Despite Sony's recent semi-denial of a 40GB PlayStation 3, first reported on Pocket-lint, the cheaper model, rumoured to be coming soon, just got a little bit more real thanks to a PS3 with a new model number making its way through the Federal Communications Commission testing process.

Most of the pertinent information, and all photographs of the product, have been withheld in order to "avoid premature release of sensitive information prior to marketing or release of the product to the public" and are not available for public view for 45 days from September 4th.

The test diagram submitted reveals that our predictions of a less-specced, or paired down model, appear to be true, with the new PS3, dubbed the "PS3 Lite" by the blogosphere, featuring only two USB ports and no memory card slots.

The main "Points of Difference" between this model and the "original" model have also been kept as confidential which means a direct comparison is not yet possible.

Obviously this is not conclusive evidence that the cheaper model is definitely on its way, but it could certainly be seen to suggest that we can expect a new model of PS3, likely an entry-level version, within the next 24 days...

>> News - Sony manufacturing 40GB PS3
>> Via - Spong