Just a month ago, Sony launched the Librié 1000-EP, arguably the world's first true electronic book. Now, it unveils its second coup: a keyboardless PC which is not a Tablet PC, but the
world's smallest full-function Windows PC, a pen-operated,
wireless-enabled computer pitched at mobile media consumers.
According to
The Register, driving the U70 is a 1GHz Ultra-low Voltage Pentium M and Intel's i855GM integrated chipset - so yes, it's a Centrino machine. And, indeed, we find the machine has an 802.11g Wi-Fi adaptor built in. It also has a 20GB hard drive and 512MB of memory. There's a USB 2.0 port, and CompactFlash and MemoryStick Pro ports for expansion. The unit is powered by a slimline Lithium Polymer battery capable of providing around two-and-a-half hours' operating time. Japanese consumers will be able to up that to 5.5 hours, courtesy of an alternative, 'extended' battery. But it added 145g to the weight.
The size of the screen is five inches, which stands somewhere between a regular PDA and a Tablet PC. Since I found my PDA always too small for reading longer texts, that sounds like a good solution to me.
Only negative: Price is targeted at
1871 USD; even the cheaper version still costs
1595 USD 