When is a backward-compatible Playstation 3 being released?

May be...

I know PS3 used to have the 60GB model which played PS2 games and the 80GB model which played some, but both have been discontinued. The current 40GB model is not at all backward compatible. I'd like to buy a new PS3, but since I have many PS2 and PSX games, I'm not going to buy one unless it plays those games. Otherwise I may as well buy an Xbox. It's cheaper.



Anyone have any idea when Sony plans to release a model that plays older Playstation games?

Sony is releasing a 80GB version on June 12th, 2008. This unit is supposed to have a software support for PS2 games.