Sony Wants to Get In Your Living Room

It seems that Sony's trying its best to get into every corner of your house, and is employing every means necessary to do so. So, if you haven't (yet) chosen the PlayStation 3 as your living-room media center, you can try out the ultra-cool Vaio TP1, a special brand of PC that will keep you entertained in (almost) every way you might think of.

As you probably know, the Vaio brand has always been associated with style. And the TP1 fits the profile perfectly, as it sports a sleek, white finish, as well as a small, spherical shape meant to feel right at home in the vicinity of an LCD TV. Moreover, it incorporates wireless LAN technology and, with the help of a wireless router, it can put an end to all those pesky wires running around in your room.

As most other Vaio products, the TP1 is not only a pretty face. It is capable of carrying out a wide variety of functions, as for example record, pause and rewind live TV, including over-the-air high-definition and standard-definition programming for on-demand playback, or access Internet television shows and other video content on the WWW. And these are only the TV-related functions, since the TP1 can also be used for more PC-istic purposes, as for example ripping music, viewing digital photos etc.

Here's a list of the most important features and specs you might expect from the Vaio TP1:

- dimensions: 27 cm x 9.1 cm x 9.1 cm; - weight: 3.7 kilos; - processor: Intel Core2 Duo, 1.83 GHz, 2 MB Cache, Intel Viiv technology; - RAM memory: 2 GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory; - HDD storage capacity: 300 GB SATA HDD, 7200 RPM; - graphics: Intel Media Graphics Accelerator 950, 224 MB of graphics memory; - optic unit: multiformat DVD-RW (compatible with Dual Layer discs); - TV tuner: HD digital cable tuner with ATSC and NTSC compatibility; - network: 10Base-T/100 Base-TX Ethernet adapter, 802.11 b/g WiFi adapter; - features: memory card reader for MS and SD memory cards; - inputs: composite A/V, VHF/UHF (NTSC), 4 pin iLink interface, microphone jack; - outputs: HDMI, headphone jack, VGA, S/PDI F, IR; - interface: USB 2.0; - comes with: wireless keyboard, remote control; - OS: Windows Vista Home Premium.

According to various sources over the Internet, the Vaio TP1 is expected to ship in March with a $1,600 suggested retail price. That's a bit much, even for such a device, but the thing is so damn attractive and packed full of features that it's worth every penny.

We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .