The company's offerings also include new notebook and desktop PCs that support multiple DVD-burning formats, part of Sony's strategy to gain a larger piece of the PC market. The new Clie -- dubbed the PEG-NZ90 -- will be pricey, but it will serve as a bridge between smaller Sony devices, such as digital cameras and the company's Vaio PCs. The PEG-NZ90's 2-megapixel camera includes a flash, along with zoom and autofocus features. It's similar to previous Clies in that it offers a flip-and-swivel screen, but it also packs wireless-networking capabilities, including 802.11b and Bluetooth. The new Clie will cost $800 (about £515) and will begin shipping at the end of February, Sony representatives said. The company's new Vaio PCG-GRV680 will include Sony's first notebook combination DVD-RW/DVD+RW drive when it ships in March, Sony said. The desknote machine will feature a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor from Intel, along with a 16-inch screen and a 60GB hard drive. Sony has not announced pricing yet. Although DVD burning is relatively new for notebooks, Sony has been offering it on desktops for some time, and it's striking the dual-format note there as well. Like the newly announced notebook, Sony's Vaio PCV-RZ series desktops will offer a combination DVD-RW/DVD+RW drive. These dual format machines will range in price from $1,450, for a PCV-RZ22G, to as much as $2,300, for a PCV-RZ26G model with a 3.06GHz Pentium 4 chip from Intel, Sony said. Aside from offering users more flexibility, dual formats provide a convenient way for Sony to deal with the ongoing standards battle between the formats. For people looking for inexpensive DVD burning, Sony announced the new Vaio PCV-RS100, a desktop that offers a built-in DVD burner for a price less than $800, without a monitor. Sony did not say when any of the new desktop models would be available. Sony is holding a press conference Thursday to announce its new Memory Stick Pro Media. Details posted on the company's SonyStyle Web site, however, confirmed that the new sticks will be available, as expected, in 256MB, 512MB and 1GB capacities, starting this March. Sony Memory Stick partner SanDisk said that it expects the cards to be available in April priced from $189 to $879. Sony also announced a host of other products at CES, ranging from camcorders that use DVD-rewritable technology to new Sony Walkman music players. The company is set to release into the consumer-electronics market a DVD recorder, the RDR-GX7, which supports DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-R formats. The drive will basically serve as a replacement for VCRs, which have become a low-margin business for Sony. The recorder will be released in June for about $800. The device uses similar technology found in its drives for PCs, but instead of focusing on performance, its top feature is picture quality. Sony also announced it will launch two products in the United States that have already been available in Japan. The company's US release of its home networking device RoomLink is expected in the spring, and its digital video recording device CoCoon will come later this year, depending on when Sony can establish a DVR (digital video recorder) service. The company said recordable DVD Blu-ray Discs would likely appear this year, initially in Japan. Ando said the technology is ready, but there are some licensing issues that still needed to be worked out.
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