Sony Vaio hybrid PC to feature Intel Thunderbolt: report-eWeek

Sony may be working on a lightweight Vaio hybrid PC that can compete with skinny minny-Apple's MacBook Air.

The company is according to Sony Insider cooking up a laptop that "consists of two components" and the Intel Thunderbolt technology previously code-named "light Peak" that in February on the new Apple MacBook Pro notebooks, the slightly heftier cousins of the MacBook Air debuted. An i/o technology based on PCI Express and DisplayPort, Thunderbolt was designed as a way of more simply connect a PC with peripherals and more quickly transferring data. According to Apple, is the "12 times faster than FireWire 800 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0."

Intel, described in a February 24, press release coincides with the MacBook Pro s release, Thunderbolt of speeds as enabling users to wear a full-length high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds or "back-up a year of continuous MP3 playback in just over 10 minutes."

Two-component for Sony's Vaio, Sony Insider, reports the notebook part of it, contains a Intel Wireless Display, a solid-state hard disk, an i7 processor, HDMI output (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) with support for 3D, battery life of 8 to 16-plus hour, and a total weight of about 2.5 pounds. (The MacBook Air weighs 2.3 pounds.)

The "second component," says the site, which is "what will be unique for this Vaio when connected," contains a separate AMD Whistler GPU with 1 GB VRAM; a Blue-ray disc drive, HDMI output, VGA output, an Ethernet port, a USB port and a weight of about 1.5 pounds.

"Overall, the notebook looks pleasing to the eyes, aesthetically designed in its VAIO fashion; However, we are not quite sure about the purpose of the second part, "declares the site. "The weather reminds me of a Sony marketed back in 2007 VAIO RM series that featured a twin-unit form factor desktop model."

Exactly what Sony has planned is unclear. What is known, however, is that what this device is, it will hardly be alone in with Thunderbolt. According to Intel, a number of manufacturers producing computers, monitors, storage devices, cameras, docking stations and more have announced plans to the technology in upcoming products include.

On 10 March, camera maker Canon joined them, announcement in a statement, "We're excited about Thunderbolt technology and will the new levels of performance and simplicity to the creation of video-market feel."

The Sony Insider report added that Sony is also working on a Vaio notebook running Google's Chrome OS. It's expected to be equipped with a 11.6-inch display, an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1 GB of memory, a 16 GB multimedia electronic map (eMMC), an ultra-low-power GeForce GPU, support for wireless LAN, fast startup and 8 hours of battery life. Another lightweight, rumor has to weigh in at 2.2 pounds.

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