(Japanese Site)
|
|
| Sony Develops Mini-Notebook PC With CCD Camera
|
|
July 6, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Sony Corp. is
developing a mini-notebook personal computer with a built-in charge
-coupled device (CCD) camera, said Kunitake Ando, Sony's Information Technology Company president.
|
Ando made the comment July 1 in his keynote lecture at the Windows
World Expo/Tokyo '98 exposition held at the Makuhari Messe hall in
Makuhari, Chiba prefecture.
During his lecture, Ando displayed a prototype
of the mini-notebook PC with a built-in CCD camera(
See chart ). He said the company plans to commercialize the
camera, although a marketing schedule is not yet firm.
Ando is responsible for Sony's PC business. His lecture attracted
wide attention from among those interested in Sony's plans for
ultra-thin notebook PCs.
Ando said that when he visits computer shows overseas, he can read
reports immediately because the press usually takes photos of new
computers using digital cameras. However, Ando said that it would
be easier to take pictures with a digital camera and capture the
images on an attached PC to be processed and sent.
Sony is developing a convenient combination of a PC and a digital
camera, he explained. A prototype also was exhibited at the company
's booth, and many questions were asked by visitors.
The prototype is slightly more rectangular than mini-notebook PCs
made by Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. It has a color thin-film
transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) with a resolution of 1,
024 x 480 pixels. A small CCD camera is contained on a hook-like
attachment at the top of the display.
The digital camera is capable of taking still and motion pictures
with 320 x 240 pixels. It can be turned 180 degrees to the back of
the display. The mini-notebook PC also can send recorded pictures
via email, according to Sony.
Sony will soon decide on a name, the price and a release date, a
company official said.
|
Chart: Prototype of the mini-notebook PC with a built-in CCD
camera
|
|
|
(return to news)
(Hi-Tech News Center)
|
|
|
