Sony has announced a ridiculously thin 11.1-inch ultraportable, dubbed VAIO X. It's just half an inch or 13mm thick, and weighs 1.5 pounds, or 700g for European folks.

This was achieved through the use of some rather pricey materials on the chassis, mainly carbon fiber, while the keyboard is crafted from a slab of aluminium. In spite of its anorexic appearance, Sony claims it should offer day-long battery life, whatever that means.

Now for the bad news, it's an Atom. No, it's not a CULV, and Sony is still mute on the official spec, so there's a chance it's just an Atom-based prototype, but that it will end up with a proper CPU once it ships. Speaking of shipping, it's expected to appear in retail in late October or early November.

The other bad bit of news will probably be the price, once Sony reveals it. Like most Sony's it will undoubtedly be overpriced, and we would not be surprised to see it sell in the $1500 to $2000 price range.

More here.