Documents recently released by the FCC show that Sony is preparing to release a new addition to their VAIO line of notebook computers. The documents consist mostly of reports detailing the new computer’s compliance with various FCC regulations, but also includes images and some interesting details about the laptop’s specs.

The images show a 21cm laptop with dual USB ports and an SD card reader, as well as an HDMI port:

The full list of documents can be accessed here. One of the documents included is the user’s manual, which confirms both the VAIO branding and Chrome OS:

Google released Chrome OS in November 2009. The operating system is based on Linux. An open source version of the software, Chromium OS, is freely available from Google, while Chrome OS is shipped on computers manufactured by Google’s partners. Previously Google only had two such partners: Samsung and Acer. With this new VAIO notebook, Sony becomes the third.

Chrome OS has done fairly well for itself since its launch, but its popularity is nothing next to that of Google’s other operating system, Android. Some recent events, including the launch of the Chrome browser for Android, have sparked speculation that Google may be preparing to unify the two operating systems. The fact that Google is apparently working on a desktop version of Android seems to bolster those rumors.

For the time being, though, the two will apparently remain separate, since the documentation for this new VAIO laptop consistently refers to Chrome OS. There’s no data yet on a release date for this new Chrome OS VAIO laptop. It is probably safe to say that it will go into production by the end of the year.