Rumors of a new ultra mobile PC from Sony appeared over the weekend. Now Sony officially released information about the VAIO UX Micro PC.

Update:
Sony VAIO UX available for pre-order

The Sony Micro PC runs Windows XP Pro on a Intel Core Solo Ultra Low Voltage CPU. The touch-screen is 4.5 inch in size and features SVGA resolution. The screen can be slided up revealing a full QWERTY keyboard.

The Sony VAIO UX supports Wi-Fi, Cingular's EDGE and Bluetooth for internet access. Sony's SmartWi technology is supposed to make switching between those seamlessly.
Two cameras are available in the VAIO UX for convenient video conferencing. A VGA adaptor lets you connect the UX Micro PC to a projector for presentations.
A biometric sensor only grants access to the owner of the VAIO UX. There will be a HDD inside the VAIO UX.
The VAIO UX Micro PC will be available in July for about $1,800 in the United States. Sony will already release the UX Micro PC in Japan on May 27th.

Question: Who needs this device? The Samsung Q1 UMPC sells for $1,099.99 for instance and that is already way to expensive. For $1,800 you get a very cool ultra mobile Notebook that is actually fully useable. The Micro PC does not fit in your pant pockets, so why bother to deal with the disadvantages of this 'in-between form factor'.

I reviewed the first Sony U Series VGN-U50 back in 2004. That palm-sized Windows XP computer also never made a market for itself.

More details in this Sony press-release.