There isn't much on any console motherboard that isn't soldered in. Go look at any console motherboard pic.

I think the whole OS will have movies running in the background like trailers when you browse the shop and you can "skype" with friends while you play your games streamed to 2 or so tablets etc. I think all that stuff done at the same time needs some serious amount of ram.

BUT

What IF They make it 512 MB and have like 1.5gb left for Games just as another kind of copy protection???

I mean start with Games that need 1.5gb Ram and then 6months after release they make games require 1.6gb instead of 1.5 so people that modded their consoles and are stuck with 1.5gb for games have it harder to play those games because they can't get the newest firmware etc etc.

its a small obstacle that might be removed with updated custom firmware etc but who knows if custom firmware will be there at all.

just my 2 cents.

No it doesn't, branded and over marketed RAM costs a lot more.

Faster RAM than current industry standard high end stuff does cost more, for example 1333Mhz was the most widely produced DDR3 a year ago and at that time 1666Mhz stuff was significantly more expensive and 2000Mhz was astronomically prices. Not 1666Mhz DDR3 is pretty much standard, but why would it need faster RAM for a games console anyway?

It won't help with anything.

Completely false, "console RAM" is just the chips without PCB packaging - the same chips as you might find in standard DDR DIMMs, just soldered to the board as it doesn't interface in the same physical way as a DIMM, obviously. The chips are exactly the same standard as for a PC and doesn't cost more. It costs less because of massive bulk ordering and no need for PCB, marketing, and all that extra overhead crap.

The only extra expense comes from the R&D to design, test and produce the main board in the first place, after R&D is done and a working product is made.

This is correct.

Most probably the total will be 2 or 4GB, then. BTW, 512MB reserved for the OS DOESN'T mean that the OS is so big, most probably it's the part of RAM reserved for the OS and all the processes in kernel space, their code and the part of their data that must be isolated from user space. And as many of you pointed out, Ninty must be playing safe initially. And if later on the OS will be streamlined, it will free space for possible new features.