Sony offers a few thin and light ultrabooks running Windows software, and a few mobile tablets running Google Android. But it looks like the company is preparing to launch a new computer that offers a bit of both worlds.
Pocket Now uncovered some promo shots of a new portable computer form Sony called the Sony Vaio Duo 11.
At first glance, the Duo 11 looks like a notebook. It has a full QUERTY-keyboard and an 11 inch display. But it features a touchscreen display, support for a stylus or digital pen, and a design that lets you use the PC in tablet or laptop mode.
The backlit keyboard seems to slide out from behind the keyboard, much like the keyboard on the Asus Eee Pad Slider, which means the touchscreen is always accessible, whether you’re using the keyboard or not.
That makes this style of convertible tablet a little different from old-school Windows tablets which could be “closed” like a traditional notebook by folding the lid down so that the keyboard and screen face one another.
It’s not clear what kind of processor or other hardware the Vaio Duo 11 has, but the pictures seem to show a PC running Windows 8 rather than the Windows RT operating system designed for devices with ARM-based chips. So it probably has an Intel or AMD CPU.
via Gizmodo
I like trackpoints (Thinkpad fan here). Good thing it has one since a mouse still beats out touch in notebook mode but touch/stylus input wins in those cramped mobile situations.
I’m hoping Sony came up with a way to let the screen tilt at different angles. Other companies so far just have one angle.
If it runs on an Intel Atom or equivalent then I’m definitely going to pass but if it runs on a Core i ULV then the battery life will determine if it’s going on my list of possible Windows 8 devices to buy.
ATOMs are starting to improve, the main change isn’t due to mid next year but the upcoming Clover Trail should be significantly more energy efficient than previous ATOMs for near ARM like run times.
While the dual core performance may not exceed the present Cedar Trail offerings but it’s a bit more robust than the older single core ATOMs and Windows 8 is easier to run than Windows 7.
They’re also making it a point that the minimum RAM on Windows 8, even on RT, will be 2GB. So depending on what you need to run on the system the ATOM choices shouldn’t be as much of a compromise as they used to be.
Though the Sandy Bridge based Celeron and Pentium chips they’ve released could offer performance between the ATOM and the higher end Core i-Series options, but be priced closer to ATOM systems.
Predictions seem that there will be over 20 products coming out before the end of the year. So if nothing else you should have a selection of choices.
“The backlit keyboard seems to slide out from behind the keyboard.” Did you mean “from behind the display”?