Last week two new PS3 Slim models popped up on the FCC website.  Interestingly, these units were the same size and shape as the older Slim versions, suggesting that the FCC filing was due to changes Sony made under the Slim’s hood.

This suspicion was confirmed today, when Sony passed an updated version of the PS3’s SIXAXIS controller through the FCC.  We compared test reports from the new and old SIXAXIS controllers and found that the new version will support 4 Bluetooth clock frequencies, 26 MHz, 16 MHz, 8 MHz and 4 MHz.  The previous version of the controller only supported 2 clock frequencies, 26 MHz and 4 MHz.

Admittedly we’re not Bluetooth experts, but we believe the addition of two new clock frequencies should reduce interference and transmission errors between the SIXAXIS controller and the PS3.  Sure, it’s not a big change, but it should help to improve gameplay nonetheless.

Measuring only 0.55 inches thin, and weighing about a pound and a half, the Sony Vaio X is a spectacular device.   It weights about half as much as the Macbook Air, and is about 0.2” thinner than the Air’s thickest point.

The Vaio X features an 11.1” LCD, SSD hard drive and Intel Atom Z550 2 GHz processor.  Sony also squeezed WiFi, WWAN, GPS and Bluetooth into the X, giving users a ton of connectivity options.  The device runs for 3.5 hours on the standard slim battery, or up to 14 hours with an extended battery that attaches to the bottom of the netbook.

How did Sony fit all these features into a 10.95” x 0.55” x 7.29” package?  The core component of the Vaio X is the densely packed motherboard, above.  To get an idea of how tiny this motherboard is, take a look at the two silver USB ports on the right side of the motherboard, each of which is only about a centimeter and a half wide.

Sony manages heat produced by the Intel Atom by covering the processor with a duct that vents air out of the back of the Vaio X.  An SSD sits to the right of the processor duct.  With no moving parts, the SSD also helps to decrease heat while improving battery life and durability.

WiFi is powered by the green Atheros card on the bottom left side of the device.  A Bluetooth card from Broadcom sits to the left of the WiFi Card.  Remarkably, this card is only about 2.5 cm long and less than a centimeter wide.

Finally, WWAN and GPS features are powered by a Qualcomm Gobi card that attaches to a separate module.  The Gobi2000 is the large silver device in the picture below.

The Vaio X is really a piece of work.  Sure, the Atom doesn’t give you much power, and the device’s $1,299 retail price is a bit steep for what is essentially a netbook.  But as these internal pics show, the Vaio X is in many ways an engineering marvel, and certainly worth the price in my opinion.

An interesting filing from Sand Dollar Enterprise made an appearance on the FCC website today.  If you remember, Sand Dollar Enterprise is a pseudonym used by Sony for FCC filings.  Sand Dollar was used to pass the original PS3 Slim through the FCC, for example.

Sand Dollar’s filing today is for the CECH-2101A ‘Computer Entertainment System.’  Label pics for the device (above) confirm that this is indeed the Sony PS3, while label placement pics (below, left) show a device that is the same size and shape as the PS3 Slim.  Another device, called the CECH-2101B is also identified in Sand Dollar’s filing.  The only difference between these two devices is the hard drive size.

We’re not sure why Sony is passing two new PS3 Slims through the FCC.  The wireless specs on the new PS3 Slims include 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth – nothing new there.  We’re guessing that maybe Sony found a new manufacturer for some of its wireless components, and was forced to pass the PS3 Slim through the FCC again.

Sony’s TransferJet technology sounds like a good enough idea.  The short range wireless technology allows you to transfer data between two TransferJet devices at up to 560 Mbps (with actual transfer rates around 375 Mbps) by just touching the two devices together.  That allows you to ditch your bulky flash toasters and various memory cards, and just go TransferJet all the way.

So far, TransferJet Memory Sticks have popped up on Sony’s website for preorder, but today we got our first look at a TransferJet PC card thanks to the FCC.

The PCI Express Mini TransferJet card is known as the CSN5000, and was tested in a Sony PCG-5N1N notebook.  We’re not exactly sure what product line the PCG-5N1N belongs to, but the device has a VGP-AC19V25 AC adapter, which works with Sony’s CR and SZ600 notebooks.

Either way, today’s FCC filing jives with news that Sony will announce its TransferJet lineup this week.  According to PC World, Sony’s TransferJet products will include the aforementioned TransferJet Memory Stick, a USB adapter, a laptop and TV.

TransferJet technology won’t come cheap though – an 8GB Memory Stick with TransferJet will cost $100, $30 more than a normal Memory Stick, while the TransferJet USB adapter will cost $150.

Sony passed the USB 802.11 b/g/n WiFi adapter, pictured above, through the FCC today.  Known as the CBK-WA01, this is an interesting offering from Sony, who has previously relied on third party partners for networking accessories.

The CBK-WA01 is certainly an odd-looking device.  There are two hooks on the right side of the device, which look like they may be used for cord management.  The back of the device features an L-shaped ledge, which seems like an awkward fit on a laptop.

We’re not sure why Sony decided to add the CBK-WA01 to their lineup of laptop accessories, but we can’t help but feel like we’re missing something here.

Sony passed a notebook called the PCG-3111L through the FCC today.  This model number doesn’t tell us much, however the device’s test report shows the use of a VGP-AC19V32 AC adapter – the same adapter used for Sony’s existing Z Series notebooks.

Specs on the PCG-3111L are hard to come by, but we do know that the device will rock a Gobi2000 processor from Qualcomm for worldwide 3G connectivity and GPS.  The PCG-3111L will also have an optical drive, suggesting that it won’t be the smallest notebook on the block.

In our last post, we noted that a seemingly new notebook from Sony called the PCG-21212L had surfaced on the FCC.  While the FCC report didn’t disclose the marketing name of the device, the battery model on the PCG-21212L corresponded to the battery used for Sony Vaio W netbooks.

A closer inspection of the PCG-21212L (above left) and the Vaio W (above right, thanks to NetbookNews.com) show that these devices are nearly identical in size, shape, and label positioning.

At this point, it seems clear that the PCG-21212L is an addition to Sony’s Vaio W lineup.  Unlike current Vaio W models however, the PCG-21212L does feature Gobi2000 WWAN – definitely a valuable upgrade.  Let’s hope we see a processor bump as well when the PCG-21212L is released.

This notebook from Sony passed through the FCC today, thanks to a filing by Atheros.  According to label pics, this device is known as the PCG-21212L.  The test report further shows that the base model for this device is PCG-2121, with the next two characters varying based on the device’s specs.

The test report of the PCG-21212L shows that the device will feature 3G WWAN powered by a Qualcomm Gobi2000.  The device will also have 802.11 b/g/n WiFi from Atheros, as well as Bluetooth.

FCC documents don’t give us much more info about the PCG-21212L, and as far as we can tell this is a yet-to-be-released notebook from Sony.  The test report does note that the device uses Sony VGP-BPL18 and VPG-BPS18 batteries, however.  To this point, these batteries have been used exclusively for Sony Vaio W series netbooks, so this may actually be another netbook model from Sony.