Sony shows off 13-inch VAIO Ultrabook behind glass, we go eyes-on

There seems little doubt that CES 2012 will go down as the year of the Ultrabook, and like clockwork, Sony's getting in on the action, as evidenced by that 13-inch laptop on display behind a plate of glass. Granted, it's not quite as sexy as the further-off hybrid devices we saw the other day -- or even, say the Acer Aspire S5 and HP Envy Spectre, but Sony certainly knows how to design a handsome laptop. And, heck, there's no telling how much the final version will look when it's released later this year -- Sony's not really letting up a lot of information at the moment.

As you can see for yourselves, that notebook has a silver color, but even then, Sony tells us that might change before it actually hits the market. The cover has a brushed aluminum texture, with a shiny stylized VAIO logo stamped in the center. When closed, it's not the thinnest Ultrabook, from what we can tell. It also has a glossy 13-inch display and Sony's signature chicklet keyboard. Above the keyboard, you've got a row of small physical buttons, denoting power on / off, VAIO, Web and Assist -- familiar functions, all. In front of the keyboard is a seamless clickpad, with another VAIO logo sitting to the left.

Along the left side of the unnamed Ultrabook, you'll find an Ethernet jack, VGA and HDMI output, a memory card slot and a headphone jack. On the other side, sits the power port, a fan and two USB ports. Sadly, we were unable to actually touch the thing, this being an early build, but you can be sure we'll keep you posted on finer points like pricing, availability and specs as we learn them.