Remember when the Playstation 3 launched and Sony execs tripped all over themselves to say things like consumers were confused over all the SKUs of Xbox 360s, only to introduce a fleet of new PS3 SKUs? Remember when Sony execs criticized Microsoft for having two different models for Xbox Live in Silver and Gold? Funny how things change.

Kaz Hirai of Sony has officially confirmed that 2010 will bring a paid subscription to the Playstation 3.

Gamespot:

During the presentation, which emphasized Sony’s plans to make its game business profitable in the next fiscal year, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the plans. “We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model,” he told attendees.

Perhaps to assuage PS3 owners’ fears that they would soon have to pay to play online, Hirai issued a subsequent statement indicating the present level of service would remain gratis.

“SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral, and PlayStation Network,” Hirai said in a statement given to British outlets, such as CVG. “Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.” (Emphasis added.)

As of press time, US Sony reps had not offered Hirai’s statement or further clarification about its subscription plans for the PlayStation Network. Luckily, though, the “current free services” currently offered on PSN include online play, Facebook integration, and Netflix video streaming. On Xbox Live, both of those features are only accessible at the Gold membership level, which costs at least $50 per year.

Metal detectors are making a huge comeback lately, or so it seems. It was just a few months ago that a guy with metal detector uncovered 1,500 pieces of ancient Saxon gold. This week? A 2,000-year-old treasure hoard dating back to the Iron Age, with a value estimated at over 1-million-pounds.

From The Buteman:

The amateur hunter, who has not been identified, found four gold neckbands dating to the Iron Age.

He informed Scotland’s Treasure Trove Unit which sent a team to excavate the site, the Daily Record newspaper reported. The bands, or “torcs”, made from twisted gold, are thought to date from the 1st and 3rd century BC.

A similar one found in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 2005 sold for £350,000. The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel will now value the latest discovery. A spokesman for the National Museums of Scotland said: “There has been a significant find.”

Under Scots law, the Crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland.

Finders have no ownership rights and must report any objects to the Treasure Trove Unit. But the man may receive a reward equal to the value of the jewellery. Historian Fiona Watson told BBC Radio Scotland: “It belongs to the Crown and the Crown, at Her Majesty’s discretion, can pay money over to the finder to the market value.

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Yesterday I posted about how a guy with a metal detector stumbled upon a monumental treasure trove of ancient Anglo-Saxon bling-bling, which you can find here. Today comes new photographs of some of the items. Can you imagine pulling this loot out of the ground, one-by-one?

More details at National Geographic

I’m not sure what people are looking for when they use a metal detector, but I’m sure the fantasy is to uncover buried treasure. Terry Herbert of Burntwood, Staffordshire has scored the ultimate metal detector prize: 1,500 pieces of beautiful Anglo-Saxon gold.

From This Is Lancashire:

Experts said the collection of more than 1,500 pieces – which will be officially classified by a coroner as treasure – is unparalleled in size and may have belonged to Saxon royalty. The hoard, believed to date back to the seventh century, contains around 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, far bigger than previous finds – including the Sutton Hoo burial site.

It may take more than a year to value the collection and, given its scale, the financial worth of the hoard cannot be estimated.

Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum’s Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: “This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries. (It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells.”