CES 2009: Sony unveils world's lightest eight inch notebook

This evening at CES, Sony unveiled its new VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC, the world's lightest 8" notebook. "About the size of a business envelope and roughly as thin as a cell phone, the VAIO Lifestyle PC weighs just 1.4 pounds and is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or handbag while integrating full-PC features," including running Vista.

The 8" notebook features a 1600 x 768 LED backlit LCD display, WAN 3G, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, webcam, and up to eight hours of battery life via an option.

The 8" notebook uses a 1600 x 768 built atop Sony's XBRIGHT-ECO LED backlit LCD ultra-wide display. It includes built-in WAN 3G mobile broadband on the Verizon network, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, a built-in webcam, four hours of battery life with the standard battery, and an eight-hour battery option.

It's powered by an Intel Atom 1.33 GHz CPU, 2x 1 GB memory (2 GB total), a built-in eSATA 128 GB SSD, two USB 2.0 connectors, headphone, line-in, one SD slot, one Memory Stick Duo media slot.

It includes a real-time GPS, and an instant-mode option allowing the notebook to boot into Sony's Xcross Media Bar interface (separate from the OS), allowing access to music, video, photos and the web. It comes standard with Windows Vista, and supports applications typically available in larger notebooks.

The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC costs $900. It will be available for pre-order tomorrow at www.sony.com/pr/pseries, and later this month at Sony Style stores, and most major retailers beginning in February.