Sony has released details of its new PlayStation 3 model for the Japanese market. It is expected that the new units will begin shipping out at the end of the month as current retail stock is depleted.

The new PS3 model CECH-3000b will sport an increased hard drive capacity of 320 gigabytes. The unit's power consumption has been reduced from 230W to 200W and weight is down from 3kg to 2.6kg.

Whilst difficult to discern from the Sony product website, internet buzz suggests that there are also some external changes as well, with rumoured changes to the eject and power buttons as well as the removal of the LEDs from the front.

The new PlayStation 3 remains at the same price of ¥34,980, removing any hope of a price cut. Whilst there is no word on when the new machines are coming to New Zealand, we should expect a localised version soon.

The release of the new PS3 model goes some way to confirming Sony's commitment to the platform. SCEE top dog Andrew House recently went on record as stating that Sony was "very comfortable with PS3”, squashing any rumours of a PlayStation 4 announcement.

House went on to reveal that PS3 sales have just passed the 50 million mark (a third of PS2 sales to date), which he considers to be "just the start". Fighting talk indeed, especially considering the PS3 has been on sale in New Zealand since March 2007.

The Euro Sony boss also said that Sony expects the PS3 lifespan to be in excess of ten years. This isn't surprising when you consider that the original PlayStation was discontinued after twelve years of service and the PS2 is still going strong after almost eleven years.