Sony today announced that its new VAIO PictureBook C1VN will feature the Crusoe processor, whose energy-saving capabilities will substantially enhance the popular notebook PC's battery life.
New Processor Nearly Doubles the Battery Life of VAIO PictureBook PC for up to 5 1/2 Hours(a) of Mobile Use Sony Electronics today announced that its new VAIO(R) PictureBook C1VN notebook computer will feature the Crusoe(TM) processor, whose energy-saving capabilities will substantially enhance the popular notebook PC's battery life. With the new C1VN model expected to ship next month, Sony is slated to be the first to bring the benefits of the Crusoe processor to U.S. consumers. "With Sony's VAIO PC line, we're constantly enhancing the consumer's PC experience by providing the world's most robust technologies in stylish, ultra-light and compact form-factors," said Mark Hanson, vice president and general manager for VAIO PC products at Sony Electronics.
"At just 2.2 pounds, the PictureBook is light weight. Couple that with the enhanced battery life Sony is experiencing with Crusoe and consumers get more productive mobile time and greater flexibility in how they use their notebooks. With this technology, there's no reason to be tethered to a power cord or searching for an AC adapter." In addition to substantially improved battery life, the PictureBook features a new built-in progressive scan camera for better digital still and video images and a full complement of digital video editing software, making it one of the market's smallest, most powerful business computing and digital video editing systems. Among the PictureBook's full suite of office and entertainment applications is Sony's MovieShaker(TM) -- a fun, simple application for producing digital home movies, complete with transitions, effects and music -- Intuit Quicken(R) 2000, QuickTime (TM), Microsoft(R) Word 2000 and Adobe's Photo Deluxe(R), Business Edition. Also featured are additional Sony applications, including DVgate(TM) and PictureGear(TM), which allow users to capture full motion digital video and still photography for dynamic multimedia presentations -- or even video e-mail. PictureGear(TM) allows for enhanced management of digital content - both sound and video files. Users can visually organize and manage personal digital content collections including still images, digital video clips, MP3 files and much more.
In addition to the super-fast 600 MHz(b) Crusoe Processor and the new progressive-scan CCD camera, the VAIO PictureBook has a 12 GB(c) hard drive, 128 MB of SDRAM -- and a dedicated MagicGate(TM) Memory Stick(R) media slot for easy storage of downloadable SDMI-compliant music, high-resolution images and other data. The VAIO PictureBook features Sony's programmable Jog Dial(TM) control for easy application loading of a host of user-friendly applications.
The new PictureBook PC begins shipping in October with an estimated selling price of $2,299(d) The PictureBook will also feature Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Millennium Edition (Me) operating system. "It's no surprise that Sony, the company that created the ultralight notebook category, is first to market with Crusoe," said Dave Ditzel, chief executive officer, Transmeta. "Unlike other microprocessors, Crusoe uses an innovative 'smart layer' of software to perform functions normally done in hardware on a chip. This fundamental, unique design difference allows Crusoe to be smaller, run cooler and be more power-efficient than traditional microprocessors."
