Sony To Enter The Ultra-Portable Space?

Call it what you want it (everyone had fun with the name game for the ultra-portable space this weekend), but it is a market everyone wants to be playing in. Sony apparently does as well. Due to what appears to be a presentation goof, word has leaked out that Sony is going to offer a low cost mobile device featuring the VIA OpenBook Reference design. Apparently Quanta, who was demoing a prototype didn’t check things out too well.

A prototype of the laptop, based on the open-source Via OpenBook reference design announced last week, was shown by contract manufacturer Quanta Computer at WiMax Expo, an exhibition being held alongside the annual Computex show in Taipei.

The laptop will begin shipping during the third quarter, Quanta said.

A check of the laptop’s properties confirmed the laptop is based on a 1.6GHz C7-M processor from Via and listed Sony as the manufacturer. When the existence of Sony’s name on the machine was pointed out to a Quanta executive manning the booth, he quickly closed the properties window and declined to explain why Sony was listed as the manufacturer.

Sony executives were not immediately available for comment.

Via PCWorld and UMPCPortal