Sony Hybrid PC And Chrome OS Notebook Rumored For Arrival
This all has to be considered a rumor for now, because there's nothing coming directly from Sony to support the claims. That said, Sony Insider has a solid track record, and at this point in time, Sony may actually be crazy enough to produce something this wild. The word is that Sony will be producing a "VAIO Hybrid PC," which sounds like it could really blow away the laptop / mobile market. Lenovo's U1 Hybrid had that same potential, but having a weaker CPU didn't really help it. Also, it was super expensive compared to similarly powered mobile machines, but the difference with Sony's rumored product is that people expect VAIO gear to carry a higher price tag.
There's no rumored price yet, but here's what is known. The Hybrid PC will be comprised of two components: there's an actual notebook, thin, and featuring Intel's Thunderbolt I/O port like the MacBook Pro. It won't be a slouch, either. There will be a Core i7 CPU, SSD, HDMI output (with 3D support), Intel Wireless Display and no optical drive; there's even a battery that will last between 8 and 16.5 hours, reportedly. The entire piece should only weigh 1.13kg.
Here's the interesting part -- the second piece is a snap-on attachment that will convert the machine to a real powerhouse if you're at home, possibly seeking a desktop replacement. It will add a discrete GPU (an AMD Whistler-XT with 1GB of VRAM), an HDMI socket, VGA port, Ethernet port, USB and an AC outlet. This piece will weigh 0.68kg. It's hard to imagine at this point what exactly the Hybrid PC will look like; we're guessing the second bit will be much like a docking station, but it's possible that it will simply be an external brick that functions over USB 3.0.
In other Sony rumor news, we're hearing that the company is working hard on supporting Google's Chrome OS. Recently, the search giant halted the shipment of their CR-48 netbooks, citing an impending shipment of Chrome OS notebooks from other outfits. Sony wasn't mentioned by name, but hey, why not? The rumor is that the machine will utilize NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform, have an 11.6" (1366x768 resolution) display, 1GB of memory, 16GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi, a chiclet keyboard and an 8-hour battery life. There aren't any pricing details on any of this, but the concepts alone are incredibly interesting. Will the company have these out by summer, for back-to-school season? We sure hope so, and we'll keep our eyes peeled for more as the plans (hopefully) develop.
There's no rumored price yet, but here's what is known. The Hybrid PC will be comprised of two components: there's an actual notebook, thin, and featuring Intel's Thunderbolt I/O port like the MacBook Pro. It won't be a slouch, either. There will be a Core i7 CPU, SSD, HDMI output (with 3D support), Intel Wireless Display and no optical drive; there's even a battery that will last between 8 and 16.5 hours, reportedly. The entire piece should only weigh 1.13kg.
Here's the interesting part -- the second piece is a snap-on attachment that will convert the machine to a real powerhouse if you're at home, possibly seeking a desktop replacement. It will add a discrete GPU (an AMD Whistler-XT with 1GB of VRAM), an HDMI socket, VGA port, Ethernet port, USB and an AC outlet. This piece will weigh 0.68kg. It's hard to imagine at this point what exactly the Hybrid PC will look like; we're guessing the second bit will be much like a docking station, but it's possible that it will simply be an external brick that functions over USB 3.0.
In other Sony rumor news, we're hearing that the company is working hard on supporting Google's Chrome OS. Recently, the search giant halted the shipment of their CR-48 netbooks, citing an impending shipment of Chrome OS notebooks from other outfits. Sony wasn't mentioned by name, but hey, why not? The rumor is that the machine will utilize NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform, have an 11.6" (1366x768 resolution) display, 1GB of memory, 16GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi, a chiclet keyboard and an 8-hour battery life. There aren't any pricing details on any of this, but the concepts alone are incredibly interesting. Will the company have these out by summer, for back-to-school season? We sure hope so, and we'll keep our eyes peeled for more as the plans (hopefully) develop.
