Remember Vaio, the line of laptops formerly owned by Sony? It’s still kicking, and about to launch a colorful new model: the Vaio C15.
This is the first standard laptop from Vaio since Sony sold the brand in 2014, and it’s looking pretty good. The key selling point, so far as we can tell, is the color options — the laptop comes in unique combinations like yellow/black, white/copper, navy/gray, and orange/khaki. Some of these colors even have a pinstriped look.
Currently, the laptop is being advertised in Japan, and there’s no word about a North American release, but photos offer a look at what future post-Sony Viao laptops look like.
The laptop’s base model is powered by an Intel Celeron 3215U processor and 4GB of memory, with another model offering a Core i3-5005U and 8GB of memory. The 15.5-inch display offers a default resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels, with a 1080p panel optional. There’s no solid state drive: the standard model comes with a 500GB mechanical disk. A solid state drive is not available even as an option, though a hybrid drive (a mechanical disk with a large solid state cache) can be purchased. Interestingly, Windows 7 is offered as an alternative to Windows 10.
The laptop costs 66,800 Japanese yen, or $641 U.S., if purchased from the Vaio online Store, which is a little high. Buy the laptop elsewhere and you’ll pay 94,800 yen, or $910. Japanese laptop prices tend to be around 30 percent higher than those in the U.S., which makes up at least part of the difference.
The colors are certainly cool, helping these laptops stand out. The photos sure do make the visual case that a laptop can complement your interior design. And there are notable features other than the color schemes. The speakers include a bass subwoofer, and the keyboard offers a numeric keypad.
Japan Industrial Partners, which bought the Vaio line from Sony in 2014, seems to be hoping the strength of the brand — and a nice color scheme — will move units.
Japanese pre-orders for the Vaio C15 begin on September 1; purchases can be made in Japan starting September 9.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.