SONY Unveils Two Tablets … The S1 + S2 = Powered by ANDROID 3.0
With a prerequisite announcement on emergency exit locations, a stark reminder of the March 11th Earthquake & Tsunami, Sony kicked off its technology briefing with gathered reporters in Tokyo early this morning. Along with several communiqué on the earthquake’s impact and Sony’s recovery efforts, Kunimasa Suzuki, the company’s Deputy President of Sony Computer Division unveiled not one but two tablet devices – the Sony S1 and Sony S2. Still in its development stages, the S1 (codenamed) will include a 9.4-inch display with a slight elliptical form factor for better grip. But the most unique design goes to the S2, made of two 5.5-inch displays that close together into an easy to carry form, similar to that of Nintendo DS dual-screen. To be quipped with rear and front facing cameras, Wi-Fi, 3G, and 4G cellular connectivity, both will also be the first few tablets to run the new Android 3.0 OS by Google, a contender to overthrow the dominance of Apple iOS in popularity. Other unique features include a remote application that will control all Sony BRAVIA A/V electronics and DLNA for wireless linkup of music and/or video onto large screen televisions and wireless speakers. Though it was an early proponent of e-book readers, Sony subsequently lost market shares to cheaper variants, like Kindle from Amazon.com, and enriched feature tablets, like the Apple iPad 2. Despite of these setbacks, the company boldly announced its goal to become the #2 tablet device provider by the year 2012. Information on availability and release dates in the coming months. (Via…)
