Rumors have been going that Sony is about to enter the netbook market next year, but so far we haven’t heard much. Now that the first traces of what looks like an ultramobile PC from Sony it just give rise to more questions. At TrustedReviews they’ve posted pictures and some specifications from the American certification organ FCC that doesn’t really reveal much about Sony’s coming unit, more than that Sony wants to test the wireless Internet formats EVDO and HSPA, but of course also WiFi and Bluetooth that can be found in most netbooks.
What baffles us is the picture found in the FCC document (PDF). The computer is photographed from below with the battery removed so that no details on the design of the interior can be seen, but the formfactor is what really puzzles us.
It quite rectangular and indicates a very wide display, or big ugly spaces beside i, and TrustedReviews estimate the measurements to around 250mm wide and 120mm deep. This indicates a whole different kind of shape than other netbooks of today and makes us wonder exactly which market Sony is targeting.
It is certainly an ultraportable unit, but if this really is the netbook we’ve been hearing so much about is a lot more uncertain. Though we can’t complain over fresh thinking in this rather predictable segment. The document also mentions a Portable Computer with the name “PCG-XXXX” which points to a relation to Sony’s seven year old sub-notebooks with similar design which had 8.9″ display with 1024×480 resolution.
VAIO PCG-C1VFK PictureBook PC with VIA Crusoe CPU
