Sony Vaio X Series

The carbon fiber Vaio X Series measures only 0.55 inches thick, and weighs an amazing 1.5 pounds.

Move over, MacBook Air. Although Dell already ripped up Apple’s envelope with the thinner-than-Air Adamo, Sony has set its own sights on the King of Thin, and the resulting Vaio X Series should put both imitator and imitated to shame.

Sony teased the Vaio X at this year’s IFA conference in Berlin, which essentially functions as the European version of CES. With no spec sheet or press release to be found, all we know are the bare essentials from Sony’s press conference: the screen spans 11.1 inches, the whole laptop measures only 0.55 inches thick (compared to 0.76 inches on the Air), and Sony has wrapped it in so much carbon fiber that its total weight comes to only 1.5 pounds. That’s just a smidge heavier than the almost-pocketable and highly flippable 1.4-pound Vaio P.

The Vaio X shown at IFA used the Intel Atom processor typically found in netbooks, but Sony has pledged that its choice of hardware is not yet final. (That should be reassuring news for those who have dealt with the similarly sexy but critically crippled Vaio P.) Sony has also promised a work day of battery life, and the option for a built-in 3G modem. The engineering prototype includes two USB ports, a memory card reader, Ethernet jack, and VGA video output. In the same weight-saving spirit that drove the need for a carbon-fiber shell, the keyboard is milled from aluminum.

Unlike the far-away products previewed at CES, most products shown at IFA come down the pipe in the near future, and Sony has said the Vaio X will go on sale in the week following the Windows 7 launch on October 22. However, many products shown at IFA appear only in European markets, so it could be some time until the Vaio X floats its way over the U.S. As for price, none has yet been announced, but most industry commentators expect Sony to debut it for under $2,000 to compete with the likes of the Air and other ultralights such as the Dell Adamo and Lenovo X301.