't totally trash once they go). Surely similar solutions will pop up for the PS3 controllers at some point, or else that landfill in New Mexico will find a ton of dead PS3 controllers next to the thousands of E.T. Atari 2600 cartridges.

[Via Gaming Edge]

[Update: A contact at Sony let us know that the controller does not need to be paired to the console with the USB charging cable; you can pair it by simply pressing the red PlayStation button. They did confirm that the battery would not be replaceable, much like the iPod's; however, how many of us can't remove a couple of screws and get a new battery off eBay?]