I would be shocked if they abandon the design... If they wanted to do it right they would move the R2 and L2 buttons to triggers in the back for your middle finger to operate and replace their crappy analog sticks with the design Nintendo uses. That would be perfect.
didnt they just lose a huge lawsuit over the dualshock and are supposed to stop selling it if their appeal doesnt get them anywhere? if thats the case then they definately wont use it
The PS3 will use a new-ish version of the Dual Shock. The buttons are all the same, including, it seems, the shoulder buttons--no triggers. It is also wireless as a standard.
Here is what it looks like, although it may be an early design (remember those early shots of PSP?):