Via Liliputing

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Unfortunately for Sony, there is nothing all that notable about its specs: 1.60GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 2GB of RAM, and choice of 64GB or 129GB of storage. It also comes with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1,and Windows 7 operating system.

Via Netbook-Planet

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According to two people familiar with Amazon’s plans, the company is planning to introduce a new, thinner Kindle this August. The new Kindle will mostly likely be in response to traditional competitors of Kindle, like e-readers made by Sony and Barnes & Noble, not the iPad, which is a recent introduction.

The new Kindle will not have a color screen or touchscreen capabilities. It will have a black and white screen with sharper contrast to make e-books look more like printed books. Amazon hopes to eventually make an e-reader with a color screen.

The Kindle and its competitor, the Nook made by Barnes & Noble, both sell for $259. Sony’s e-reader, which has a touchscreen, sells for $199. The iPad starts at $499. According to a research firm, about 6 million e-readers will be sold this year, which is twice the amount sold last year.

Amazon bought a company earlier this year that specializes in touchscreen technology, so a touchscreen e-reader with a color display could be a feasible future product for Amazon.

Via BusinessWeek, image via Amazon.

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Sony’s newest netbooks will be available in several unique colors: electric orange, neon green, and icy white — definitely sure to catch passerby’s attention.  The P-Series netbooks are available for pre-order and start at $800 each for the base model.

Via TimesNewsLine.

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It was not that long ago that Google acquired internet video giant YouTube. At a price of a staggering $1.7B, it was unsure if Google would really profit all that much from bringing YouTube under its wing.  The advertising revenue from internet video is indeed massive, but it is constrained to primarily PC markets.  Google wants more revenue, and it is looking at the true and tested world of television to get it from.

It was revealed that Google would be joining forces with Intel and Sony to create a set-top box called Google TV, to deliver internet content into the dens and living rooms of families everywhere.  The situation is supposed to be a win-win for all parties involved.  Sony wants to integrate the technology into its own TVs first, Intel would be providing the hardware such as Atom chips, and Google would have a whole new stream of advertising revenue.  Furthermore, Logitech, creators of the Harmony series of remotes, is joining in with a brand new specific remote controller designed to make Google TV easy to use.  It is a monumental effort, incorporating the titans of multiple fields.

Not much has been released about this project. Google TVs will naturally use Android OS and Chrome as a browser.  The users could watch TV shows, stream movie rentals, interact with social networking, or surf the web.  Currently, there is small-scale testing with Dish Network, and an SDK is to be released soon.  Even so, Google will need to do much to prevent its product from becoming the laughing stock that is Apple or MSN TV.

Via DailyTech

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Sony is reportedly ready to launch an online media platform called “Sony Online Services” that is intended to compete with iTunes. It is also releasing a mobile phone with the Android operating system soon. The phone is going to be called Xperia X10. Currently, Sony makes an e-reader that is a competitor to Amazon’s Kindle.

If Sony is intending to directly compete with Apple, it may want to prepare itself for potential lawsuits. Apple is currently engaged in a lawsuit against HTC for patent infringement relating to the iPhone, which many people are interpreting as an indirect against Google.

Via Digital East Asia.

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As this is a netbook-centric blog, we normally don’t write about laptops. Nevertheless, I took one look at the above picture and bugged my editor until he let me write about it.

Can you blame me? Sony offers a variety of colors to combine in the E series. Who could possibly resist a combination of Iridescent Blue and Hibiscus Pink? Other colors available include Caribbean Green, Coconut White, and Lava Black. If you’re one of those people who would prefer to have a laptop that doesn’t practically glow in the dark (though seriously, who wouldn’t want a laptop like that?) Vaio offers muted colors as well: Gunmetal, Silver White, and Maple Brown.

The Vaio E series laptops aren’t just beautiful to look at, they also offer up to 1080p HD quality on a 15.5 inch screen and an optional Blu-ray drive. Inside, there’s a dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon Graphics chip with up to 512 MB of video RAM, either an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 CPU, and up to 500 GB of storage. Plenty of space for high quality video.

Via CNet.

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Sony’s been hard at work improving its netbook lineup and has come up with the new environmentally friendly Sony VAIO W Eco netbook, a new machine rocking a 10.1″, 1366 x 768 pixel LED screen.

The netbook is made of recycled materials. It has a white finish, green palm rest, and stylishly patterned trackpad. According to Sony, as much of 10% of the CO2 used to make most netbooks was eliminated from the manufacturing process.

The Sony VAIO W Series Eco netbook comes with a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, Intel GMA 3150 graphics, a GB of DDR2 memory (expandable to two gigs) and hefty 250 GB HDD. This machine can stay awake for as long as 8 hours.

The Sony Vaio W Eco comes with a camera, microphone, Wi-Fi, card reader, Express Card slot and Windows 7 for the price of $479.

Via Waleg.

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To recap, for $299 the netbook will come with 2 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, and the Windows 7 Home Premium OS, not to mention 3G capabilities. This could be a very good move for both Verizon and Sony.

Via CNet.

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Even if the netbook did go on sale, its price tag would probably be somewhere near the $1,300 range. Would you personally be willing to shell out that kind of money for one of these superthins? Here’s a picture to provide some food for thought.

Via Engadget.

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These 11.1″ machines come in two models, the VPC-X11S1E/B and the VPC-X11Z1E/X. Screen resolutions on both models are 1366×768 and both models are available in black, gold, and “premium carbon” colors.

The main differences between the two Sony Vaio X models are the processor speed and storage capacity. The VPC-X11S1E/B is powered by a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor and has a 128GB SSD while the VPC-X11Z1E/X is powered a 2.0GHz Intel Atom Z550 processor and has 256GB SSD. The latter netbook will no doubt be much better for running the new Windows 7 OS.

Each of these netbooks is expected to be able to run for eight hours, but a larger battery can push this number to 16. Not bad at all. 3G is also an option, but keep in mind that it tends to drain battery life faster. The price tag of the Sony Vaio X netbooks is nothing to boast about. These machines don’t come cheap, at roughly $1300 a pop.

Via MobileComputerMag.

Image via GadgetFolder.

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Of the two, the CW is more affordable, giving you a 14 inch 16×9 screen with a starting price of $780. I’ll admit that this alone may sound good, but wait until you get a look at the goodies that can go on this machine: Blu-ray drives, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 320 GB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce G210M GPU. You can wipe the drool off your chin now, but those specs are almost certainly not going to be on the one that costs $780.

Then we come to the X.

The Vaio X is a sleek, beautiful machine that would not look out of place in an art gallery or a cosmopolitian high-rise penthouse. At half an inch thick, with a 11.1 inch 16×9 scratch resistant screen and made with carbon-fiber, this little beauty weighs in at a mere 1.6 pounds. Some notable features of the X are: 64 GB of solid-state drive, multi-touch trackpad, and standard and long-life battery packaged in the box (which Sony claims will provide up to 17 hours of battery life). Unfortunately, the only thing known about the processor is that it’s an “Intel processor, 2.0 GHz”. The starting price for all this? $1300. Doesn’t it just burn a hole in your wallet?

Via  CNET

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One of the special Breast Awareness bundles is the Sony Vaio W Series netbook bundle, which includes a pink mouse, a pink netbook case, and a two-tone pink netbook. The specs of the Vaio W netbook have not changed from before.

The second of two pink bundles is the Sony Reader Pock Edition bundle (as pictured above).

According to Sony, the company is planning on donating $110,000 to breast cancer research.

Via SlashGear.

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If you’ve got a netbook and it isn’t a Japanese import or the ASUS Eee PC 1004DN, you probably don’t have an optical drive. So what are you going to do when you need to watch DVDs on the run?

The new Sony DRX-S70U-W optical drive has a classy brushed metal design and connects to netbooks, notebooks, and desktops via USB.

The optical drive is DVD/CD recordable for speeds of up to 8X DVD±R and can deliver a 4.7 GB disc’s worth of data. It records on 8.5 GB DVD+R Double/Dual layer as well as 4.7 GB DVD-RW discs at speeds of 6X, “DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RAM at 5X and CD-R/RW at 24X.”

Sony’s new netbook drive comes with the Nero DVD/CD mastering software suite.

Pricing and availability are as of yet unknown but the Sony DRX-S70U-W optical drive is expected by Christmas at the latest.

Via HotHardware.

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Sony Vaio’s new X-Series netbooks only weigh 1.5 lb each and are a bit over an inch and a half thick, not to mention that roughly eight hours of life is expected from the netbook’s six-celled battery.

This carbon-fiber PC is expected to pack an Intel Atom processor, but there’s currently no word on the other tech specs of this wonderous machine. There’s also no word on pricing nor availablility, but when they news is out, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Via I4UNews.

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