Other hardware changes include a smaller heat pipe smaller, a new version of the the motherboard and a new button battery to keep time when the console is turned off.
The move will allow Sony to trim manufacturing costs a little bit. Also, the company was expected to enter its console into the “65nm league”, with Microsoft having done a similar switch for its Xbox 360 for some time now.
The 40Gb PlayStation 3 will be released in North America on November 2. The console will come bundled with the Blu-ray version of Spider-Man and will retail for $399 (USD/CND). Unfortunately, the console doesn’t feature backwards compatibility with PlayStation2 games, comes with only 2 USB ports and the slots for Compact Flash, Memory Stick, and SD Cards have been completely left out.