Exclusive: New VAIO Hybrid PC and VAIO Chrome Coming This Summer

Sony has always been known for its ingenuity and amazing design in hardware but most of us may have noticed recently that we have not seen anything ground breaking and extraordinary from the company. Engadget recently unearthed some info about about the upcoming Sony tablet supposedly featuring PlayStation certification as a “full blown media and gaming tablet” , however Sony has some more goodies cooking in their kitchen as we speak.

So, there this interesting VAIO Hybrid PC and the reason why it is a hybrid is it consists of two components. Yes, there is an actual notebook that will be pretty thin, featuring Intel’s Light Peak technology which is what we know now as Thunderbolt, that same interface that current MacBooks Pro are sporting.

Just to tease you a little bit with the hardware specs, you will be presented with and Intel Wireless Display, SSD of hard drive flavor, i7 processor, no optical drive, HDMI output with 3D support, expect battery life to run from 8 to 16.5 hours and the thing should weigh around 1.13 kg.

Now the second component/unit that’s what will be unique to this VAIO when connected, it will provide:

• Discrete GPU (AMD Whistler-XT with 1 GB VRAM)
• Blu-ray disc (reader/writer) drive
• HDMI Output
• VGA Output
• RJ45 Ethernet port
• USB
• weighing around 0.68kg

The connector is kind of funky and reminded me of VAIO DVD-RW i.Link plus power connector, only this time it looks like it’s gonna use USB and AC connection.

Overall the notebook looks pleasing to eyes, aesthetically designed in its VAIO fashion, however we are not quite sure about the purpose  of the second component. It again reminds me of a desktop model Sony marketed back in 2007 – VAIO RM series that featured a twin-unit form factor.

The next VAIO we unearthed is the VAIO with Chrome OS.

As Google is prepping its Chrome OS debut, Sony is hard at work to bring you their first VAIO pimped up in Google’s OS of course. Expect to see the following hardware specifications of this new PC:

• Nvidia Tegra 2 (250) platform
• 11.6″ (1366×768) LCD display
• 1 GB of Memory
• 16 GB eMMC (electronic multimedia card)
• Ultra-low power GeForce GPU
• Wireless WAN
• Wide Keyboard (18mm) will be pretty similar to the Google Chrome Cr-48 laptop keyboard
• Dimensions: less than an inch thick at around 19.9 mm; width is at 11.7″ (298 mm) and it is 21.5 cm (8.46″) deep
• It should weigh around 2.2 lb (or 1kg)
• 8 hour battery life

Features like Bluetooth and GPS will be enabled later on, so don’t expect those two right at launch in summer of 2011.

As far as the software department, you will love the Quick booting, Chrome OS auto-update will ensure you are always on top of new features and Sony will throw in some VAIO related software as well.

That is all for now guys, we will bring more info as it becomes available, sorry cannot post any actual pictures and I am not that great at drawings…Stay tuned though!

The New VAIO S Emerges in the US…Finally

We saw the European release, wondered where the heck the Japanese VAIO SA/SB announcement was, as in history they used to break the news and create nice flashy web pages teasing the rest of the world – times have definitely changed.

Sony USA came out today and announced its introduction of VAIO S – the not-so-prototype but more of a teaser we saw at CES.  The SonyStyle is taking pre-orders and will let you customize the model by maximizing it and pimping it out with the latest and greatest. We’d say this model will definitely throw some punches against the new Macs and HPs you may see on the market. We customized to the max and ended up with a pretty nice configuration for $2269 with the following:

(more…)

Sony Bravia HX929 Series Pricing Revealed?

Sony USA has been mum on pricing details for new Sony Bravia HX series TV sets since they showed off the XBR-46HX929 and XBR-55HX929 at CES. We already witnessed European announcement with their price tags, and they did seem pretty promising. As some of you may remember the original HX909 flagship models were pretty pricey (the 52″ model MSRP was set at $3699), so what might the new and improved HX models cost?

(more…)

New VAIO Neon C Series May Blind You

Yes, you heard it, Sony decided to go all out and bring some smashing neon colors to  your life, that of course if you bring one of their VAIO CA or CB series home. The exclusive colors will be represented in neon green as well as neon orange with 14 inch and 15.5 inch LED widescreen displays. I guess the VAIO P that came in similar coats did not attract that needed attention, so the bigger size and more neon color would definitely blow your fellow Starbucks coffee junkies away. Sony did not stop at just that, expect to see light radiating around the edges of the laptop, through the VAIO logo, and even around the touchpad emitting a beautiful glow, add to this the lit keyboard and you got a Tron-like visual effects in a dark room.

On the software side, the future users of these models will be greeted with the Sony Imagination Studio™ Suite VAIO® Edition combines five powerful Sony® applications for easily enhancing and sharing your music, photos, and movies. Turn your video shoots into Hollywood-style movies with Vegas™ Movie Studio HD Platinum. Make your own original music tracks or create remixes and mash-ups of your favorite songs with Acid™ Music Studio.  And of course you can burn your videos to DVD or Blu-ray Disc™ media (select models) to share with your family and friends.

Interesting to note, these new models also come pre-installed with Remote Keyboard that some of you are familiar already, however this time it not only controls your PlayStation 3 XMB menu, it will also help navigate menus and options within your connected BRAVIA® television or Blu-ray Disc player (we are pretty sure it applies to 2011 models).

Specifications are not bad either – you will end up with second generation Intel Core i5 processor that delivers even more performance automatically when you need it with a better visual PC experience built-in.

In graphics department – AMD Radeon HD 6630 1GB Hybrid Graphics card (select models) gives a performance boost to your day-to-day processor functions for a faster, more optimized overall computing experience while lowering power consumption.

If you are not a fan of neon colors, Sony will be glad to sell you Lightning White and Bolt Black C Series which have a distinctive, appealing pattern that hints at the sophistication and powerful technology on the inside.

Expected ship dates are in mid March starting at $880.

Music Unlimited Powered by Qriocity Launching Today in the US

Most of Bravia TVs and Home Theater users are familiar with a little Qriocity icon on their TVs that brings video on demand service straight to your living room and today Sony has announced Music Unlimited joining Qriocity which has more than 6 million songs ready to be streamed to the eager ears. We have previewed the service at CES on a Bravia as well as on a VAIO PC and its streaming service looked very smooth, polished by a well done GUI. PlayStation users in the UK and Ireland were the first ones to have been playing with this service already and as far as US PlayStation population – expect to see Qriocity icon appear on your XMB menu soon as well. Sony also announced that this service will be coming to Android OS as well, however iOS was mentioned, time will show when it will be available on your iPads and other iDevices due to the new regulation that Apple announced earlier enforcing a rule in the terms of service for its App Store that requires subscriptions and content to be sold through an application at the same price or less than elsewhere online. Check out this interview with Sony Network Entertainment head Tim Schaaf brought to you by All Things Digital:

Subscription based streaming service is going to be $3.99 for basic streaming and $9.99 for premium allowing you to compile your own playlists and anytime access to its huge music library.

This is definitely not the only service that’s out there and we are sure most of your are familiar with Rhapsody and MOG as well as Slacker and Pandora streaming (that also appear to be a part of Sony Bravia Internet family), so how will this service take off and whether or not it will migrate to any Sony portable devices like Walkman. Your PSP is going to be the only portable device to enjoy this service at the moment, hopefully with new NGP and other Sony tablets that are still in the works we will see its vast adoption. On another note, we are positive that Sony learned a lesson or two from its unsuccessful launch of Connect as well.

Sony VAIO SA and SB Series Details Pop up

Sony has not officially introduced the new line up of VAIO notebooks, however we have mentioned before and a chatter on the internets showed up some commotion about the upcoming VAIO SA/SB series. Like with other VAIO models, Sony is sticking with its alphabetic naming scheme (just look at the generations of E series that started with EA and currently at EF modification). So it was pretty much expected to see the S series VAIO evolve into newer updated line. So according to good lads and girls at notebookreview.com some European vendors have been spilling information about the SA/SB series. There is nothing totally groundbreaking, however the specs look pretty good and weight wise it is not bad at all. Looks wise, we think that the concept VAIOs that were introduced at CES very well might be the new SA/SB series.

(more…)

Sony Bravia 2011 Line Up Introduced in Europe & Japan, Pricing Details Revealed

We all know that CES product extravaganza usually would be a good indicator of what to expect pretty much for all markets and not just the US, however it looks like January 20th was a big day for Sony Europe and Sony Japan, where the company officially revealed the Bravia family line up and also announced some pricing information. It is interesting to note that in the Japanese event in Tokyo has not revealed any information on the high end model – the HX92 series range.

(more…)

Sony VAIO Concept Notebooks at CES

It’s not very often you would see Sony show off its future concept ideas for their VAIO line up, however this time they made an exception and brought 2 models to tease us. In our opinion however those two models seemed more of a pre-production type products rather than concept per say that usually may stay in R&D lab and never see the light on a shelf of a store.

(more…)

CES 2011 Day One Round Up

With much excitement and totally being overwhelmed here at CES 2011, we wanted to thank you all who checked out our today’s posts during Sony’s Press Conference. Being here at the Sony booth (I am not even sure why they call it a booth, because it is a humongous Sony infused area) is simply mesmerizing and at the same time amazing to be among the first to experience and have hands on experience with products that will be hitting the store shelves later in the year. We will do our best to bring some unique information about the new products, provide you with video footage as well as supplement with interesting interviews and dialogues we will be involved in while being here on the floor.

If you have missed our first array of posts, feel free to check out  the links below and explore all the juicy information within each post. We will be updating our posts with photo libraries, so check them out soon for high resolution images.

• Sony Launches Handycam Camcorders With Built-in Projector
• Sony’s Tiny WX Series Point And Shoot Cameras Refreshed With 3D
• Sony’s Affordable W-Series Point And Shoot Cameras Has Five Options Under $200
• Sony’s Refreshes Indestructible Point And Shoot Camera
• Sony Bloggie Camera/Camcorder Gets Huge Revamp For CES 2011 Including 3D, Dual Screens
• Sony Reveals TX100V Point And Shoot Camera With OLED And 3D
• Sony Launches Incredible 3D Consumer Camcorder
• The New All in One VAIO L Touch HD PC/TV
• Affordable Sony VAIO Y series
• The New VAIO S Series Lives On
• First Ever 3D VAIO F Series Notebook Unleashed
• Sony Launches 27 New BRAVIA TVs At CES 2011
• Sony Brings a New Blu-ray Player & Home Theater System Line up for 2011
• New Sony Dash Personal Internet Viewer Launches With Colorful, Portable Model

The New All in One VAIO L Touch HD PC/TV

Today Sony released all new and redesigned VAIO L (it’s about time!). The new Sony VAIO® L Series Touch HD PC/TV features a stunning 24-inch multi-touch screen enabling intuitive touch access to the internet, TV, Blu-ray Disc™ movies and more. An interesting innovation, unique to the L series expands the touch functions to the LCD bezel itself featuring edge Access technology. With the help of this technology a user will be able to access every day short cuts enabling to quickly start up a desired program, flip through the web pages by swiping fingers on the bottom of the LCD bezel, zoom by touching the black glass sections along the edge of the VAIO L, close window, etc.
This new all-in-one will also feature a full HD LED backlight display panel, instant on functionality, an HD webcam, and white will be one of its available colors.
New VAIO L would be a perfect companion for your small bedroom or kitchen and can be used as a television set as well as a DVR. Select VAIO L models will sport a built-in TV tuner and Blu-ray Disc playback as well as recording capabilities. Like previous models, an HDMI out is included if you wish to expand your viewing experience by connecting it to a larger TV. With its HDMI in connection, you can pair it up with PS3 to enjoy gaming.
Unfortunately this first generation VAIO L is not a 3D PC, however expect Sony introduce that feature later in the year.
It is definitely a very stylish PC designed to easily blend with your home decor, the VAIO L Touch PC features a sleek V-shape stand and is wall-mountable for a slick, space-saving computing experience. It also comes with a stylish wireless keyboard and wireless mouse letting you work freely without cords, and optional keyboard skins in eye-catching colors.
It will be available for pre-orders and cost you around $1200. Watch out for hands on experience in our follow up posts.