We have been hearing about Sony’s much-anticipated line of Android tablets ever since it first appeared as a quirky piece of mysterious sketches. And while the Japanese corp has officially announced it back in April, the REAL introduction came just four months later, at the 2011 IFA press event, earlier this week. Basically speaking there are two different tablets in this category: The Sony S (used to be called “S1”) that looks like a squarish curvy tablet device, and the Sony P (previously known as the “S2”), which is more of a clamshell design. Both tablets are running Android Honeycomb inside so in terms of use, the look and feel is very similar, though experience wise it is a whole different story – One has a single 9.4-inch touchscreen, while the other packs dual five-inch 1024 x 480 displays. In addition we’ve been told they are both planned to go out in Europe at the end of September and November, respectively, with prices set at €479 and €599, while a US release is still unconfirmed but strongly suspected within weeks (for $499 and $599).
Drilling Down to the nitty-gritty details, the Sony P, the one with the two 5-inch screens (we know, it’s confusing), is said to include a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 SoC chip, 5MP rear camera plus a VGA on front, a 3,080mAh battery, an HSPA/radio, 4GB of internal storage, a micro-USB hub, 3.5mm jack and an SD card slot. The dual screens can both work together or in some cases, independently, while the Android 3.2 platform (the powerhouse behind the Sony P) seems to be running smoothly, all over the place, and at all times!
The second device, the Sony S, comes with a traditional tablet design, on first look, but there’s a typical Sony twist out there, when you get to show it off – especially on sides and behind. As mentioned, it boasts a 9.4-inch (1,280 x 800) IPS display with Sony TruBlack Bravia TV technologies, Android Honeycomb OS, 16GB or 32GB of storage capacities at your choice, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a full-sized SD card slot. There’s also a Terga 2 chipset under the hood, along with a nice volume rocker on the side, and a battery that provides long hours of intense working time.
Make sure to check out the two videos after the jump, courtesy of netbooksnews.com and our friend Sascha, from the 2011 IFA conference in Berlin.
Update1: And looks like Sony’s S version (the one with the bigger screen), is now officially available for a pre-order both in Amazon and Sony’s own site, with shipping due to September 16th, and prices set at $499 and $599, depends on storage size.
Update2: Good news fellow readers, Sony has cut the price of its latest and greatest 9.4-inch Tablet S by a single Benjamin ($100), a 16GB model will run you $400 and the 32GB version will set you back for $500. Now that’s a competitive move, isn’t it?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2GZIxGK7m8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREZspM-GvA[/youtube]
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