Sony has come out fighting against the reign of iPad and Android tabs with a fold over tablet – that looks like a mini diary.
 |
| Sony Tablet P |
Ahead of IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Sony dropped an unexpected bombshell announcing its first two Tablets – the 9.4 inch ‘S’ and clever 5.5 inch fold over ‘P’ – running Android.
The make-or-break devices for Sony will have a hard time competing against reigning tablet kings iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab as well as the likes of Asus, Moto and Acer, all looking to get their foot in the flooding tabs market.
The 9.4″ Sony ‘S’ touchscreen features powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor inside and is a “rich” entertainment centre with a slew of movie and cloud music options and will work Playstation gaming titles. Nice.
Both tabs feature front and rear facing cameras, USB 2.0 port and SD card slot allowing connections to PCs and other devices.
Featuring an asymmetric design the 598g Tablet can be “easily held” for long periods of time feels lighter than reading a book or magazine, thanks to its unique form factor shifts the device’s weight.
The folding, 5.5″ dual screen Sony Tablet P is geared for real mobility craving users and is lightweight at 372g.
The dual touchscreens can be used for different functions simultaneously and folded to 79x180x26mm dimensions to fit snugly in a pocket or handbag.
So, you can be writing an email with one screen while checking the weather on the other but cannily, can be instantly combined into a single screen.
Flip ‘P’ on its side and read eBooks in comfort, just like a book, boasts Sony.
“We will prove that it’s not who makes the tablet first who counts but who makes it better,” declared Sony chief Howard Stringer.
The Wi-Fi only models run Android 3.1 (to be upgradable to Android 3.2) and Wi-Fi/3G models Honeycomb 3.2. The pocket tab is rumored to carry US$500 pricetag for a 16 GB model, $600 for 32 GB.
If so, it will certainly compete on price with iPad 2 but no word on the price of 9.4″ S, which is really the Apple equivalent in terms of screen size.
Both tabs also boast ‘Quick view’ for rapid response fast web browsing, ‘Quick touch’ and the Japanese maker has also gone mad with Sony entertainment: offering “video unlimited” with masses of movies and TV titles, “music unlimited” its cloud-based digital music service with over 10 million songs.
And for gamers – you can you use PlayStation games on the Tablets – a first ever for tabs.
 Click to enlarge |
Other multimedia tools include: Reader Store eBooks and periodicals, Personal Space free, cloud-based service and Social Feed Reader combines Facebook and Twitter into a single feed.
S is available in Europe only this month in Wi Fi, Wi-Fi/3G version (released November) and P arrives in November and no dates for Down Under just yet.
