Yesterday McWhertor broke the news that Sony had made some recent and very interesting filings with the Federal Communications Commission.

Specifically, the filing makes mention of a new Playstation 3 model with an 80GB hard disk. This seems to line up with rumors we've heard of Ken Kutaragi pushing the idea of a PS3 with a much larger hard drive.

Since we posted the story very late last night, I didn't have a chance to ping Sony on this until today. Here's their official response:

As mentioned when we made the product announcement for PS3, the system will have different configurations (thus, 60GB HDD with memory card slots and Wi-Fi and 20GB HDD without memory card slots or Wi-Fi both exists). Application to the FCC has been made with various possibilities in mind, however, it does not lead to a new product announcement at this time.

Oooooh, that sure as hell isn't a denial. I think we can expect at least one more model for the PS3 down the line, and it makes sense. Why not have a buffet of options when you go console shopping. Though if the new model just has a bigger hard drive, I think most people would opt to upgrade their own, something very doable with the PS3. Brian Crecente

Sony Working On PS3 "Elite" Model? [Kotaku]