LAS VEGAS -- Sony is developing a version of its Vaio RA desktop PC that will have a storage capacity of 1.6TB and be geared towards storing, editing, and distributing high-definition digital video, company officials say.




The new Vaio will be designed to complement Sony's HD video cameras and HD televisions, new models of which will be on tap for 2005, says Mike Fidler, senior vice president of the home products division for Sony Electronics. He spoke during a press conference at the International Consumer Electronics Show here.

System Specs

The new desktop is expected to be based on Intel's 915 chip set with PCI Express peripheral interconnect technology. It will have four Serial ATA ports for connecting hard drives, two optical drives, a media card reader, and a TV tuner card.

It will run Windows XP Media Center Edition and come bundled with Vegas 5, Sony's software for creating and editing HD content, says Todd Titera, product manager of Vaio personal computers at Sony.

Users will be able to load content to the PC from their HD video camera for editing, and then feed the content from the PC to a compatible HDTV using Sony's RoomLink Media Receiver, a networked set-top adapter, Fidler says. RoomLink uses specifications developed by the Digital Life Networking Alliance to interconnect gadgets in the home. A new version of RoomLink is expected by February, according to Sony officials.

Sony's new desktop will be mostly liquid cooled to offset the heat generated by the powerful hardware required to handle HD content, Titera says. The liquid cooling will make for a quieter system, with an average noise level of 28 decibels, compared to the 36 to 37 decibels emitted by a normal PC, according to Titera.

Pricey PC

A basic configuration is likely to cost more than $2000 without a monitor, and a good monitor could add a further $2000 to the price, Titera says. The machine is expected to be available by the middle of this year, he says.

The Vaio teaser was part of a big HD push by top Sony executives here at CES. They said that most of Sony's future hardware products will be HD-compatible, including the PlayStation 3 and the company's LCD TVs, video cameras, digital cameras, and DVD storage products.

Sony will offer more content in HD formats to go with its HD hardware, says Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony of America.

"A sophisticated device without content is scrap metal," he says.


on a side note -- there is a new build of sony vegas 5 out as of a hour ago ..