In a move that will help Sony Computer Entertainment Inc strengthen its position in the gaming console market, the company announced on Thursday that its much-anticipated PlayStation 3 (PS3) Slim featuring 250GB hard disk drive (HDD) will hit the US markets November 3!

The $350-priced slimline PS3, which will essentially be similar to the already existing 120GB model, will expectedly enable Sony to reap benefits from the console software, and, possibly, minimize its losses.

Going by the information forwarded by Sony, the PS3 Slim consumes 34 percent less power, as against the earlier-generation model, because of the singular Cell processor version manufactured using 45nm fabrication process and other optimizations.

Some of the other features of the forthcoming PS3 include a slot-loading Blu-ray disc optical drive, wireless networking, and Bluetooth, over and above the previous console's key technologies.

Noting that Sony kicked off early to prepare for the holiday season with a PS3 price-cut and a sleek form factor, Scott A. Steinberg, the Product Marketing VP at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that the PS3 platform is perfectly "poised for a tremendous holiday season."

Scott added: "The new 250GB PS3 provides consumers with another compelling hardware option and speaks to the growing consumer appetite for digital content from the PlayStation Network
- particularly high-def content that showcases the power of the PS3 system."