Sony crafting VAIOs with Chrome OS, external GPUs and Thunderbolt tech?

Sony's top-secret prototype labs must be clocking hours like mad, as Sony Insider reports that the company has two more surprises in store -- in addition to a PlayStation tablet, dual-screen clamshell and sliding PC, the skunk works has cooked up a Chrome OS notebook, as well as a "VAIO Hybrid PC" that defies any sort of meaningful explanation in just three words. The Chrome OS device is reportedly modeled after Google's own Cr-48 reference design with roughly the same dimensions and keyboard but an oh-so-slightly smaller 11.6-inch screen, and NVIDIA's Tegra 2 running the show alongside 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash storage. Sony's also shooting for eight hours of battery life, and a weight of just 2.2 pounds.

All of that pales in comparison to what Sony's plotting for this "Hybrid PC," though. The publication says we're looking at a thin-and-light Core i7 notebook with an incredible 8 to 16.5 hours of battery life, Intel Thunderbolt and an internal SSD, all of which plugs into a dock of some sort that adds a Blu-ray burner and external graphics (by AMD) for gaming and multimedia. We don't have any pictures or proof at this point, but it sounds like a whopper of a tale, and just the sort of thing that Intel was talking about making possible with the 10Gbps of bandwidth that Thunderbolt brings.

Sony crafting VAIOs with Chrome OS, external GPUs and Thunderbolt tech? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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