Sony Announces New Living Room PC

Jan. 8, 2007 -- Sony intends to bridge the gap between the PC and TV with its VAIO® TP1 Living Room computer. A new approach to the home PC design, the unit’s round, white chassis marries the power of the PC with the TV in a style to compliment any home.

The console’s small spherical shape is designed to fit next to an LCD TV, providing endless entertainment possibilities. It can record, pause and rewind live TV- including over-the-air high-definition and standard-definition programming- for on-demand playback. It can also access Internet television shows and other videos on the Web.

Engineered to be easy to use, the unit connects to a high-definition television via an included HDMI™ cable, delivering digital video and multi-channel audio to the TV through a single cable.

Fits Beautifully Into Any Home
The new living room model stylishly incorporates personal computing into areas of the house not typically known for having a PC, such as the bedroom, without the added network cables. With its built-in wireless LAN technology and a wireless router (sold separately), it can be positioned virtually anywhere in the house and still access your home network on your television.

This fashionable yet practical PC positions frequently-accessed features like the DVD±RW/±R double layer optical drive, USB ports and multi-card reader in the front of the unit, tucked behind a curved slide-away panel, while constantly connected terminals are hidden from sight on the back.

The console also comes equipped with a remote control and a matching, wireless keyboard ergonomically designed to fit on your lap so you can surf the Web and check email without the added restraint of tangled cords.

“These days a personal computer is commonplace in the home, but for many the need to neatly bridge the gap between the TV and PC still exists,” said Mike Abary, vice president of VAIO product marketing for Sony Electronics. “Understanding that traditional PC form factors don’t always integrate well with home design, we created the TP1 model to offer an elegant yet practical solution.”

PC Intelligence for Your Living Room
An Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor designed for small form factors and quiet operation powers the TP1 model so it can handle most computing needs, while still being quiet enough to reside in the living room. The unit also employs the Windows Vista™ Home Premium operating system, integrated graphics and a 300GB hard drive.

It comes with Click to DVD® software and a multi-format DVD and CD burner to create your own CDs and DVDs, back up data, music and videos. Create or record up to 8.5GB of home videos, movies, music or digital photos (or up to four hours of MPEG-2 video) on one double-layer DVD disc. The unit supports Memory Stick® media and CompactFlash® cards.

The VAIO TP1 Living Room PC will be available in March for about $1,600 online at www.sony.com/tp or at Sony Style® stores in select fashion malls around the country.

SOURCE Sony

• Email this page
• Printer-friendly version