Touch enabled Sony Vaio on the way

These devices could appear as early as fall 2009

Users may soon see touch enabled VAIOs

 Sony had been adamant about its stand on netbooks, saying that these small devices are not of interest to them because of their low margin. It seems as if Sony has softened a bit with the launch of Sony Vaio W series of mini notebooks. Sony believes that it has to cater to what consumers are demanding and to be honest they are demanding netbooks.

In a recent interview with Laptop Magazine, Mike Abary, senior vice president of Sony’s Information Technology Products Division said that Sony is ready to cater to the segment that demands netbooks but, Sony will maintain its premium pricing by managing to deliver an exceptional audio and video experience to the netbook users. Sony has incorporated this experience into its Sony Vaio W series mini notebook which has a HD 1366x768 resolution display. Sony believes that the display is likely to produce sharper and better looking images. Moreover, Sony has kept in mind the ergonomics of the keyboard as well. This somehow justifies its price tag which may be $100 more than most of the netbooks available in the market today.

The interview also pointed out some facts regarding the release of a touchscreen VAIO which will coincide with the release on Windows 7 (due for fall 2009). Sony has underwent an internal reorganization or restructuring, as a result, the Sony Reader Group now falls within the same group as Vaio, Playstation, and Walkman. Sony will also focus on bringing a reader experience to the Vaio line. Another interesting thing is that Sony is planning to use its Playstation network to bring TV and movie content to the VAIO line.

So, on the whole, one can expect a lot of activity on the netbook or mini notebook front be it the Apple tablet or Sony’s touchscreen Vaio line-up.