In a showing of life after Sony the independent Vaio unveils a prototype device aimed at a niche within its home Japan-- a premium 12.3-inch convertible notebook/tablet designed with creative professionals in mind.
Described by the company as the "monster tablet," the hybrid device features a 2560x1704 (3:2) touchscreen, stylus input and a wireless keyboard, as well as an Intel Haswell quad-core CPU with Iris graphics. It also has a price tag that all but ignores the entry-level market.
“By creating a tablet environment that is as powerful as a desktop, we want to free up creators from the desk when at work,” Vaio says.
According to Vaio aiming at high-paying niche markets worked well for Panasonic, whose high-end business computing device lineup proved profitable, a rarity within the current state of the Japanese PC industry.
“Our CEO is telling us all the time we should learn from the success of Panasonic,” a company spokesperson tells the Wall Street Journal.
To further confirm its pro market ambitions Vaio showed off the prototype at MAX, a digital arts conference organised by Photoshop maker Adobe.
The first Vaio product in the vein of the prototype should hit the Japanese market by May 2015.