VAIO

Sony Thinks Its Best You Don’t Upgrade Your VAIO to Windows 10

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 12, 2015 | 12 comments

Think Sony is done with VAIO and that it’s dead? Well, as it turns out, no to the first part and yes to the second part – but let’s start from the beginning. Sony shuttered VAIO, their PC division in February 2014, only to have the company be reborn again in August of that year. However, that VAIO is an independently-run company with reach only in Japan. The news about VAIO today has nothing to do with that VAIO and everything to do with the VAIO of Sony which is still legally responsible for the models it sold.

As it turns out, if you own a Sony VAIO, you may want to hold off on upgrading to Windows 10. Details after the jump.

Look – VAIO is Back

by Jonathan Nolan | Aug 11, 2014 | 20 comments

Look – VAIO is back – without Sony, that is. Remember back in February Sony announced plans to sell it’s VAIO brand of PC computers? Well that new owner has just relaunched itself and VAIOs are back on sale – in Japan only for now. No more Sony logos of course, Japan Industrial Partners will have to make its own mark on consumers hearts to succeed.

The past few years has been a rough one for the PC industry, as it has been particularly challenged by the popularity of smartphones and tablets which have reduced reliance on the traditional home computer. In the PC industry, the changing times has seen few winners, if any, and Sony certainly wasn’t one of them. As VAIO sales were not performing well, Sony released the brand to Japan Industrial Partners.

So what’s happening with the new VAIOs? Read on to find out.

Sony Corp. Full Year Financial Results 2013 – Both a Profit and a Loss

by Jonathan Nolan | May 5, 2014 | 0 comments

The full year results for the fiscal year FY13 are in and Sony is suffering a loss accounted to the PC business and a fall in demand for disks. Sales and operating income are up on last year yet net profit has been eroded, with a loss of ¥130bn / $1.27bn / €929m. Sony cites that costs related to the PC business continue to drag profit downward as they prepare to wind down their VAIO division and sell off the brand.

Read on for the full story.

Sony Releases Statement About VAIO Flip Units Catching Fire

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 22, 2014 | 2 comments

In mid April, news began to circulate about certain Sony VAIO Flip units being prone to catching fire, thanks to a battery defect from Panasonic. We soon learned that the specific computer in question was the VAIO Fit 11A/Flip PC. While only three minor incidents had been reported at the time, the whole affair has caused a bit of a sour note as Sony continues to ramp down VAIO prior to officially closing down and selling the division to Japan Industrial Partners. Now, Sony has released a statement about the matter and calls upon owners to

immediately discontinue use, shut down and unplug the PC

The full statement and instructions on how to check if your VAIO is affected by this can be found after the jump.

Is the Sony VAIO Fit Prone to Catching on Fire?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 14, 2014 | 0 comments

Part of the last PC that Sony will ship, the VAIO Fit 11a was part of Sony’s strategy to capitalize on the Netbook and tablet market by offering a hybrid unit. Since that time, Sony has shipped nearly 26,000 units, mostly in Europe, but due to a manufacturing defect, each unit shipped is prone to overheat and catch fire.

Tomorrow Is the Last Day to Buy a Sony VAIO

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 20, 2014 | 11 comments

While in hindsight, the selloff of VAIO, Sony’s PC division isn’t a huge shocker, seeing how low of a market share the division held (just under 2%), the entire news did come as a surprise. Under the agreement, VAIO will be transferred/sold to Japan Industrial Partners which will oversee the future of the company in just Japan. This will result in VAIO disappearing off store shelves in all other countries and territories.

From the initial announcement, we’d learned that Spring was the targeted timeframe for Sony to wind down VAIO but we didn’t know the company was being that literal.

iF Design Awards Celebrates 26 Sony Products

by Jonathan Nolan | Mar 4, 2014 | 0 comments

Sony has proven itself once again in design terms, with no less than 26 of its products earning the seal of approval from the iF Design group, with three products earning a gold award. In individual company achievements, Sony ranked the third highest awarded company, ahead of rivals Apple and LG.

iF is an international group that recognises excellence in product design. It is their aim to “strengthen public awareness of design” and their logo has been an illustrious global standard of design for over sixty years. This year’s event took place on February 28th in Munich, Germany.

It probably surprises few that Sony would do well with awards for design. The company has always raised the bar with iconic and effortless designs with current class-leaders in the Xperia Z2, the PlayStation 4 and the luxury X9000A Bravia TV line to name but a few.

Read on to find out which Sony products earned gold and which two awards come at a bittersweet time.

Official: Sony Selling VAIO PC Division

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 6, 2014 | 5 comments

Usually, rumors that spread about companies tend to manifest into reality or some form of it over a multi-month time span. However, the most recent rumor, regarding Sony selling off its VAIO PC business, is an entirely new beast. Only days after news about the sell off of the premium PC brand began circulate, has Sony come out during their Q3 2013 earnings report to confirm it all. Come Spring, Sony will cease their design, manufacturing, and selling of VAIO. After that, VAIO will be transferred/sold to Japan Industrial Partners. As we’d reported previously, it’s now widely believed that under Japan Industrial Partners, the VAIO brand will be pulled from nearly all territories, including Europe. JIP will begin to focus on Sony’s home turf of Japan though depending on market conditions and success of the brand, they could expand operations once again. Unfortunately as it is with deals like this, a series of layoffs will follow.

Steve Jobs Wanted Mac OS X Running on Sony VAIOs?

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 5, 2014 | 3 comments

According to an interview with former Sony President Kunitake Ando, during a 2001 golf trip to Hawaii, Steve Jobs surprised him and his team with VAIO laptop running on Mac OS X. It’s no secret that Steve Jobs at the time shared a passion for Sony and was known to be close with Sony’s co-founder Akio Morita. In fact, after his return to Apple in 1997, Steve Jobs attempted to model parts of Apple, including factories and their now iconic stores, after Sony. While the story might sound too far fetched, besides his admiration at the time for Sony, Steve Jobs and his top lieutenants were known to go to Hawaii once a year for a retreat where they relaxed and freely bounced ideas between one another. As we now know, the partnership never came to be, with Sony turning down the proposal but the facts around it might be even more intriguing than the reasoning.

Is Sony Looking to Sell Off Its VAIO PC Business?

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 4, 2014 | 12 comments

A new report from Nikkei, the Japanese news service indicates that Sony may be looking to sell off its PC business. VAIO currently offers slim pickings of desktops and a wide range of notebooks and Ultrabooks. Despite having a very innovative line of computers like the Tap 20, Flip series and the powerful VAIO Z, Sony has never been a large player in the PC business and commands a 1.9% share of all PCs shipped during the January-September period of 2013.

Unlike HP, Lenovo, and Dell who cater to budget-conscious buyers, Sony has traditionally targeted the more premium segment of the PC industry which is primarily dominated by Apple. Moody recently cut Sony’s credit rating to junk, specifically pointing out the company’s personal computer division. This was as odd then as it is now, seeing how PC sales are a part of the Mobile Products & Communications segment, of which less than half of this is PC with smartphones and tablets instead dominating this segment, which has a 17.9% part of total sales in Sony Corp. So if the division does little for Sony’s bottom line, could the sale of VAIO be true?

Investor Ratings Agency Moody Cuts Sony Stock Grade to Junk; We Discuss the Company’s Outlook

by Jonathan Nolan | Jan 28, 2014 | 8 comments

On Monday this week the Japanese branch of the investor ratings agency Moody reduced Sony Corp. stock from Baa3 to Ba1, leading to a tumble in the stock price.

This news has produced mixed reactions. Moody’s report predictably targets falling PC demand and the troubles that the TV division has had. Fortunately, these areas form a smaller part of Sony’s operating revenue than only a few years ago thanks to years of cost-cutting measures and a reorganisation that targeted higher growth-potential areas such as smartphones, tablets and the gaming sector. Additionally, newer streams of income have been sourced in insurance and medical devices.

What exactly did Moody’s evaluation take issue with?

Sony VAIO Tap 11, Flip 13, and Flip 15 Prices Revealed

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 22, 2013 | 22 comments

At the Berlin IFA 2013 conference, Sony announced a whole host of new laptops and tablets, including the VAIO Tap 11 series, designed to take on the Microsoft Surface Pro. As a recap, the VAIO Tap 11 is an 11-inch Windows 8 tablet with dual speakers with a 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display and is configurable with up to a 512GB SSD drive and Intel Haswell Core i7 Processor. While at the conference we learned everything could about what the tablet could offer, Sony was mum on its release date and price tag. Now thank to Sony, we can report on the series release date and price.

The Sony VAIO Flip PC, a Hybrid Notebook/Tablet

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 12, 2013 | 19 comments

We’ve all been there. Should I take my laptop or tablet with me? Although it’s very much a #FirstWorldProblem, it’s one nonetheless. With the VAIO Flip PC, Sony looks to remedy this problem by giving us a hybrid notebook/tablet that can give you something from both worlds while creating an entirely new product category. So what exactly is the Sony VAIO Flip PC? Let’s talk details.

Sony VAIO Tap 11 Image Gallery

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 5, 2013 | 1 comment

Sony VAIO Tap 11_04

If you’ve been drooling over the Sony VAIO Tap 11, the company’s first foray into the Windows 8 tablet world, then you won’t want to miss our gallery that will only further entice you. As a reminder, the Tap 11, as the name suggests is an 11-inch tablet with a 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display and offers Haswell chip (Core i3, i5 or i7) with 128GB to 512GB of solid-state storage. The Tap 11 also features a new keyboard with more depth than the Surface Pro from Microsoft will still managing to be thinner. After the jump, our VAIO Tap 11 image gallery awaits you.

Sony Announces VAIO Tap 11, Takes On Surface Pro from Microsoft

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 4, 2013 | 3 comments

Despite the lukewarm responses to Windows 8 tablets, Sony is finally expanding its mobile fleet beyond Android by announcing the VAIP Tap 11. If you’re at all familiar with the Surface Pro from Microsoft, the VAIO Tap 11 takes most of its cues from that design. Sony would argue however that their tablet not only offers superior specs, but some fresh features as well like an all new attachable keyboard with thicker keys for easier typing while the entire product all together is no thicker than the Surface Pro. Interested? Yea, us too so lets talk details.