OQO killer- Sony bringing the ultra-portable to the US!!

Sony has just issued a press release announcing the availability of the new VAIO® U Ultra Portable PC.  The U-750P is basically the U-70 with a 1.1 GHz CPU in a totally English version with a lot of bundled software including ritePen.  Pics and specs are on the Sony web site.  Here's the entire Sony press release:

ULTRA PERSONAL COMPUTING IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND

Sony VAIO U-Series Notebook Combines Power of Full-size PC with Portability of PDA

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9, 2004 _ At a shade over 1 pound, Sony's new VAIO® U Ultra Portable PC, announced today, has the heart of a PC but the soul of an entertainer.

Doubling as a portable media player, this "pocketable" PC allows you to download entertainment content and enjoy it virtually anywhere you go. Integrated 802.11 b/g wireless LAN connects you to thousands of hotspots across the country and helps you stay in touch with the Internet, email and your favorite digital content download services.

Multiple input modes contribute to the PC's extreme versatility. Using the stylus and virtual keyboard on the unit's touch panel screen, you can compose email messages or navigate files even while standing up. Handwriting recognition software simplifies note-taking or annotating documents. Users can also quickly launch programs or execute common commands with thumb-controlled action buttons, or draft longer text files with the included foldout keyboard.

"The U-Series expands the usability of portable PCs beyond the realm of even the lightest traditional notebooks," said Mike Abary, general manager of VAIO PC marketing for Sony Electronics' IT Products Division. "It fits a full-fledged Windows® operating system, Intel® processor and all the entertainment capabilities that make it a Sony, into a `go-anywhere' package that's smaller than a paperback novel."

The unit's 5-inch display with XBRITE™ LCD technology brings movies and photos to life with crisp, high-contrast playback. Memory Stick® and Compact Flash media slots make it easy to import files or digital photos from a variety of digital still cameras. With intuitive thumb controls, users can change the display orientation on the fly, from landscape to portrait mode and back, for optimal viewing of virtually any content.

Whatever, Wherever

Included accessories make the PC even more effective in a variety of different environments. The inner-ear headphones and remote control make digital music and movies a joy whether you're on a plane or on the run. The mobile AC adapter, foldout keyboard and VGA/Ethernet adapter combine for an ideal road package. At home, the port replicator facilitates charging while connecting the PC to a variety of external devices such as a mouse, display, hard drive and/or optical drive.

An Intel® Ultra Low Voltage Pentium® M processor and Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system ensure that the power and the platform for general computing tasks exist on the VAIO U notebook. And exclusive applications, such as SonicStage® software, allow users to take maximum control of their digital content, reinforcing Sony's commitment to entertainment.

The VAIO U Ultra Portable notebook will be available next month at SonyStyle stores and other select retailers, as well as online at www.sonystyle.com for about $2,000.

Comments

[w0rn]

How do they intend to use the Remote Control Media Stick?

I don't see any mention of DoVaio in the spec sheet.

Thanks.

[jk]

The specs list some SoundStage s/w and knowing Sony I'm sure they will cover it with drivers and stuff in English. The great news for we current U owners is the drivers and applications should soon be downloadable outside of Japan and in English.

[Lloyd Fox]

With the flexability and uitlity that the U-70 and XP Tablet 2005 offers you, do you still require your Toshiba e805 PDA? If you still require your e805 what will it do that the U-70 will not?

[jk]

I do use the Toshiba quite frequently, just differently than I did before. I read a lot of ebooks and do that almost exclusively on the Tosh. I also carry it when it's not practical to carry the larger Sony. Mainly to those functions my wife forbids me to bring the Sony. :) I can still do email and web work on the Tosh so I don't give up much. Right now I am posting this from the stands at my son's football game as it's halftime and there is time to kill. I'm on the Toshiba, FWIW.