With innovation and technique we answered the call from our designers to make a thin, chiselled keyboard and cylindrical design. The keyboard for the new VAIO TZ is more than just pretty to look at. The innovative design is more than strong enough to withstand the typical pounding, day in and day out, that keyboards endure. It has a soft touch which makes it easy to use, but a durability that will stand up over the long haul. The engineer who played a major role in bringing about this keyboard is Mechanism Designer Hideki Hanamura. He had this to say regarding what it took behind the scenes to meet the requests of Iseki’s design. Hanamura: The new VAIO TZ keyboard has an entirely redesigned structure and is unlike the keyboards for any VAIO subnotebook to date. The keyboard panel and keyboard are fused together and then connected to the palm rest. The keyboard has a number of small holes while the palm rest has small hooks. Both parts are slid together to connect in several places, strengthening the entire structure. This mutually supporting structure allows for both parts to be extremely thin, yet sturdy enough to withstand the stress of repeatedly applied pressure. Durability was increased without having to increase the thickness of the keyboard. The keyboard’s glossy panel. It holds the keys firmly in place, giving not only a sleek design, but increased functionality as well. The two-layered sandwich structure with metal sheet backing eliminates warping and curvature, improving overall functionality of the keyboard. The cylinder design for the new VAIO TZ was inherited from the concept of the original VAIO 505. The battery and hinge were combined to support the LCD display. Of course we didn’t simply use what was done before. We improved upon the original design by making the hinge a single line. It looks as if the hinge has disappeared by using an amazingly simple design with no extraneous parts. Hanamura had this to say regarding the secret of the cylindrical design. Hanamura: Actually, regarding this part, improvements in battery configuration allowed us to create a single hinge where we had always had two up to now. This allowed us to combine the hinge and the battery into one cylinder. More specifically, we determined how much space was needed by the hinge and verified that this structure could in fact be used. We had a number of ideas and were able to realise the design by placing the battery at an angle, which allows it to easily be removed and replaced. Additionally, we used a newly-developed part with an extremely small diameter for the hinge itself. The “cylindrical design�Ebattery which is easy to remove and replace thanks to its slightly angled structure. Additional accents to the design of the new VAIO TZ are the power button and the DC connector, on opposite ends of the cylinder. This neatly places the power, battery and all related parts in one core place, enhancing the concept of the cylinder and its importance. In particular, look closely at the power button. When powered on, a transparent light is emitted as if floating in space, creating a phantom world before your very eyes. This “jewel in the crown�Ewas brought about by combining Iseki’s design and Hanamura’s technical wizardry. Hanamura: We spent a lot of time and effort developing the power button. Green looks more like yellow with standard LED. It’s a light green, which the designer, Iseki, didn’t want. He explained that “it just felt wrong. It has to be emerald green.�EWe decided to use a high brightness LED to make it as beautiful as we possibly could. We achieved a beautiful emerald green by using a number of parts like a derived optical board, employing the same mechanisms we would use to backlight an LCD display. I think that by going to such lengths to get even the smallest details just right, we created a power button that’s just right for a “PC with emotion�Eand something that the end user will appreciate. The power button shines a beautiful emerald green due to the use of high brightness LED placed inside a plated ring. When powered on, the single shining core appears to be floating in space.