Sony VAIO UX-Series Virtual Tour video

Looking for a virtual hands-on 360-degree tour of the new Sony VAIO UX-series? I did some digging on Sony's Japanese UX pages and found quite a dandy here.

The video is interactive and allows you manipulate the device via moving the hand with the stylus. Some of the takeaways I got from playing with the video demo:

• The device supports screen rotation, which will make it great for reading digital eBook and magazine content.
• The device does NOT have any HDMI ports as some folks are claiming. There's no mention of HDMI in the official specs from Sony and why would you want HDMI anyway? You won't be pumping any 1080p video or 7.1 digital audio out of this.
• There is a single USB port as well as a CF slot. These appear for non-U.S. models; the Sony specs indicate 3 USB ports and do not mention a CF slot. - Thanks Jeff!
• It appears that this device is well vented; there are grille slots on the top, bottom, back and one side.
• Some stylus or pen-gestures are included: swiping the pen from right to left activates a "back" command in the browser; likewise, a right to left swipe is a "forward". Up and down swipes control the device volume.
• The Sony UX works with an optional GPS receiver (shown); in the video demo, you can see a web browser open to a map that is tracking the device in what looks to be real time.
• The camera on the back of the device will capture full motion video. (You have to see this in the demo as a person in a bear costume walks behind the camera and waves. Quite funny!)

You probably won't make out most of the text in the video, (unless your Japanese reading skills are up to par), however, the interactive video is intuitive enough to easily navigate around.

- kct

Comments

[Fernando]

Any idea on the dimensions? How does it compare in size to the current U series and to the OQO?

[Ben Reierson]

Dang, I was kinda hoping it would really have that 1024x600 screen, that would have been sweet. If you can't read it, that's your problem. :) Vista would have fixed this with scalable fonts anyway.

But it still looks like a very good follow-up to the U750P. It's nice to see Sony still releases a good project once in a while.

[Cheryl]

Doh, you beat me Kevin! I also wrote about the virtual tour in my blog post about the formal UX announcement. You're right, that camera demo was pretty amusing. :) I'm sooooo tempted to get one, even though it isn't running XP tablet, because it's Vista-ready. Then I'd have a mini-tablet similar to what James is running with his U70. :)

[Jeff]

The CF slot may be for non US models only. It's not listed in the specs on the US SonyStyle site. Additionally, if you look closely at the pics on the US SonyStyle site and the Japanese site, there's a bulge on the lower left side the seems to occupy part of the space where the CF slot is. My guess is that the used the CF slot space for the EDGE hardware instead on the US model.

Dimensions and weight are:

Sony UX180P (US Model ONLY):
Dimensions: 5.9" x 3.7" x 1.5"
Weight: 19.4oz - 1.21lb - .550kg

OQO 01/01+:
Dimensions: 4.9 x 3.4 x 0.9
Weight: 14oz - .875lb - .397kg

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Jeff, good catch that raises a great point. Clearly there is a different model for the non-U.S. market. Aside from the CF slot that you point out, the Sony specs for the U.S. model include 3 USB ports, while the video of the Japanese version shows a single USB. I'll update the post to reflect the new info. Thanks!

[Jeff]

Thanks Kevin. I noticed a couple of other tidbits as well. The small, folding, removable stand looks to be a Japanese build to order included accessory only. It's not listed on the SonyStyle US site and the Japanese site says specifically that it's only included in the build to order models and can't be purchased separately. This is a nice little touch that doesn't force you to take the dock along just to use as a stand. Hopefully, it will be included in the US model as the attachment points for the stand appear on the back pic of the US model as well. Heck, I'd hope it's at least offered as an accessory in the US.

Secondly, the features page on the Japanese site shows the screen having 265 DPI! That should make it very clear. My Nokia 770 has 225 DPI and that makes a lot of difference on such a small screen size.

[Jeff]

One other thing. The 3 USB ports on the SonyStyle US site are on the dock and not the main unit itself. Still just one USB port on the body of the UX just like the Japanese version.

[scoobie]

I'm a little disappointed by the size of the screen. I'd hoped it would be 7 inches like the early leaks about the device. It seems too small to use a lot. Maybe just for email and diary and task management. But very little data entry could be done usefully with it I think.

The press release makes me think the main driver for the screen size has been to get the device as small as possible so it's "a pc that can fit in your pocket." .. and your hand. I know from experience that its easy to drop ultraportables if they're too big for your hand.

I wonder too if the size of the screen is actually a result of the decision to go with a thumbpad. Ergonomically, can people (especially Japanese people with small thumbs??) stretch to use a keyboard wider than 4.5 inches?

I think it will sell, but its turning out to be an interesting year for ultraportables, so who knows what will come out next.

If that keyboard is really backlit I'm nearly sold on it though!

This is where we've come from, the original U

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PCOM/PCG-U1/Images/wallpaper_pop_03.jpg

[PJE]

What I'd like to see is a UX-Mini with a 7" screen, larger hard drive etc, but basically just a scaled up version of this device.

My 2c

PJE

[Mickey Segal]

The demo video doesn't work well in 800 x 600. If the UX has 800 x 600 pixels or less their demo will not work well on their product.

[Mickey Segal]

By comparing the horizontal space taken up by the icons in Internet Explorer in the demo video image and comparing to my 800 x 600 display, and assuming that the pixels/icons is the same as on my computer, my estimate is ~1100 pixels horizontally on the screen. Of course the screen image may be grafted in and the icons may have different pixel dimensions so this is not super reliable, but it fits with the reports of dimensions larger than 800 x 600. Different people use "SVGA" in very different ways, so it is hard to tell what they mean by SVGA.

[Jeff]

The UX's display is 1024x600.

[dave fischer]

would it be possible to use any gsm sim card on the device for the edge wwan or is it locked to cingular.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Jeff is correct; it appears that the screen is WSVGA or 1,024x600. The confusing arose with the wording of the Sony PR, IMO.

[scoobie]

There's a great set of videos showing the different input methods here.

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Special/U/Movie/movie.html?param=29

To see the thumbpad keyboard in use, first select the product movie list tab on the right, then the 13th line down

I love the fact that the keyboard is backlit - very clever, but it also looks very small, and hence a bit slow to use.

Look out also for videos showing the pull out battery and the pull out stand at the back. Both are pretty neat.

Elsewhere ..
I like how they keep the device cool - there's a vent running right through the middle of the device, taking air in at the bottom and pushing it out at the top. See it here..

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/UX1/feat2.html

[scoobie]

Posted to the origamiproject forum, "If you read the news carefully, you will note that in June an new Vaio Type U model with 16GB Flashmemory will be released. So far no new infos are available on that model yet."

Thats the second time I've seen that posted

This ties in with some of the first leaks about the new U device - ie that it had a flash memory HD

[jp_mobiler]

Yes, there will be a 16G flash HDD version officially announced in June, and start selling from the same month in JP. The SONY spokesman said that the flash HDD version will feel a lot lighter than the normal HDD version when you hold it and will have better battery life as well as snappier interface. The price will be more expensive than the original, though.