Sony's popular gaming console, the PlayStation 4 (PS4) is going to go through a mid-life upgrade, and will see a high-end version of the device introduced early next month - the PlayStation Neo. The company plans to introduce a PS4 standard model alongside the high-end variant. Sony plans to unveil the two new devices at the PlayStation Theater in New York on September 7. The new PlayStation (as shown in leaked images) will be a slimmed-down version of the current PS4. Sony is following the exact same storyline with the latest PlayStation like it did with the PlayStation 3 (PS3). The first generation PS3 was a 60GB model, and was hefty. The second generation PS3 featured a 33 per cent smaller design that also helped it shed 36 per cent of the original's weight, and saw an increase in the storage space (160GB, 250GB and 320GB). Sony's announcement of the slim PS4 coincides with the Microsoft launching its slimmer Xbox One S console, which is seeing a 40 per cent reduction in size compared to the first generation Xbox One. Xbox One S features a 2TB variant along with a 500GB and 1TB variant, and will now handle 4K video support for Blu-ray. Games however will not be scaled up to 4K quality. A WSJ report quotes Macquarei Securities analyst Damian Thong as saying the new model will be slimmer than the first generation PS4 - but it might also be less expensive than the $350 the current console. The report also says Sony has cut production of the PS4 to adjust its inventory, and that major e-commerce websites in Japan show the PS4 out of stock. Sony claims it plans to ship upwards of 20 million PS4 units this year (ending March 2017) - a 2.3 million rise of sales over last year.
