Sony announced their first Netbook today with the Sony VAIO W Series. An Intel Atom CPU powers the netbook, which is expected to retail next month for $500.

Sony plans to release in the beginning of August the "VPCW119XJ/W" (white) and later the "VPCW119XJ/P" (pink) models (Japan). Both come with a 10.1-inch LED backlit display (16:9, 1366 x 768) and are using the "VAIO Media Plus" home network software for connectivity with DLNA devices.

The netbooks will run Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3 and will be powered by Intel's Atom N280 (1.66 GHz) processor and the Intel 945GSE Express chipset. The available memory will be 1GB and the HDD capacity will be 160GB. Other features include IEEE 802.11b/g wireless LAN, 2x USB 2.0 ports and 1x Ethernet ports, SD Card and Memory Stick duo slots, a camera and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

The size of the netbooks will be 267.8mm x height 27.5mm x 179.6mm (W x H x D), their weight approximately 1.19Kg and they will be equipped with a 3.5-hour battery pack.

The VAIO W Series mini notebook will retail for about $500. It is available for pre-orders today online at www.sonystyle.com/pr/w.