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Sony’s newest laptop is under 1-inch thick, weighs 1.4 pounds, packs in GPS and 3G from Verizon and has a full sized keyboard.  The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC has an 8-inch screen at a resolution of 1600 x 768. 

The Vaio P Series will also have Windows Vista and an additional “Instant Start Mode” to access media like videos and music.  The Instant Start Mode features the Sony Xross Media Bar interface interface which will be familiar to many Sony-fans because it is like the PS3 and PSP menus.  This laptop costs $900 and comes in green, red, black, and white. 

Sony just announced the latest addition to their notebook line-up - the 8-inch VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC.  The notebook has built-in wireless WAN 3G Mobile Broadband (Verizon), 802.11n wi-fi, and Bluetooth, 1600 x 768 resolution, and an 8 hour battery life.  The device comes in garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and classic black, will retail for $900, and be available starting tomorrow.  Read more in the press release below.

SONY UNVEILS WORLD’s Lightest 8-inch notebook

Full-Featured VAIO PC Fuses Style, Mobility and Connectivity for Anytime, Anywhere Computing

LAS VEGAS (CES Booth #14200), Jan. 7, 2009 – Sony today took the wraps off the world’s lightest 8-inch notebook— the new VAIO® P Series Lifestyle PC.

About the size of a business envelope and roughly as thin as a cell phone, the VAIO Lifestyle PC weighs just 1.4 pounds and is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or handbag while integrating full-PC features.

The model incorporates a high-resolution, 1600 x 768, LED backlit 8-inch ultra-wide display (diagonal), making it easy to view everything from entire spreadsheets to full web pages— no side-to-side scrolling necessary. It also incorporates Sony’s XBRITE-ECO™ LCD technology, producing images in brilliant detail for razor-sharp viewing on-the-go.

Stylish enough to take anywhere, the unit is available in an array of eye-catching colors, including garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and classic black. Matching carrying cases and Bluetooth® color-coordinated mice are available to complete the look.

“The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC is your portal to the world, delivering entertainment and computing in a head-turning device that’s small enough to put in your pocket,“ said Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing at Sony Electronics. “Designed for the fashionista in all of us, it’s the ideal companion.“

Engineered to provide the feel of a larger notebook, the VAIO Lifestyle PC provides a convenient typing experience by extending the keyboard to the perimeters of the chassis maximizing the typing area. The spacing between keys has also been engineered to help reduce typing mistakes making it perfect for long fingernails.

The notebook incorporates built-in wireless WAN 3G Mobile Broadband, 802.11n wi-fi and Bluetooth technologies. Users can toggle among various wireless options for the most efficient connection – wi-fi for working at a coffee shop; Bluetooth for peripherals; and Mobile Broadband service on the Verizon Wireless nationwide network when traveling outside the reach of hotspots (subscription required).

The unit features up to four hours of battery life with the included standard capacity battery and eight hours with the large capacity battery (sold separate).

It also incorporates real-time GPS functionality, making it easy to find restaurants, hotels or special sites of interest. Destinations can be found by simply typing in an address or keyword and then following the turn-by-turn directions. The Lifestyle PC even includes estimated drive times to let you know how far you are from a destination. No Internet connection is required in the United States or Canada.

The unit also has an instant-mode option that launches directly into Sony’s Xross Media Bar™ interface, so you can rapidly boot up and access music, video, photos and the Web. A built-in webcam lets you video chat with family, friends and colleagues. A third-party service is required.

The PC comes with the Windows Vista® operating system, supporting office applications and all the software programs routinely found in full-size notebooks. A windows arrangement utility has been added to easily organize all open documents or websites with one touch, positioning them neatly along side each other on a single screen.

The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC will retail for about $900. It will be available for pre-orders tomorrow online at www.sony.com/pr/pseries. It will also be sold at Sony Style® stores starting later this month and at other major retailers around the country beginning in February.

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Like always Sony has made us trek all the way over to the convention center for their press conference. We are expecting the regular announcements LCD TVs, new OLED displays, cameras, new computers include the teased P series, new Blu-ray players and more. The one catch will be that Howard Stronger, Sony CEO, will be offering a keynote tomorrow morning and will surely save something for that time—so this can end up being a bit dry. Either way stick around to this page for live coverage of all the announcements (you can reload the page by hitting Ctrl+R or F5).

For more CES press coverage head over here or check out our 2009 CES page for all the CES news, CES keynotes, CES photo galleries/booth tours, and more!

Just like the Netgear product announcements earlier this morning, we expect Cisco to focus on their Linksys range of networking devices for the home in today’s press conference. Expect to see faster routers added to their N range, home security (think wireless cameras), wireless USB, wireless storage, streaming audio systems and more.

Sorry but the Cisco press conference got filled up really fast. We will follow-up with all the news that came through.

For more CES press coverage head over here or check out our 2009 CES page for all the CES news, CES keynotes, CES photo galleries/booth tours, and more!

At today’s Netgear press conference at CES 2009, the company introduced their new 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router to complement their other networking products.  The device connects to the internet using your existing mobile broadband card, and allows you to transmit the signal via Wifi so others can join in on the internet fun.  I’m sure the mobile carriers are having a field-day with this.  Check out the details from the product’s data sheet below.

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We all hate those pesky wires that cost a fortune and are unsightly to leave out. Well as I predicted, this is going to be the year that wireless HD video becomes a reality. Toshiba got CES off to a fast fast, wireless, start with the introduction of the Regza Link.

REGZA LINK (HDMI-CEC) currently achieves simplified operation of multiple digital products connected by HDMI cables. But the next generation version does it all wirelessly. Toshiba will demonstrate REGZA LINK (HDMI-CEC) based on WirelessHD technology, which realizes wireless transmission of uncompressed HD video and audio data at speeds allowing devices to be positioned anywhere in a room. Toshiba will also spotlight high speed data transfers among digital products based on TransferJet technology, a close proximity wireless technology standardized by the TransferJet Consortium. The concept model for future PC, mobile and digital products offers simple operation, safe connection and fast, reliable data transfers.

Read More [Toshiba]

Toshiba has finally made good use of the cell processor—one of the most powerful chipsets (you may know it from the Sony PlayStation 3 processor). This will bring some amazing features into your home such as simultaneous HD viewing (up to 4 channels at once), unbelievable user interfaces, and super smart video adaption technology at speeds 3x faster than today’s tv’s (helping it respond to fast action, bright scenes, etc without any lag time - resulting in significantly better overall quality).

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We have begun to prep for the Steve Ballmer press conference. This is going to be interesting since Bill Gates has given the CES opening keynote for over 10 years - check out last year’s live blog here. We have seen Steve going absolutely crazy in the past: screaming, yelling, and sweating beyond control. More recently he has seemed to mature with calmer keynotes and more thought out responses. Who knows which Steve will come out tonight in Vegas, but what we do know is that we’ll be seeing a preview of Windows 7, new Halo games, MS connectivity, and more.

Bookmark this page and we’ll get started a bit before 9pm eastern/6pm pacific.
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As usual during live blogs, hit the F5 key on your computer or just hit the refresh button and follow along in real-time.

WowWee Technologies will present the Cinemin in 2009.  This product is a portable micro projector powered by DLP Technology from Texas Instruments.  These projectors will provide high definition imaging and will work with devices, like iPods and other popular media players.  The Cinemin line includes the Cinemin Swivel, a projector that measures about the size of a candy bar and can play movies for up to 3 hours between charges.  The Cinemin Stick has internal memory and SD memory capabilities in order for you to bring photos, audio and video files on the go.  The Cinemin Station is both a media player and iPod docking station.

The Spyball, another new product from WowWee Technologies, is a robotic ball that has the ability to shoot video at all angles. It has built in wheels for easy movement and can capture both still and moving images.  You can view the robotic ball’s footage through a Wi-Fi connection or the included USB cable.

Lastly, WowWee Technologies will also offer a glimpse of Rovio.  This mobile webcam has the ability to be controlled remotely using any PC, laptop, video game console or mobile device within the home. It also has an on board navigation system that controls the positions that it shoots from.

Read [WowWee Technologies]

The Gadgetell team brings you live coverage today of the Toshiba CES press conference. Over the years Toshiba has continued to infiltrate the consumer electronics market moving beyond computer and into home video (remember the whole HD-DVD debacle). It was just under a year ago that they lost on HD-DVD, let’s see what they have in-store this year. The lights dim and the PowerPoint begins…

Remember, the page won’t reload itself—hit F5 or Ctrl+R to refresh.

For more CES press coverage head over here or check out our 2009 CES page for all the CES news, CES keynotes, CES photo galleries/booth tours, and more!

Check out the gallery: CES 2009 Press Conference: Toshiba live blog