Sony Corp said on Friday it had pared back specifications for its all-in-one PSX console, an entertainment system that includes a hard disk drive (HDD) and DVD recorder plus a PlayStation 2 game machine.

Sony reduced the PSX's dubbing speed from its hard disk drive onto a DVD to 12 times normal speed from 24 times.

The machine also will not record or play DVDs in the DVD+RW format, as in the original plan, but it will play and record in DVD-R or DVD-RW formats.

The PSX will not play CDs in the CD-R format, as planned, and there also will be no video format support for certain Sony digital cameras and support for MP3 music playback.

The entertainment system, to go on sale on December 13 in Japan, is part of Sony's push to roll out cutting-edge products from its electronics division in the October-December quarter.

The company has rushed to get the much-anticipated PSX on shop shelves before the end of the holiday shopping season.

The original specifications were announced on October 7 at an industry event, but Sony had said then they could be changed.

Nikko Salomon Smith Barney said in a note to clients on Friday that electronics retailers were warning customers that some of the specification have been pared back.

A PSX with a 160-gigabyte HDD will sell for 79,800 yen ($731) and be able to record up to 204 hours of television.

Sony will also sell a 250-gigabyte version for 99,800 yen.

The company said the missing functions can be replaced from downloads via the Internet in the future.

Shares of Sony closed down 0.54 percent at 3,690 yen, compared to a 1.09 percent fall in the Tokyo market's electric machinery sub-index. 

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