Sony VAIO Ultimate Notebook and Freestyle Hybrid Tablet Unveiled

It was just a day ago that Sony formally unveiled its upcoming S1 and S2 tablets but it appears more things are in store, provided a certain report turns out to be true that is.

Of the companies that joined the tablet segment, ASUS already has one with a sliding mechanism that lets one use a keyboard.

Apparently, people really like tablets but wouldn't really mind the possibility to just add a physical keyboard when they feel like it.

This is probably why the Eee Pad transformer, which went on sale yesterday (April 26, 2011), sold out so quickly.

That said, it looks like Sony might also be considering a tablet designed with a sliding mechanism, essentially letting the slate itself stand more or less upright when the keyboard is pulled out.

The leaked pictures suggest that said model has the name or title of Freestyle Hybrid PC, although not much else is known about the product.

Depending on how soon it debuts, and on Sony's preferences, it may use an ARM platform (like NVIDIA's Tegra series) or one of the Intel Oak Trail chips.

Users should probably take note to the fact that this Freestyle Hybrid PC is not the only device that the so-called leak mentions.

There is another photo with what looks like a new member of the VAIO series of mobile computers, one whose name is Ultimate Mobile PC.

As it stands, it is hard to tell whether 'Ultimate mobile PC' is the actual name or just meant to describe the laptop as best-in-class.

All one can notice from the photo is the presence of the SuperSPeed USB 3.0 interface and the HDMI output.

Again, no info exists on the hardware, nor on the pricing or when and where one can expect the tablet and notebook to be showcased. What remains is to see how other tablet and mobile PC players respond.