VAIO teams up with Microsoft to reenter Asia market
After a four-year absence, the VAIO notebook PCs return to Taiwan with the launch of two new versions targeting young consumers.
At a news conference held as part of the annual COMPUTEX show, Nexstgo — the company that brings VAIO notebooks to Taiwan — teamed up with Japan’s VAIO Corp. to present the new VAIO notebooks to the press.
The new notebooks come in two versions, an 11 inch and a 13 inch, featuring a selection of five colors: black, silver, white, pink and brown. Compared with older models, the innovative new models are lighter and thinner, featuring a faster recharge and boasting more features.
“The new VAIO notebooks have undergone drop tests, stress tests and water tests. The keyboard is waterproof. One hour’s recharge can fill up 80 percent of the battery,” said Rick Hung, head of product management at VAIO.
“VAIO’s true-performance technology optimizes CPU performance and improves the 8th-generation Intel Core processors by 11 to 13 percent,” he noted.
The 11-inch VAIO notebook, or VAIO S11, weighs 0.85 kilograms, measuring 15 millimeters at its thinnest part, and it can operate for 11 hours on a single charge.
The 13-inch notebook, or VAIO S13, weighs 1.07 kilograms, also measuring 15 millimeters at its thinnest part, and it can operate for eight hours on a single charge.
The S11 uses a carbon fiber chassis, whereas the S13 has a magnesium alloy chassis for impact resistance.
For security, both notebooks can be activated using a fingerprint sensor powered by Windows Hello.
Isaiah Cheung, consumer vice president for Microsoft Greater China, also attended the launch event, celebrating the return of VAIO notebooks to Asia.
“The notebook’s cool design shows VAIO truly understands consumers,” Cheung said.
Cheung said that Microsoft is happy to collaborate with VAIO with its Windows 10 operating system, stating that 700 million people around the world are using Windows 10 because it is more secure and faster than other operating systems.
“As Windows 10 is faster, you can save more time for your family and friends,” he said.
Preorders for the VAIO notebook S11 and S13 start today, with sales slated to commence by mid-July in Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau, by early August in Singapore, and by late August in Malaysia.