Leaked photos, manual hint at Sony Chromebook

Who says the Chromebook is dead?

 

Photos and a manual posted on the website of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicate Sony is building a Chromebook, a net-centric laptop running Google’s Chrome OS.

 

“We expect availability to be within the next couple of months or so based on past experience of the time it takes to migrate from FCC approval to landing on shelves,” said Laptopreviews.com, which posted the photos of the laptop and part of the manual on its site.

 

Laptopreviews.com posted what appeared to be a part of the manual for the Sony VAIO VCC111 Series that instructed the user to turn on the computer "to start Chrome OS."

 

Chrome OS is an operating system whose apps mainly run from the cloud, and thus virtually requires a steady Internet connection.

 

So far, the site noted Samsung and Acer have been the only manufacturers to release Chromebooks. Having Sony jump into the fray is thus a win for Google, it added.

 

On the other hand, it noted Sony appeared to be dragging its heels on the release.

 

“The documents for approval were first submitted to the FCC last September and just this Wednesday the user guide and FCC test photos showed up,” it said.

 

Photos

 

Photos of the new machine on the FCC website show the lack of a Windows key, mic and headphone jacks, HDMI port, an SD card reader and two USB 2.0 ports.

 

Laptopreviews.com also noted the battery is removable, while the laptop has a small hole where one can jam a pin to reset the machine.

 

“Finally, we can see the Chromebook open and being measured with an approximate depth of 21 cm,” it added.

 

Also, it noted the photo has a sticker that indicates it has an 11.6” Samsung screen and the CPU is a “T25,” which could be an Nvidia Tegra 2 T25 ARM based processor.

 

A Tegra 2 processor would be interesting as it would make for the first Chromebook to run on a non-Intel based processor, Laptopreview.com added.

 

The site also deduced the specs of the machine as follows:

 

Processor: Nvidia Tegra 250 T25 1.2GHz ARM based processor (?)

Screen: 11.6” diagonal, produced by Samsung

OS: Chrome OS

Memory: 2GB RAM (?)

Ports: two USB 2.0, SD card reader, headphone port, microphone port, HDMI

Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth

Storage: SSD – 16GB (?)

 

Pricing

 

Laptopreviews.com speculated the new Chromebook would likely be within the $299 to $400 range. — TJD, GMA News