I guess that I should have done a bit more digging around before I jumped to the conclusion that someone in Korea some how got their hands on a preproduction model of the UX. Turns out that ITmedia in Japan did their review of the VAIO UX (in Japanese) and tore apart the UX, fully exposing it’s internals to the public. Now the pre-production makes total sense as I am sure that the version that these guys had access to would be a pre-production model.

Even if you cannot read Japanese, there are a bunch of good pictures of the UX as you click through the pages.

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Someone, most likely in Asia, got their hands on a UX and decided they would expose its internals to the rest of the web. Oddly enough it found its way onto a Korean website, which is interesting as I do not believe these will be sold in Korea yet.
They might want to be a bit cautious about doing this though. Especially since its pretty clear that this is in fact a pre-production model. This is pretty easy to deduce since, for one, they are not on shipping anywhere yet, and the label you see under the battery, is in fact one that indicates this is not a final production model and should not be sold. I just hope that they know how to get this thing back together.

Still, its pretty impressive how the designers over at VAIO got everything into that small of a body. Sort of like a sandwitch, each piece layered on top of the other. I guess that’s why its so thick. It’s sort of a trade off really. Would you rather have it thicker, with a smaller screen, the entire thing being closer to something that is pocketable; or with a larger screen and thinner, yet having to stuff the thing into a bag everytime you are ready to run out the door. If the latter is the case, I would just rather snag myself something like the TX series, since I can much easier use the keyboard for email. I am curious what others have to say about it. I guess we will need to wait until more people have actually had a chance to play around with it.

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Looks like more than just Engadget has now picked up on the original Gearlog post about the so called faked Blu-Ray playback at the 10 year anniversary event. Now we are seeing it on sites like Digg and Slashdot as well.

The Digg commets below,
“A reporter from PC Magazine showed up at a Sony event in NYC where the company was displaying their new AR laptop and mobile pc. While there, Sony was playing a Blu-ray DVD, “The House of Flying Daggers.” But when the reporter ejected the DVD, it was really a DVD-R! Sony wasn’t too happy.”

read more | digg story

Categories: Notebooks, Blu-Ray
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There is a good first review of the AR notebook done on the notebook review website. They provide a detailed comparison of the three models that will be available, VGN-AR130G at $1,799; VGN-AR150G at $2,299 and most notibly the high end model with Blu-Ray burning drive and the WUXGA (1920×1200) screen capable of display 1080p content. Note: Do not confuse that just because a screen is capable of 1080p that it also means the CPU & Graphics, etc. will be capable of playing back all 1080p content. The full spec for Blu-Ray goes up to something like 50Mbps. No way is this or any other PC currently on the market going to handle that. They did mention how the Sony guys had two models running side-by-side one with the DVD version and one with the Blu-Ray version of House of Flying Daggers, to allow one to see the comparison of the two. The reviewer makes note, and I quote, “Contrary to what some have said, the difference in quality is instantly noticeable, and according to Sony, it is even more apparent on movies shot in HD (which HoFD apparently wasn’t).”

I personally have not seen a Blu-Ray movie before, but I have seen a lot of HD content and I am sure that it would have been better, or I would at least hope so.

This is where I must comment on another post that was put up on Engadget, originally taken from Gearlog site. The Gearlog site is claiming that Sony was faking the playback of Blu-Ray disc, rather playing just a DVD copy of the movie. It is apparent that the guys over at Engadget and Gearlog did not check or bother to comment on what was in both AR’s drives, but just focused on the one with the DVD. As noted in the review from Notebookreview, there were two machines: one with a Blu-Ray disc and one with a DVD for comparison purposes. Thus the one with the DVD in it was intentional. I will agree with many of the commentors that perhaps it should not have been a copy of a DVD (Doh!), but just a DVD in one of these machines does not mean that they were faking Blu-Ray playback. I wish that a little more intelligence and thorough reporting, fact would have been done before they make pretty mighty claims; especially when they are being countered about a more detailed review on another site.

Categories: Notebooks, Desktop Replacement, Blu-Ray
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So two new models have gone official on us. There was an official press release for UX. Now you can actuall pre-order them on the US Sonystyle site. UX here and AR here.

As always though you can be sure to find a lot more details on the Japan website for VAIO. Those guys love their Flash movies and they have gone overboard on the UX Flash movie. I would highly recommend checking it out, even if you cannot read Japanese. If you are wondering what the 10yen coins are for, you are actually supposed to hold up a real 10yen coin to the screen to match it up and choose that one so that it will best fit your actual screen resolution. A 10yen coin is about the same size as a quarter.
If you can read Japanese, you can find the Type U’s (UX in the US) Official blog. I am really curious who is writing this, as I doubt its the actual product manager for this product.
They also have a Flash movie for the AR as well. Some commericals there as well. I always wondered why they never bother to do this sort of stuff for the US site.

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Don’t ask me why but when I check out the VAIO UX AR teaser in Firefox, it get this Flash movie

what is an obvious reference to the Blu-Ray drive that is in the new AR machine.

However, what is funny is that if I go to the same teaser URL in Opera. I get what appears to be the final Flash movie. With the AR Digital Studio and what they are calling a Micro PC the UX.

As vaiofreak has pointed out in his comments, Sony has finally made an official press release regarding the UX MicroPC.

Looks like the specs that were previous divulged are right on. Rather than opting in to Microsoft’s Origami software Sony has added, and I quote, “Sony’s VAIO touch launcher for quick access to functions frequently used such as Internet access, e-mail, various computer applications, games and music. Just push the launcher button located on the side of the unit. ” Would really like to see some screen shots of this.

It will be using Cingular’s nationwide EDGE network. This comes as a bit of a disspointment considering that the speed of EDGE is not as good as EVDO. Then again, if you are just going to be checking email with this, then EDGE might be enough, minus the 10MB email attachments. If you want to stream video, upload some Flickr photos are any thing along those lines you will be better off heading over to the local Starbucks or Borders and hookin up with some wifi action.

Comes with a docking station that includes three 2.0 USB ports, Ethernet, VGA, iLink® IEEE-1394 interface and an AV output. No mention anywhere  about a  HDMI connector. Not sure where that rumor came from. Many I guess were confusing that with the HDMI connector that was seen on the AR. If this device had more  hard drive space (30GB is not much) and a HDMI connector then you could perhaps use this as a video playback device. Download directly to this and then playback on any HDTV. Only problem, you will have trouble with its core solo processor; which does not do 1080i/p HD files well. I have tried. Considering the price $1,800, you would almost expect this thing to make your coffee for you while its downloading the latest episode of Lost, but no such luck.

I will have to see if I can get my hands on one of these and do a proper evaluation of it. I am sure we can expect pretty soon to see lots of reviews.

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Jon, whoever he is, seems to have all the goods on the new products. He again has dropped the following specs for the UX in the Engadget comments.

He is calling it the UX180P

Price: $1799.99 (OUCH!!) as I expected way out of my league
Release date: June
4.5 inch 1024×600 touchscreen with XBRITE
slide-out QWERTY keyboard
Windows XP Professional
1.2GHz Core Solo processor
512MB RAM
30GB hard drive with shock protection
802.11a/b/g
WAN (Cingular EDGE)
Bluetooth
dual cameras (VGA on the front, 1.3 MP on the back) with a microphone
biometric fingerprint sensor
1 USB port
Memory Stick slot
headphone and microphone inputs
1.1 pounds
Dimensions: 6″ x 4″ x 2″
Battery Life:3 to 7 hours
Stylus and a case will be included
Docking station which adds 3 USB ports, 1 Firewire port, and VGA/AV outputs
GPS will also be supported through Bluetooth

Categories: Notebooks, Ultra Portable
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Looks like I was not paying attention. I just picked up on Engadget that someone has received some pictures of the new VAIO UX.

Supposedly jkOnTheRun was going on about the device seen in the teasers and some ananymous tipster sent him some full blown photos. Check these out.

People are going on in the comments of Engadget, making speculation about what the specs will be. Regardless, this baby looks sweet. From the printing, you can tell that we are blessed with Bluetooth, Wifi, and WWAN. To top it off, it most likely has a touch screen as you can use the thing with the screen down, covering the keyboard. From the printing on the keyboard, this will most likely have a version of Windows XP and not Vista since the requirements for the printing are different for the two. I will have to get my hands on one of these babies to see how it feels when holding it. Again, leave it to VAIO to put the other vendors in their place when it comes to feature set in a compact device like this. The only drawback will most likely be price. There is no way this thing is going to hit the price range that Intel and Microsoft are promoting for the Origami type of product. However, we really cannot put an Origami device and this thing in the same class.

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The latest flash teaser from the Sony site, makes it pretty obvious that the newest UMPC is going to include a fingerprint reader. Especially when you take a look at this screen shot I pulled off the flash teaser. You can also make out a motion eye camera as well.

I cannot wait to see the full blown detailed picture of this device. I am anxious to see the full specs for it as well. I am sure that Sony VAIO will not dissapoint us with the features, at least I sure hope not. I am just wondering what the price is going to be.

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Engadget picked up on some more news regarding the AR that VAIO has been eluding to in their teasers.

Someone even mentioned that the Sonystyle in Canada already allows you to preorder it.

Check out the goods on this sweet machine.

Most notibly, the HDMI connector and Blu-Ray burning. People are complaining about the weight, but come on, who is going to be carrying this thing around in their laptop bag. This is a true work of art. They are even going to bundle Vegas Movie Studio. I must admit, if they could do this in a thin form factor like the current MacBook Pro 17″, then we are talking mind blowing. They are even going to throw in a Blu-Ray movie to boot. The price tag is a bit of a stickler, but not surprising considering what you are getting and that its Sony VAIO.

See the full specs below:
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2
Intel® 945PM
Intel® PRO/ Wireless 3915ABG Network Connection (802.11a/b/g)
Integrated Bluetooth Technology
17.8″ WUXGA display (1920×1200) with XBRITE High Colour™ Technology
200GB (100GB x 2) in RAID 0, (5400rpm) Serial ATA
1GB PC2-4200 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (512MB x 2)
NVIDA® GeForce® Go 7600GT 256MB dynamically allocated shared video memory
VGA out w/ Smart Display Sensor
HDMI out
S-Video out
TV Tuner(NTSC)
Blu-Ray Disc/DVD+R Double Layer/DVD±RW drive
Integrated MOTION-EYE™ Camera with built-in microphone
Integrated V.92/V.90 modem
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet with RJ-45 interface
Sony Sound Reality Audio Enhancer sound system
1 x Microphone jack
1 x Headphone jack
Memory Stick DUO
1 x 4pin i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface
3 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI output
1 x VGA output
1 x Port Replicator connector
1 x S-Video input
1 x S-Video output
1 x AV input
1 x RF Connection input
1 x Ethernet port
1 x Modem jack
1 x S/PDIF output
One PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support
One ExpressCard / 54 Slot Estimated Battery Life
1.5-2.0 hours Weight
8.4 lbs. with standard battery Dimensions
16.4”(W)X 1.32”(H) X 11.8”(D) Supplied Accessories
Lithium-ion Battery (VGPBPS2C)
AC Adapter (VGPAC19V15)
Power Cord
Remote Control/IR Receiver
RF Cable
HDMI Cable
HDMI to DVI-D Adapter
House of Flying Daggers Blu-Ray Disc Movie

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