Sony is the latest company preparing to throw its hat in the tablet ring. Bloomberg reports that a Sony tablet running Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb could be out by the end of the summer, although that date might be a bit optimistic. The move isn’t surprising. Engadget reported a few months ago that Sony was working on some top secret tablet products that would feature PlayStation integration.
While Sony is a bit late to the Android tablet market, that’s nothing new. The company also sat on the sidelines of the netbook space for a while when every other major PC maker was rushing cheap ultraportable laptops to market. This allowed Sony to decide whether netbooks were a fad or an important new product category, and when Sony did launch its first Intel Atom powered mini-laptops, they stood out from the crowd in big (or rather, little) ways.
The Sony Vaio P, for instance was smaller than almost any other Atom-based laptop on the market, but had a higher resolution display and a much higher price tag. The follow-up Sony Vaio W had a much more traditional design (and price tag), but also had a 10 inch 1366 x 768 pixel display, which may not be unique, but it’s certainly an unusual feature for a netbook.
According to Engadget’s sources, the Sony tablet could feature a 9.4 inch display, a unique design with a “wrap” on one end making the tablet easy to grip, and PlayStation certification for games and media.
via Engadget
Feh, they’ll just cripple it if anyone mods it like they did with the PS3 and take away all the cool stuff with a firmware update.
Anyone buying anything from Sony is an idiot, or works for one.