New Sony Vaio P wants to be an eReader

Sony’s 2nd-generation pocket PC, the Vaio P, didn’t only come with a specs refresh but a couple of surprising features, including an extra pointing device.

The new line of Vaio P comes in a more eye-candy design with colors in hot pink and electric orange. Likewise, the design is made to mimic the style of large wallet or folio (notice the edges of the lid?).

Sony Vaio P115
8″ display @ 1600×768 pixels
Intel Atom Z540 1.86GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM
64GB PATA HDD
Intel GMA 500
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ EDR
2 x USB 2.0 ports
Memory Stick Duo/SD Card reader
0.3MP webcam

The Vaio P still uses the old (but with higher CPU clock) Atom Z-series processor which is meant by Intel for mobile internet devices and allows for a fan-less design. Unlike the new Atom N4xx series, the Z-series didn’t get an update from Intel.

One of the surprising feature of the Vaio P is the additional optical trackpad situated at the bottom right side of the display panel. Another set of mouse clickers are placed on the bottom left side. This allows the user to navigate the laptop while holding it from the base (and taking the screen closer to your face).

The Vaio P also has an accelerometer so the screen orientation automatically rotates from landscape to portrait when turning the device on its side (for when reading PDFs or eBooks). This feature and the additional pointing device near the screen are subtle hints that positions the Vaio P as a pocket reader of sorts aside from being a really small netbook.

Sony will be releasing a very limited number of the new Vaio P which will have a retail price of Php59,999USD 1,022INR 86,675EUR 974CNY 7,446.