Rumor: Sony readies Vaio Hybrid PC and Chrome notebook

Sony is reportedly working on two new Vaio laptop models that will bring a completely different feature set than usual. The first is a two-part system, or Hybrid PC, which comprises a very lightweight main unit and a separate attachment that will turn it into a powerful desktop replacement when docked. The second, a Chrome OS notebook with hardware under the hood that's closer to a powerful tablet rather than a full-blown notebook.

Specs on the Hybrid laptop by itself are nothing to be scoffed at. It will reportedly include an Intel Core i7 processor, SSD for storage, HDMI output with 3D support, battery life of up to 16 hours and a fast Thunderbolt port, all in a package that weighs just around 2.5 pounds. As for the second part of the hybrid Vaio, it'll be a separate unit weighing around 1.5 pounds that combines a more powerful graphic processor -- listed as an AMD "Whistler-XT" card boasting 1GB of RAM -- with a Blu-ray disc reader and writer, as well HMDI and VGA output, an Ethernet port and USB.

There's no mention of price or any other specs over at Sony Insider, which first covered the rumor, but hopefully we’ll find out more as the Vaio Hybrid moves close to its supposed summer release date.

As for the Chrome OS notebook, the device is said to have an 11.6-inch display with 1366 by 768 pixels resolution, 1GB of RAM, an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and 16GB of storage via an electronic multimedia card (eMMC). Battery life is rated at about 8 hours and overall size and weight should be around an inch thick and 2.2 pounds.

On the software side you can expect quick booting and auto-updating along some Vaio related software as well. Sony Insider mentions the Chrome OS laptop will also have Bluetooth and GPS capabilities along the standard Wi-Fi connection, but for some reason they won't be 'enabled' at launch. We'll be keeping an eye out for more details.