Fascinating. Sony just figured out a simple truth of ultra-portable computing: for all its beauty, elegant hardware packed into a diminutive chassis will never make up for a perpetually sluggish OS, at least not for long. While it comes late to this understanding, Sony is finally making XP a standard load on its new VAIO P model VGN-P50. Not exactly aspirational, mind you, and very netbook-like... but at least it gets the OS out of the way of your applications unlike the original VAIO P Vista build. Any by not having to downgrade yourselves (or upgrade to Windows 7 RC), you'll keep all of Sony's optimizations like the VAIO P's XMB interface. Starting June 6th, our Japanese friends will also see a 2GHz Atom Z550 processor bump in addition to WWAN data as standard. They'll even toss in a 256GB SSD if you tick the right box. While we'd typically expect these specs to go global, the fact that we're still stuck with a 1.33GHz processor Stateside makes us doubtful, bitter even, and more than a tad envious. Available June 6th in Japan starting at ¥85,000 (about $900).

[Via Akihabara News]

Poor, poor AMD. Just when it found a niche above Atom and below the Core 2 Duo with its Athlon Neo, back comes Intel with its new "Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage" platform -- something we started to hear about a few weeks ago. This from DigiTimes' "sources at notebook makers." New CULV-based ultra-portables from the "top-three notebook vendors" (that'd be HP, Dell, and Acer by most accounts) should be hitting shelves in the second quarter of 2009 carrying prices between $699 and $899. DigiTimes claims that the new platform will allow Intel to divide the laptop market up into four segments for 2009: 1) Traditional 12.1-inch laptops and above, 2) Atom or Pineview-based netbooks, 3) Menlow-based MIDs, 4) Ultra-portables with displays between 11.x and 13.3-inches. It's also interesting to hear that the rumored 13.3-inch HP Mini-note coming in June will carry the CULV instead of the Atom Zxx on "Intel's insistence." Well, well, being pushy again are we Intel?

If you think ASUS has a lot of Eee PCs in its product portfolio then you should check out its laptop lineup sometime. Last we counted, ASUS was offering over 50 different models of laptops. Here's another: a rumored 12-inch, 16:9 aspect followup to the svelte 10.2-inch Eee PC S101. However, since this edges above Jerry Shen's maximum Eee PC size-threshold of 10-inches, the new slimster will be launched under ASUS' ZX-series and hopefully come packing something a bit heartier than say, an Atom processor. Only, with an expected NT$30,000 (about US$912) launch by year's end, we're forced to stubbornly let go of our hope to find a refreshed Core 2 Duo on the inside.

We've already seen the S101 Ultimate Eee PC at the top of ASUS' Eee PC pyramid of implosion. ASUS' prez, Jerry Shen, told us earlier to expect the Atom-based netbooks to ship with a 32GB SSD, 10.2-inch, 16:9 aspect LED backlit display and battery life of about 4-5 hours. Today in Taiwan, he personally revealed the S101 prototype (pictured above next to the Eee PC 901), and it's brown (at least for now) and it's sporting the Eee logo as you'd expect. Interestingly, ASUS has apparently decided to ditch the Eee branding on the S101 when it goes production in mid-September to keep it distinct from the low-cost ultra-portable branding that the Eee PC name is (or at least was) synonymous with -- a move we wholeheartedly support. The S101 will measure in at a tapering 16 ~ 21-mm and weigh less than 1KG. Seems Jerry re-enacted the ol' MacBook Air (4 ~ 19.4-mm thick) trick and pulled the S101 from an envelop to demonstrate its thinness. Played carny tricks aside, the S101 features the same 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and 945GME chipset found in current gen Eees with prices to range from $699 for the 32GB SSD model on up to $899 for a 40GB SSD (and possibly more). Interesting, to say the least.

Update: We're hearing that the $899 model actually carries a 64GB SSD -- could be if it's that $313 cheap-o from Buffalo.

[Via iTechNews]

Good news: the price of those 7- to 9-inch ultra-portables are in free-fall as Dell, ASUS, HP, Everex and others race to the bottom. Bad news: your $500ish wad currently takes home a thick, boxy slab. Fortunately, MSI is looking to change all that when it ships the sleek Wind laptop in Q2. In other words, June when Intel ships the Atom processor. Prices are expected to range from $470 to $1,099 for your choice of 8.9-inch and 10-inch panels with 1,024 x 768 pixel resolutions, 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD drive, processors ranging from 1GHz to 1.6GHz, and 1GB of memory. At least that's the last we heard. Word to the wise: wait until summer for your ultra-portable purchase -- competition will be fierce and the waves will be tasty.

Hear that? That's the sound of pitter-pattering little hearts bursting within the executive board rooms of FIC, ASUS, Acer, and HP among others. This after a Compal Electronics official said that Dell plans to launch an 8.9-inch wide-screen laptop for under $499. Taiwan's Compal would of course assemble the goods. The new ultra-portable is expected "as early as June" -- the same time that Intel's Atom processors will launch, coincidentally. Hmm.

Update: The whole thing is now seemingly confirmed by Michael Dell himself. When asked yesterday about the new HP Mini-Note, Dell responded, "We will introduce a similar laptop." He then teased with, "Stay tuned, we will have some interesting products coming in that space over the next two quarters."

Fujitsu's marvelously light LOOX U50XN -- better known as the U810 here in the States -- just keeps getting better. Apparently, to-be owners in Japan can now snag one with an oh-so-coveted 64GB SSD, though all the other specs look to remain identical to what we've already seen. 'Course, adding such a fine piece of hardware won't come cheap -- as a matter of fact, you'll be forced to cough up an extra ¥95,000 ($887) for the privilege. Oh, and the unconfirmed word on the street has the new drive option coming stateside in March, but don't bet the farm on that just yet, alright?

[Thanks, Paul P.]

That unassuming little 12.1-inch laptop is Fujitsu's LOOX R ultra-portable. It weighs in at 1.27-kg (2.8-pounds) with an LED backlit 1,280 x 800 display, up to 4GB or memory and 120GB of disk, dual-layer DVD writer, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, SDHC slot, Firewire, fingerprint sensor, PCMCIA, and more. Lots to like already. Now this: a standard battery running for 9.7-hours with the help of a purposely unspecified Intel processor. With an expected January ship, is it any wonder we're speculating that this is the world's first laptop to run a mobile version of Intel's new Penryn CPU rumored for release on January 6th? The first of many we'll see launch in the new year.

While the first generation (and second generation for that matter) of UMPCs fell well short of the bloated origami hype, Compal sees big growth from Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) in 2008. According to DigiTimes, this belief has prompted the giant, Taiwanese ODM to dedicate an entire team to the mobile platform unveiled by Intel in April 2007. As such, MID devices will receive special attention, away from their laptop and UMPC efforts. If nothing else, we find it reassuring that somebody out there can understand the difference between a UMPC and MID device with such clarity.

Remember that other ultra-portable announced during the month of the Eee Pc and Palm Foleo? Right, the 7-inch Via / FIC (parental unit to Everex) collaboration first shown as the NanoBook reference design or CE260 / CE261 when touted by FIC. Having already cleared the FCC, FIC is saying that US and European shipments of the VIA C7-M device will begin in Q1 of 2008 and will include either Windows XP or Linux preloads on that 1.8-inch 30GB disk. It's supposed to be priced similar to the Eee PC which has carved a nice little niche for itself in the ultra-portable market. With any luck, it'll show up at Wal-Mart with a sub-$300 price tag sporting Everex's lovely new gOS.

Last week Asus finally revealed pricing and specs for their much anticipated Eee PC ultra-portable laptop. Anticipated not so much for the specs -- 7-inch LED-backlit LCD, 2 to 8GB of flash storage, up to 1GB memory, WiFi, and webcam -- but for the low, low $199 retail price. Rightly, more than a few of us were dismayed when the entry-level model was revealed to actually cost as much as US$358 in Taiwan and an expected $300 (pre-tax) price when launching Stateside before the month is out. The culprit? Well, according to DigiTimes' Taiwanese component insiders the relatively steep price is in large part due to an unexpectedly high cost for the 7-inch LCD panels. Asus had expected to source the panels for about $15 each but found themselves paying AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) up to twice as much for the hardware. Feel better for knowing? Yeah, didn't think so.

Unlike CES, there is no shortage of newly announced UMPC devices here at CeBIT. Perhaps that's due to this being the 1st anniversary of the platform's launch. But if you're looking for the ultimate in QWERTY portability, then look no further than the new FlyBook V5. This 1.2kg pup packs pretty much everything the discerning road-warrior could want: 1.06GHz Intel Core Duo ULV U2400 processor; up to 2GB of DDR2 memory; Intel 945GM graphics; 8.9-inch, 32-bit color, 1024 x 600 (WXGA) touchscreen display which works with the touch of a finger or included stylus in both landscape and portrait (tablet) modes; 40GB hard disk; 1.3 megapixel swivelling camera built-in to the bezel; Gigabit LAN; stereo speaker; and fingerprint reader. It also brings a reasonable mix of expansion which includes Express card, 2x USB 2.0, and TV-out. The best part, however, is the number of radios packed into this ultraportable. It starts with Bluetooth 2.0, sprinkles in some 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and and then smothers it all with 3.6Mbps UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM. The V5 measures just 235 x 163 x 30-mm and packs a 1.2kg heft making it feel solid, not heavy in the hand. Good thing too, cause those controls you see between the keyboard and display allow you to pick the unit up while in a traditional laptop config and continue navigating the display. The miniature 80-key keyboard of the working prototype v5 that we tapped upon was seriously springy. The reduced size and key bounce would certainly take some getting used to. A sacrifice we'd be privileged to make if we could call this unit our own. Still, things might stiffen up before the April release – The Netherlands and Italy first with the rest of Europe to follow "soon" thereafter. Sorry, no definite plans for a US release date making us want one even more.

Sony's Vaio G -- remember that sweetness? Just a few months back we were all salivating for the G's 12.1-inches of Core Solo action in a slim, 1.98-pound kit. Now steel yourself brother, ASUS has an unannounced U1 under wraps set for global -- yes, global -- release in mid-to-late February. The U1 features an 11.1-inch WXGA (1360x768) LED display, 1.06GHz U2400 Core Duo processor, up to 1.5GB of DDR2 RAM and 80GB disk, Bluetooth (and WiFi we can assume), a webcam in the bezel, external optical multi-drive and even a port replicator. It also delivers some added peace of mind via integrated fingerprint reader, motion sensor and HDD protection. It's not clear what graphics processor the U1 packs but rest assured, the whole kit is Vista compatible. Decent specs all around for kickin' back with a few Office apps or browsing the web on a very slight, 1.78-pound (with 3-cell battery installed) sled. So, we bet you're wondering how it feels, right? Light as hell. So light in fact, that we thought it was an empty shell of a mock-up before ASUS hit the power switch. The keyboard had an unsettling spring to it, however, which will hopefully get sorted before the U1 goes production. Starting price: $2,199. Pics-a-plenty in the gallery below.