At the Gamescom 2010, Sony announced two new PS3 Slim SKUs for the US and the European market. The 160GB PS3 Slim now gives additional storage for the price as the previous model. It’s shipping in US now for $299.99 whereas Europeans will get it in October for 299 Euros.

A 320GB PS3 Slim was also announced but it comes as part of Move Bundle. For $399, users will get a capacious 320GB storage, one PS Move motion controller, Eye Camera, Sports Champions Blu-ray game and a bonus Blu-ray demo disc. It will arrive in US on September 19 while Europeans will get it from September 15 for 349 euros

[Via Engadget]

Japanese gamers will soon get a new color and expanded storage options for Sony’s PS3 Slim console. Starting July 29, Sony will sell two new SKUs – 160GB in classic white color and 320GB in the regular charcoal black. 160GB PS3 Slim buyers will also get accessories like the Dualshock 3 controller and vertical stand to match the console’s color.

The 160GB version will retail for 29,980 yen ($342) whereas 320GB version for 34,980 yen ($399).

[Via Impress]

Sony will be rolling out a special Father’s Day bundle of its PS3 console. The bundle will include a 250GB PS3 Slim, a LittleBigPlanet game and an HDMI cable that is sold as an additional accessory. PS3 is able to display content in HD and the bundling of the cable will help save consumers some extra bucks. However, Sony hasn’t confirmed to bundle the cable in regular PS3 boxes, which means non-bundle PS3 consumers will still have to shell out for the cable.

The console was found on Amazon (now removed) for $349.99 and expectedly will be in time for Father’s Day.

[Via Kotaku]

Geohot promised to work on a custom firmware of v3.21 and here we have the first video proof of v3.21 running Other OS. Geohot hasn’t committed to any release date but confirms that installing this custom firmware is as easy as installing a legit firmware. All a user needs to do is restore the PUP file from firmware v3.15 or earlier.

Geohot also speculates that this custom firmware could also enable Other OS in PS3 Slim, effectively giving an additional feature to the PS3 Slim users.

[Via GeohotPS3]

Japanese game peripherals maker, Hori has announced HD LCD 3 that basically attaches itself with the PS3 to allow users to game anywhere they go. PS3 Slim is the only supported version right now and the accessory has a holder to keep the console intact and a 11.6-inch LED backlit screen. Another good thing is that the screen supports 720p, which means you can game in HD ready resolution.

Additionally, it has integrated loudspeakers, headphone jack and is Torne digital TV compatible.

It will be released on May 27 carrying a price of 26,040 yen ($277).

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[Via GameWatch]

Sony’s PS3 Slim is undoubtedly slimmer and lighter than its predecessor but had the price not been a constraint we could’ve got more slimmer and lighter version of the PS3 Slim. In an interview, Masayuki Chatani, SCE Strategy Planning confirmed that Sony had tried their hands on flash (or SSD) and network-based storage before going with the same ol’ spinning hard drives. Primary reason they dropped the idea was because “the price would be too high for the amount of storage capacity the PS3 needs.”

Sony also considered to make the PSU external, much like the PS2 Slim but refrained as it “would have imposed restrictions on transport and use, making it harder to use freely.”

But if we take this as an indication, we might see it in the future PS3 iteration. Called as PS3 Slim+?

[Techon via Slashgear]

Indian gamers will soon be able to snag Sony’s PS3 Slim. Announced in August at the Gamescom Cologne, the new PS3 Slim is slimmer (obviously), lighter and consumes less power than its predecessor. To be precise, PS3 slim is 33 percent slimmer, 36 percent lighter and consumes 34 percent less power. Additionally, you’ll also find more storage in the Slim, which has been upgraded to 120GB.

It is priced at Rs. 19,990, same as original PS3 which is bundled with 80GB of storage but 2 games – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and GT5 Prologue.

Check out some comparison shots of original PS3 and PS3 Slim here.

Sony has another reason to touts its PS3 as the console that does everything. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center also known as C3 uses the cheap $300 PS3s to crack passwords of computers of alleged child pornographers.

A warrant allows the government officials to seize the suspect’s computer but due to Fourth Amendment they can’t force suspects to reveal their passwords. In such a case, cracking password is the only option.

There are up to 282 trillion combinations in a six-digit password and breaking the correct combination is only possible when a machine can process heaps of data quickly. Networked PS3s used by C3 processes 4 million passwords per second, making it a cost effective solution compared to the $8,000 Tableau/Dell server combination that was used previously.

C3 plans to buy more original PS3s because of its flexibility to run Linux.

[Axcessnews via Slashdot]

Have a penchant for gaming and a lot of money to splurge on? If you’re answer is affirmative to both then you can have a look at this gold-dipped PS3 Slim. The golden PS3 Slim is created by Computer Choppers and though full details are hard to come by, it has been confirmed that only five such PS3s will be built.

As for the price, a simple gold-dipped mobile handset costs close to $1000 so don’t expect this console to cost anything less than $5000.

[Via Kotaku]

There is really no reason for you to crash a PS3 into an LCD unless you have a point to prove. In this case, the point for Sony Australia was to promote their latest Christmas campaign wherein a Bravia LCD buyer would get a PS3 thrown in for free, which they did it literally. Three Bravia KDL46X 3100 Full HD LCD TV were shot with PS3 Slim at a speed of 50mph (80kmh) and the end result as you would imagine is not good for the TVs but the video with all the slow-motion cameras make the crash worthwhile to watch.

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[Via Engadget]