Hasta La Gadget!

Look closely at that picture. See that Type-A USB jack? The one with the blue stripe sandwiched between the round AC jack (with its green light) and VGA and HDMI ports? Yeah, that’s Sony’s Thunderbolt implementation according to a trusted source. A bit of digging reveals that the “Ultimate Mobile PC” teased by Sony above is actually the same VAIO Hybrid PC leaked by Sony Insider back in March said to feature an external dock with one USB 3.0 jack, HDMI, Ethernet, AMD Whistler discrete graphics, and a Blu-ray Disc writer. Naturally, the dock attaches to the VAIO’s Thunderbolt jack.

What we’re trying to get our heads around, however, is Sony’s choice for a USB connector instead of the Mini DisplayPort used by Apple’s dual-channel 10Gbps Thunderbolt implementation. The decision to go USB was first brought to our attention by site Gula Digital. We’ve long known that Sony would be a Light Peak partner in some capacity. And the decision to go USB certainly echoes those first prototype interconnects demonstrated by Intel that combined a hybrid USB 3.0 connector with an optical interface and electrical connection to carry power. We also like the idea of being able to connect a USB 3.0 hard disk without first attaching an adapter. What troubles us, though, is a statement made by the USB Implementers Forum last summer expressing reservations with Intel’s proposed interconnect:

“USB connectors are not general purpose connectors and are not designed to be used in support of other technology applications or standards or as combo connectors.”

Perhaps Sony has worked out a licensing arrangement with the USB-IF? We don’t know. But we’re told that Sony’s Thunderbolt implementation is definitely using a USB connector and definitely not using Mini DisplayPort. But we’ll wait until this thing ships before complaining about Thunderbolt fragmentation too loudly.

Sony’s Thunderbolt implementation hiding in plain (web)site, uses USB connector not Mini DisplayPort? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure how this slipped past us at the Sony Android tablet event, but turns out the electronics giant also teased a couple of interesting VAIO laptops. First up is a “Freestyle Hybrid PC” that slides between tablet mode and laptop mode — very much like the Samsung Sliding PC, but with a seemingly slimmer bottom-half sans trackpad (though we can just about spot a pointing stick on the keyboard). No word on specs, prices, or availability here, but you may recall our proven tipster mentioning a 9.4-inch screen and a $799 launch in the fall. Could this be it? We shall see.

Also shown alongside is a swanky “Ultimate Mobile PC” — pictured after the break — with a hint of USB 3.0 and HDMI on a slim body, but again, there’s not much else to go with this slide. Hey, at least we now know it’s time to start saving up for these bad boys.

Continue reading Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybird PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop

Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybird PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, you were worried Sony wasn’t going to release its new VAIO S ultraportable in the US? Okay, so it has taken the company a bit longer to prep the 13.3-inch laptop for its American debut, but it’s here and it looks like it was well worth the wait. While Sony is holding that it will not replace the VAIO Z Series, which has just recently gone out of stock on Sony’s website, there’s no denying that it fills a similar high-end ultraportable spot. Don’t be fooled by its inch-thick profile, it packs a serious amount of horsepower — like the UK version, it will be configurable with Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, AMD Radeon HD 6630 graphics with 1GB of VRAM (sadly, there’s still a physical toggle for switching), Blu-ray, and a range of SSDs. As you can tell from the image above, the design drops the circular hinge of previous VAIOs, but the 3.8-pound machine is still made of magnesium and aluminum, has a backlit keyboard, while also sporting the option of a unique slice battery that meshes with the overall aesthetic.

However, that $150 extended cell isn’t just any old battery — it’s said to provide a total of 15 hours of battery life when latched onto the bottom of the system and additionally it comes with its own adapter so it can be charged separately from the entire rig. Yep, this one is filled to the brim with the latest and greatest, and even better it doesn’t seem terribly overpriced — the $979 starting model packs a Core i5-2410 processor, those aforementioned AMD graphics, and a 320GB hard drive. It should be available for pre-order later today and we’re hoping to bring you a full review of it soon, but until then we have a few hands-on shots of the laptop back at CES below.

Continue reading Sony VAIO S arrives stateside, brings along an advanced extended battery

Sony VAIO S arrives stateside, brings along an advanced extended battery originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Excuse us for a moment while we ponder Sony’s product naming scheme. The company’s VAIO S thin-and-light laptop range got upgraded specs at CES this January, which also happened to be the place and time that we first laid eyes on a set of “prototype” machines that seemed to target the same market segment. Lo and behold, after making some cameos at European online listings, the newly redesigned Sony 13-inchers are here, only they’re still called… the VAIO S Series. For the trouble of figuring out which is which, you’ll be rewarded with a 3.9-pound mobile computer with a 1366 x 768 screen, a 500GB hard drive, 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, 802.11n WiFi, optional VAIO “everywair” 3G, a Radeon HD 6470M GPU with up to 1GB of dedicated memory, and what will presumably be a selection of Core i5 CPUs from Intel (at present we’re only seeing the i5-2410M listed). Windows 7 is the inevitable OS on board, though Sony’s enhanced it with a Fast Boot sequence that’s said to halve the usual bootup time. Launch is scheduled for the end of March and you’ll find a full spec sheet and release after the break.

Continue reading Sony VAIO S Series get an updated design, Core i5-2410M CPU and Radeon HD 6470M graphics

Sony VAIO S Series get an updated design, Core i5-2410M CPU and Radeon HD 6470M graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Think for a second, what major consumer electronics company doesn’t have a tablet to show? Right, Sony. In fact, the rumor womb has been conspicuously barren of salacious Sony tablet tattle ever since Apple’s iPad was announced back in 2010. Oh sure, Sony’s owned-up to the development of prototypes that fill a “very important position” somewhere in between its own Vaio PC lineup and the Xperia Play byproduct of its Ericsson commingling. But beyond that: zilch, nada… until today.

We have a couple of tablets we’d like to tell you about, starting with a 9.4-inch honeypot of an Android 3.0 tablet. Details of which have been confirmed by two highly trusted and independent sources. Known by its “S1” codename internally, Sony is busy customizing Matias Duarte’s Honeycomb interface to its own specification. Although, we’re skeptical of Sony’s software capabilities, we’ve been assured that Sony’s work is cutting edge stuff created by a talented engineering team spanning Sony’s VAIO, Reader, PlayStation, and Sony Ericsson product groups. The team is lead by the VAIO organization but will probably launch as a Sony product without VAIO branding, according to one source. Sony’s custom-built transitions and UI elements have created a user experience that rivals and at times improves upon the iPad’s renowned experience. The tablet itself, we’re told, is 100 percent focused on Qriocity, Sony’s music, games, ebooks, and videos on demand service that’s just been launched in Europe. It comes preloaded with Sony PS One games, a Bravia Media Remote, and yes, PlayStation integration — though it’s unclear if that’ll be limited to Remote Play or if the Android tablet will be PlayStation Suite certified. One source speculates that it could very well get the PlayStation gaming seal of approval by the time it ships — but that’s just an educated guess.

Update: We now have confirmation that the S1 is indeed PlayStation Certified making this a full-blown media and gaming tablet. We’ve also revised the illustration above to make the top less pronounced.

So what about that curvaceous mockup above? A design described to us as “beautiful, the best thing” one source has ever seen from Sony. Click through the break and we’ll explain.

Continue reading Exclusive: Sony ‘S1’ PlayStation tablet (updated)

Exclusive: Sony ‘S1’ PlayStation tablet (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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