I thought I would share how VAIO SZ came to this world and what its developers had to say about it. Enjoy!

Interviewing with VAIO SZ Developers

Listen in to this roundtable discussion with Sony innovators to learn how they harnassed the latest developments in hardware and software engineering to achieve robust performance without sacrificing elegant mobility.

Sony’s prestige VAIO SZ is a triumph of notebook computer engineering. While providing the sterling performance, stamina and security required in today’s fast-moving business world, the VAIO SZ is supremely slim and lightweight.

Yet its cutting-edge design incorporates a bright 13.3” widescreen display with integrated camera, double-layer optical drive, 802.11 b/g connectivity, biometric fingerprint sensor, and comfortable keyboard with 3mm stroke. What follows is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how Sony engineers conceived this intelligent fusion of mobility, power and style.

CONCEPT

More than just a successor to the VAIO S, the VAIO SZ was designed as a premium product for the discerning business executive.

Miyuki Terashima - Productplanning

Terashima: In making this VAIO SZ, we didn’t just focus on features and performance. We took great pains over even the smallest details of design and quality. We were aiming to create not just a computer, a tool, but something good enough to be picked by people much as they would a luxury item.
We realized that the wrong approach would be to see it simply as a successor model to the VAIO S, which was a bestseller worldwide — in other words, to assume that all we had to do was upgrade it a little. No, we deliberately set our sights high. Specifically, we aimed to improve mobile performance, and at the same time upgrade computing performance. From Design came the opinion that “Those two objectives conflict.” Nevertheless, in the end we built something that effectively meets both of these contradictory aims. In that sense, you can probably say that we had quite a hard time in the design phase.

— Who are your target users?

Terashima: We had in mind the sort of high-end user who doesn’t just look at a computer’s features, but a purchaser with a discerning eye for good products who would specify this model by name. When we look at owners of this series, there are basically a lot of business people, so we’ve incorporated various security features.

Kaoru Hayashi - Project Manager

Hayashi: The key target is the ‘Executive business person’. The sort of user image that we were anticipating during the development process was an executive-class business user, the sort of person who looks like they only need a computer to do their work. We wanted to create the sort of sophisticated machine that users would be happy to brag about.

— Did you set yourselves specific numerical targets, or was there some sort of Holy Grail you were aiming for?

Hayashi: It wasn’t a numerical target, but from the VAIO S onwards we have been committed to building high-performance mobile computers. And that’s why we decided that we absolutely had to use a standard CPU — not a ULV (ultra-low voltage processor) — while at the same time extending battery life, and of course keeping the dimensions and weight down for mobile use.

— Please explain the design concept.

Atsushi Kawase - Product Design

Kawase: This being the successor to the VAIO S, which also earned high marks for design, we put priority on the sense of prestige — a premium product worthy of executives. First, we had to find a way to express this high quality in the design, and we had to make it fresh and innovative while still delivering the message that it was a sturdy, no-nonsense business computer. I thought this was a bit of a tall order, but for this model we already had a main theme — an aluminium palm rest — so it was relatively easy to settle on an image, a design that would make the most of this feature.

MOBILE PERFORMANCE & COMPUTING PERFORMANCE

Learn how Sony succeeded in creating such a lightweight yet powerful notebook PC — slim build with outsize stamina.

— What are the most prominent features of the VAIO SZ?

Terashima: A notebook computer always has to be thin, lightweight, and have ample stamina, but this time we also put priority on high computing performance. High mobile performance and high computing performance are contradictory goals, but we have realized both of them in the VAIO SZ. And if you look at computing performance, you will recognize that an important feature is the fact that, while adopting the new Centrino platform, we still have managed to keep this notebook computer as thin and as light as the previous model.

— What difficulties did you encounter with the latest Intel platform?
Tatsuya Tobe - Electrical Design
           

Tobe:Take power consumption. The average power of the latest Intel platform is very low, and if we compare it with the previous platform, power consumption during idling is quite a bit lower. However, performance is up quite a bit, as is clear from both processing and graphics. This is particularly true of the dual-core CPU, which rates double the score of the previous processor, as measured by the CPU2000, a benchmark used for determining CPU performance. But, as you would expect, maximum power consumption is up considerably as a result, and there’s a lot more heat. So it was quite a job coordinating with the guys in mechanical design and software design to find a solution to this.

— Wasn’t there anyone who got cold feet along the way and suggested adopting the ULV solution?

Hayashi:In the initial discussions there was a fair amount of anxiety, yes.

Terashima:Yes, when we thought about how we wanted to do everything with this one computer, we realized it was something we couldn’t compromise on. Other companies could look for gains in mobile performance through just using a ULV chip or internal graphics. But we were driven with the desire to do what the competitors aren’t attempting, or can’t attempt.

Hayashi:When it’s normal for others to give up, Sony doesn’t. That’s exactly why there were no compromises with this model — whether on computing performance, mobile performance, or battery life. We optimized all of them, without trading one off against another.

— What solutions did you come up with to reduce power consumption?

Terashima:This was the first time for us to put Sound Reality , a chip that offers high-quality audio, in a notebook computer. The Sound Reality features original VAIO functions, and since it’s a Sony product, we wanted to put priority on sound quality. Being fastidious about the audio quality of a desktop computer is one thing, but doing the same for a mobile notebook is especially difficult. Yet, it was something our competitors were not doing, so we wanted to try our hand at it.

Tobe:The Sound Reality chip is hooked up to the Intel High Definition Audio bus, but it was not intended to be removed or replaced. From the fact that the PCI Express has just such a slot, you can deduce that it was designed with removal/replacement in mind, so it is of course possible to shut off power. But the Azelia was not designed to be used in that way. First, we considered simply switching it off, but that was not technically feasible. So what we did was to shut down power to part of the audio codec which would not cause problems elsewhere, and only the part that has a significant impact on power consumption.
Hiroshi Mizutani - Electrical Project Leader

Mizutani:For the user who really wants to minimize power consumption on this model, we make it possible to switch the Sound Reality off: picking “super stamina” from the VAIO’s power-saving settings will turn the chip off. In addition, individual users who really want to extend battery life can directly turn the chip off if they want. So someone working solely with business applications — someone who doesn’t need sound and wants to get as much as possible out of the battery — can switch off Sound Reality and enjoy a longer battery life.

— Was mounting the camera a challenge?

Hayashi:The SZ Premium uses LED backlighting, so the LCD panel is very thin. We promised the guy in charge of the LCD that we wouldn’t mount a camera that was any deeper than the panel.

SZ Camera

Mizutani:To keep our promise we built the camera in-house. Finding a lens that would fit into such a thin camera was breaking new ground, as was just about everything else we did after that.
Masara Kawata - Software Project Leader

Kawata:There was no camera around that could be fitted within a panel that thin, so we had to start from scratch, building everything from the individual components up. This was another chapter in the tale of trials and tribulations that we suffered. We even had to develop a completely new driver, which was no easy task.

Hideki Hanamura - Mechanical Project Leader

Hanamura:We have combined two paper-thin PCBs of 0.4mm thickness and reduced the depth of the lens. It’s a fascinating design, though it was a headache to create. In fact this part is so thin that the resin is semi-transparent.

Hayashi:If you give up on one thing, everything collapses like a house of cards. So I think we had no choice but to develop our own camera.

— What about the keyboard?

Hayashi:Despite the fact that the members of the mechanical design team were instructed to keep this model thin, we went with a keyboard that has a generous 3mm stroke. Reducing the stroke from 3mm to 2mm would have meant we could make the whole computer 1mm thinner, but Hanamura-san was determined to have a keyboard with a 3mm stroke that would be great for typing and just as good as the keyboards on the large “desktop replacement” portables.

Hanamura:Isn’t it obvious that “2.5” or “2.8” just doesn’t hack it? I wanted to be able to advertise the round number “3”. I discussed this at length with Terashima-san, and I did indeed insist on sticking with “3”.

SZ Keyboard

Terashima:Here too we have the dual emphasis on mobile performance and computing performance, not just in the electrical specs. You can see our commitment to producing a hi-end machine from that fact that we chose a mechanical design that incorporates a full-size keyboard, equivalent to A4, in a mobile form factor. Again, no compromise. So I told him we should try hard to make it work.

Hayashi:My feeling was that we shouldn’t just aim for high electrical specs, but make absolutely sure that the computer is properly equipped with what it takes to be a high-end model. That premium quality, if you like. You can give a computer a fast CPU and bags of memory, but even if you then claim it’s a high-end machine, there’s really nothing more to it than that — CPU and memory. Our goal was to give the VAIO SZ solid credentials for being called “high-end” in every sense.

HYBRID GRAPHIC SYSTEM

This revolutionary idea allows the user to select the optimum balance of graphics performance and power consumption to suit any situation.

Tobe:During development when we were talking about what sort of graphics performance could be expected of the VAIO SZ, it was estimated that we could achieve roughly double that of the VAIO S benchmark. If we doubled battery life as well, it would surely be an amazing product. Now the previous VAIO S had an external graphics controller and a battery life of 3.5 hours.

— Could you explain exactly how the hybrid graphics system works?

Keisuke Koide - Software Design

Koide:Picture two graphics chips, mounted together on the same motherboard so you can switch between them. It’s literally a hybrid system.

— What was most difficult?

Hayashi:First, when the decision was made to go with hybrid graphics, people just wouldn’t believe that this would extend battery life. But Tobe-san did the calculations and proved that it really would work. Only then did everyone appreciate what it could do for battery life. But the actual development went quite smoothly, I think, from the implementation onwards, thanks to the fact that we had worked out all the details very thoroughly in the early stages.

Kawate:We had several meetings and then, when we reached the point of deciding on the general layout, we used breadboards to see if it would work. And it did! I was genuinely impressed.

Koide:One talks about switching, but it’s not as simple as that. We had to go through a series of processes, checking that each idea, which worked in principle, actually worked in practice. The process of trial and error was repeated, and at one point we seemed to be groping in the dark, looking for some kind of bright idea. There were some wrong turns along the way, but somehow we gradually made progress. We had a good tool to work with — the breadboard — and since we had made an early start, we were able to find the time and eventually succeed.

Tobe:In actual fact, just getting the pair of graphics controllers to work was not so difficult. But we spent a lot of time working on such things as the appropriate interface for delivering the output of the two controllers to the same display device; how to ensure, when outputting to a CRT, that part would be invisible to the user; how best to enable the user to switch between internal and external; and how the interface should be presented. Also, when the external graphics controller isn’t being used, power will be wasted if the supply isn’t shut off, and since extending battery life is, after all, the point of the exercise, it’s necessary to shut off power to the graphics controller that is not being used. It was quite a difficult task solving these various issues associated with the use of hybrid graphics in order to create a product that actually benefited from this approach.

Kei Noshino - Project Leader

Noshino:It was a long journey. At first, many ideas were put forward for the actual switching, including snapping back and forth between controllers while the computer is in actual use. But we faced a technical obstacle. ” Well then, let’s take a different approach — say, rebooting. You could use one controller when out of the office, and the other when at your desk — that way, you’d enjoy the advantages of the hybrid system.” We thought about it, and thought about it, and then checked to see if it was really doable. This whole process was very tiring, but, after we had proved it would work, the rest was relatively easy. Rather than the actual implementation, what was most difficult was this process of testing and discussing that led up to the final decision on the type of approach we would adopt.

Kawate:Ideally, the user would simply be able to switch between controllers as needed, but there was a technical reason why we couldn’t do this, and rebooting was the only solution. Nevertheless, to facilitate switching to suit different situations — in the office, or on a business trip, say — we developed a convenient utility.

UNIQUE HDD PROTECTION MECHANISM

Intelligent G-Sensorâ„¢ Shock Protection detects when the computer is at risk of kinetic damage and locks the HDD-head in an instant.

— What was the reason for incorporating hard disk protection?

Terashima:We decided that this feature was essential, partly because the VAIO SZ was designed to be used by many people in business, and partly because there are growing needs for security features in the market as a whole.

— Is it true that you developed your own utility for this purpose?

Terashima:For example, it’s not something that you can achieve with just a utility. Firmware, BIOS (strictly speaking not the BIOS, but you can think of it that way), and so on are crucial to this technology. In other words, you can’t simply throw in some off-the-shelf utility and achieve the same sort of hard disk protection that we now have on the VAIO SZ. After all, battery life was one of our concerns, and if you leave everything up to a utility, you’re going to be using CPU cycles. In order to reduce power consumption you should rely as little as possible on the CPU. By moving tasks to the BIOS, etc., and putting as little load on the CPU as possible, you can make a big difference in overall power savings. So this was how we approached it. It wasn’t enough to simply ensure that the hard disk was protected. We took overall performance, power consumption and all these other factors into account as we worked out the optimum way to implement this feature on the VAIO.

Kawata:One is apt to think that since there was already something similar around, it was just a matter of us adopting that approach, but in fact there were many aspects to this for which the off-the-shelf solution was of no help at all. Anyway, the type of vibration depends on the actual chassis — there’s even vibration in everyday use, when one is typing away at the keyboard of a computer on a desk, so you can’t simply make do with something that’s available. These differences have to be taken into account. For us it was a process of trial and error: we started from scratch, testing and checking as we went.

— What features of the hard disk protection on the VAIO SZ set it apart from the competitors’ offerings?

Koide:We haven’t simply installed a mechanism for preventing the hard disk from getting damaged when it’s knocked or subjected to ballistic shock. In order to provide protection without impacting convenience, we have given the VAIO a processing mechanism that can handle various situations. Although we are relative newcomers to this field, I think our design concept is one step ahead of the hard disk protection features offered by other companies, and that’s what sets us apart.

— So it wasn’t just a protection mechanism that you were developing? Various different factors were taken into consideration?

Koide:Yes, we also wanted to make sure it was attractive from the point of view of the user. It’s not just a simple matter of protecting the hard disk from damage. In order to convey a clear message that Sony is serious about protection, we took special care with the utility GUI — we wanted to make sure that protection is visible. If you glance at it now, you probably think that the choices are fairly straightforward, but we travelled a long path of trial and error before we reached that point. There were times when it didn’t work, and times when we were disheartened, but in the end it was exhilarating — “We did it!”

— In many cases it’s the job of the software to make things more convenient for the user, but since the real functionality of this utility is behind the scenes, it must have been difficult for you.

Koide:From the point of view of convenience, we certainly don’t want to affect performance, but we also want to protect the hard disk, and getting that balance right was tricky. If you make the mechanism too sensitive, just a minor shock will shut the disk down, but then you have to provide proper protection where and when it’s needed. Fine tuning is required: tests had to be repeated again and again until we got it just right.

— So you had to work hard on the interface?

Koide:You bet. At first, there was a mismatch between the shock image and the graphic image . It wasn’t easy, but with fine-tuning we eventually settled on the present design.

Kawata:As for the GUI, some people thought that it was going too far for a simple protection mechanism, that we didn’t even need it. But then there was a desire to advertise this particular feature of the computer, so we took pains over the interface, which does also serve the purpose of showing that the protection is working.

Hanamura: Incidentally, this central rubber pad (on the underneath of the computer) is for hard disk protection. We added it when we were told that it was essential.

Kawata:It’s needed to cope with the extra vibration caused when one pounds the keys.

Koide:Take sound, for example. The user may not be aware of it, but it can be picked up by the software as vibration. Now if that happens, it may not be possible to determine whether it is detecting sound or actual physical vibration. So that is why we asked them to add cushioning. In order to prevent internal factors like this resulting in false alarms, I think it’s essential to have the co-operation of the mechanical design team. It’s not the sort of feature that you can set up easily by yourself.

Kawata:Yes, it’s the sort of feature that depends on the co-operation of everyone — in software, electrical, and mechanical design.

DESIGN

With its eye-catching aluminium palm rest, the VAIO SZ is an elegant statement of sleek, contemporary style — in magnesium or carbon fibre.

Aluminium palm rest

Hayashi: In launching the project, the mechanical design team voiced a desire to do something that would only be possible with domestic production. This led to discussions with the designer, and the decision was made to try using a new material, aluminium. So talks were started with the designer on the assumption that the palm rest would be made from extruded aluminium.

Hanamura: Actually, even before this VAIO SZ project started, some basic feasibility studies had been done on this by the mechanical design team, and it was because they could see it was practical that they brought up the topic with the designer.

— But why did you choose aluminium?

Hanamura: A while back I was in charge of audio design, and we made a point of using this material for high-end audio equipment. That was why I wanted to use this durable, high-quality metal for something like the palm rest, which is always being touched. Alumite treatment for the surface of the aluminium ensures that it is tough and there are no worries about corrosion.

— In other words, there are both design and practical advantages.

Hanamura: Initially we did face a problem in not being able to form a thin sheet, but we decided to treat this as a challenge, and we teamed up with the vendor to conduct tests at the research level. At first the vendor said that it was impossible to form sheet of 0.7 mm, but we got him to try it anyway and somehow he succeeded. Going from there to mass production, however, was a struggle.

— So you can be very particular about even things that have nothing to do with the basic performance of the computer — and that’s what makes the VAIO special.

Kawase: The usual method is to put thin sheet aluminium in a press, but that way you can never make the edges sharp. But you can do it with extrusion, and get clean edges like this. We also cut the metal so as to create a bevelled edge around the touch pad. To make a straight cut-out is simple, but by cutting the edges at an angle like this, we give it a feeling of metallic solidity. The R-shaped part on the front of the palm rest would be difficult to create with a press so that it could wrap underneath like this without any seam, but that too can be done with extrusion. It invests it with a sense of density. All of these things take time and money, but we had them done anyway. (laughs)

Kawase: It may be impossible to tell from a distance of five metres whether this panel was made from sheet metal or extruded aluminium, but when you use a computer you are only 30 centimetres away, and there are parts that you actually touch, so the person using it can tell the difference. We wanted to make it look as if it had been carved out of an ingot of aluminium, so there was a strong feeling that we should use extruded aluminium. And there’s another thing: once you have got a designer to sketch pictures of a new product, it’s almost always too late to come up with any special requests. So ideas like the aluminium palm rest need to be thought out well beforehand. We wanted to be able to go to the designer and say, “This is an idea we have been kicking around for a while, and we’d really like you to incorporate it.” Of course, you can’t just push your own ideas, so you talk it through with the designer to ensure that you’re both thinking along the same lines. When it comes to being well-prepared, I think we were able to do that with this palm rest.

Kawase: If you didn’t know it was 0.7mm, you would probably think it was thicker. If the metal were 0.8mm or 1mm, we could do it with a press. But I can bet you that we couldn’t then get that feeling of density, even if we used thicker sheet.

— Does this also mean it’s stronger?

Hanamura: It’s pretty tough. With extrusion, the hot metal is quenched . This means that a form which has been extruded is stronger than sheet metal of the same thickness that has been formed with a press.

— What was most difficult?

Hanamura: Without doubt, the finishing. It was so difficult to get the hairline finish stipulated by the designer.

Kawase: And it wasn’t just the hairline finish. We had to ensure the alumite treatment just right, and bring out the glossy feel. Apparently the finishing was that much more difficult because we had gone with this specially extruded, ultra-thin aluminium. My first reaction was “Why can’t you do it?” I hadn’t thought of it as being a particularly difficult request. But then when it was explained to me, I learned that it is not an easy thing to create the hairline finish we had imagined using the sort of material that can be extruded at a thickness of just 0.7mm.

Hanamura: Every day I would go to the designer with the latest sample. Just to get this one part finished to the designer’s satisfaction took a long time.

Painstaking design

— What I thought was unusual this time was the use of two different LCD panels in the same series. It is interesting to see how one model evokes the prestige image while the other is more obviously a standard version, and yet they both clearly belong to the same series. How did you go about achieving this?

Kawase: The LCD panel comes in two types, one of carbon and the other of magnesium. They are of different thicknesses, but since the bottom half of the computer is the same shape for both models, it was necessary for us to ensure that neither panel looked out of place when mounted. If the bottom half looked like a solid lump, the overall effect would be unbalanced, especially in the case of the carbon LCD panel, which is very thin. So what we did was to design the bottom half so that it appears to be made up of two parts. Then, when you close the lid, the appearance is that of upper and lower layers sandwiching a middle section. And the middle section is of just the right depth to balance well with either of the LCD panels. We also made use of different colours and finishing so as to accentuate the difference between the middle and lowest sections, and it is angled so that, when seen from the side, the distinctive design sweeps upwards from the palm rest to the LCD hinge.
The engineers were very helpful in ensuring that we ended up with two very thin models, and I think the design concept we adopted is also effective in emphasizing just how thin they are. Also, since the bottom is cut steeply back along the underside, the computer appears even thinner when you look down at an angle. When you look straight at it, you can’t tell that one LCD panel is thinner than the other, so we have used colour to differentiate the two at a glance: the magnesium alloy model has a silver palm rest, while the carbon one has a darker, gunmetallic palm rest.

Kawase: Despite the fact that this is a mobile notebook, it sports a key pitch of 19.05mm and keys that are of the same height and width as you would find on a desktop’s keyboard. What’s more, the keystroke is 3mm. I think it was exactly right to have a palm rest made from extruded aluminium and a keyboard that extends right up to the edges. You see, if there were blank “margins” to left and right of the keyboard, the juxtaposition with the aluminium palm rest would make the design look exceedingly tacky. But thanks to the fact that the keyboard stretches as far as possible, you naturally end up with this simple appearance. We have the mechanical engineers to thank for being able to fit a keyboard with a 19.05mm pitch and a 3mm stroke into a mobile notebook of these dimensions.

Kawase: At first, I was anxious that it would look as if the three different parts — palm rest, keyboard, and the panel above the keyboard — had nothing in common, creating an ugly appearance. But my fears were put at rest when I saw the final product with its smart, integrated design.

A proud product of Nagano Tech

Hayashi: This new model, the VAIO SZ, was designed and manufactured in Nagano, where the functions of design, production and quality control are all concentrated. From the early design stages, all of the so-called blocks involved with production joined in the discussions. This meant that right from the start all aspects of the product — including quality issues, its ease of manufacturing and its appeal — were being considered together. I don’t think we have been able to create such a highly finished product before. Also, this product is packed with features, so it inevitably poses several problems for manufacturing. But here too, because the production people had been in on the discussions from the start, despite the innate difficulties it posed, we were able to improve not only ease of manufacturing but also quality through the development process.

Nishino: I think this is a product that has truly benefited from having everyone concentrated in the same place — from the engineers who actually make the software, and the various designers, to the evaluation team. We could immediately test something, modify it, and then test it again in rapid succession. From that point of view, I think we really made the most of having everything in Nagano.

Hayashi: It has been like rearing a child with the greatest care and attention, for a whole year. So as we send it out into the world I would like to ask the users to give it just as much care and attention as we have. The VAIO SZ is truly representative of the sort of design we can achieve in Nagano, and well worthy of its “Made in Japan” label. I can recommend it with total confidence.

Hope you all enjoyed the Story! It is always fascinating to see how a new VAIO concept is born and actualized later on!
Feel free to make it a “sticky” so it does not get lost.