The rumors were pretty much put to rest when the much-rumored Sony PS3 slim showed up for $299 on Kmart.com and Sears.com, but Sony officially announced the slimmer PS3 at a press conference prior to Gamescom Expo in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.

It will be out on Sept. 1 for $299 with “all the same features” of the regular PS3. However, Sony says it is 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and comes with a 120GB hard drive.

Existing PS3 systems have been slashed $100 in price in anticipation of the PS3 slim.

The PS3 Slim has built-in WiFi and 2 USB ports. But, most importantly, the PS3 logo has been redesigned and the PS3 branding has been changed from “PLAYSTATION 3” to “PlayStation 3” (see what they did there).

The PS3 Slim is designed to be used only in a horizontal position, unlike earlier PS3s. Sony is selling a $24 stand that allows you to stand the PS3 vertically.

Other features on the PS3 Slim:

• BRAVIA Sync to control the PS3 XMB over HDMI with a Bravia TV remote control
• System Standby to turn off the PS3 Slim when the Bravia TV is off
• Quieter operation than current PS3 systems

Spec sheet (via Engadget):

• CPU: Cell Broadband Engine
• GPU: RSX
• Audio output: LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC
• Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
• Hard disk: 120GB 2.5” Serial ATA
• USB 2.0 ports: 2
• Networking: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (+EDR)
• Controller: Wireless Controller (Bluetooth) x 1
• AV outputs: HDMI x 1, AV MULTI OUT x 1, Digital out (optical) x 1
• Resolutions: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i (for PAL 576p, 576i)
• BD / DVD / CD drive (read only): BD × 2 (BD-ROM), DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM), CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
• Power: AC 220 – 240, 50/60Hz
• Power consumption: Approx. 250W
• External dimensions: Approx. 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length)
• Included in box: PlayStation 3 system × 1, Wireless Controller (DUALSHOCK 3) × 1, AC power cord × 1, AV cable × 1, USB cable × 1

Here’s a Sony video on the PS3 Slim.