Sony Enters Tablet Market With Android-Based S1, S2 Devices
Sony said its tablet products have yet to receive official names, but the manufacturer has revealed details for the 9.4-inch wedge-shaped S1 device, as well as its companion piece, the clamshell-shaped S2 tablet that features dual 5.5-inch touch-screens. The S1 tablet’s screens display content either separately -- with one, for example, functioning as a soft keyboard and the other displaying e-mail or Word documents -- or as one large display, depending on the application.
Sony’s S1 tablet features an off-center design that Sony says improves reliability and ease of grip. The S1 tablet also comes with two cameras -- one front-facing and one rear-facing -- and, compared to the S2, resembles the more typical tablet form factor of Apple’s iPad tablets.
Aside from their respective design considerations, Sony’s tablet products include most of the same specifications. In addition to running the Android Honeycomb platform designed specifically for tablets, Sony’s S1 and S2 devices support Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networking. The Sony Tablet devices are powered by Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 mobile processors, which offer integrated graphics processing capability. They both have access to applications on the Android Market as well as Sony's cloud-based services such as the Sony Reader Store.
The Sony tablet product family also connects to some Sony TV sets and speaker systems via infrared, bringing video and music content from either Sony tablet device to the user’s home entertainment system. In addition, Sony said its inaugural tablets offer access to first-generation PlayStation games and serves as a remote control for home entertainment devices.
Sony’s S1 and S2 were among many consumer-oriented Android-based tablets on display at CES 2011 in January. As a result of the barrage of upcoming Android devices, distributors are increasingly looking to support Google’s mobile operating system in their solutions, while also designing products that run other mobile platforms including Microsoft Windows 7, HP’s webOS, and Apple's iOS.
Sony said its S1 tablet and S2 tablet devices are scheduled to come to market in the fall. Sony did not offer information regarding the pricing of either device.