UX490N
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Sony VAIO UX handheld gets 3G wireless, quad OS, inflated sense of self
As we're all undoubtedly aware, old gadgets don't really die -- they just get modded eternally (as the continued appearance of Atari on these pages will attest). Another case-in-point: the Sony VAIO UX490N. It's been a while since we laid eyes on one of these bad boys, but apparently there's been plenty of hacking goin' on ever since, including: upgrading the SSD to the RunCore Pro IV 128GB and swapping out the 1.2GHz CPU for a 1.33GHz Core 2 Duo (overclocked to 1.438GHz). And that's just the beginning -- the cats over at the Micro PC Talk forums have also installed a voice-capable HSPA modem, swapped out the old wireless card for one that supports a/b/g/n WiFi, and installed partitions for Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista Business, Windows 7 Ultimate and Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.7. Impressive stuff, all that: but what if we told you that one fearless individual has applied every one of those changes to a single device? And that battery life was pretty much unaffected? Well, you're probably going to want the details, right? Hit the source link to get started.
Details for UX490N handheld show up on Sony's site
While Sony's apparently yet to get official with it, the company has let slip a user guide and marketing materials for its hereto unheard of UX490N handheld, which thankfully provide plenty of details on the device. Like the most recent model introduced in Japan, this one packs a 1.2GHz Core 2 Solo U2200 processor, although it drops the SSD storage down to 48GB from 64GB. Otherwise, you can expect the usual 4.5-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, along with 1GB of RAM, Intel GMA 950 graphics, and built-in support for AT&T's EDGE network, among other densely-packed features. What's more, it seems that Sony will also be offering the handheld in a VGN-UX490N/C model, which throws in a Bluetooth GPS receiver and an extended battery. No word on a price or release date just yet, but we're guessing those details should be coming before too long.[Thanks, benz145]
