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Take two tablets

28 Comments

Models show off Sony's new tablet computers, Tablet S, left, and Tablet P during a launch event in Tokyo on Thursday. The wedge-shaped Tablet S, about the size of an iPad, can double as a universal remote control while the Tablet P opens like a book to reveal two screens. See story here.

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28 Comments
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PS: the models are really beautiful, no doubt about quality there. but buying the over-priced ripoff tablets? that's a no-no

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Sony needs to stop being a follower and more of a leader. These days they act more like a Korean brand than the innovator of the Walkman.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

sony will never make it. they have greedy much too high prices, worse than greedy-apple-ipads. if you follow the TABLET news, just a few days ago HP-touchpad went bankrupt, and gave away the stuff for 100$; only then people jumped on them.

from another news source: Tablet S will ship in Europe starting in late September, for $499 and $599 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. The Sony Tablet P will also ship in Europe, but not until November. It starts at a more formidable $700.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@flechettes lol

1 ( +1 / -0 )

SONY should offer : Buy 1 Get 1 Free....!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Poor Sony, they've completely lost direction.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The tablet P looks just like a Nintendo DS...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh look. Head-tilting, insipid girls to promote the product. How very groundbreaking.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Other than the nice promotional photos, why would anyone purchase a product that is far inferior to the iPad? I shake my head in disbelief at the thought that Sony would once again try to take on Apple and their superior products!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The latest SONY write-off.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"about the size of an ipad" ..... that line says it all.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I am not sure what Sony is counting on to get a decent market share.

If they are thinking people will rush to their products just because they are "Sony", then I am afraid they are delusional. My father's generation maybe would but the curreny generation is aware that it does not have an edge over their competitors.

They may achieve some sales because Japan is their homeground but I highly doubt they can significantly dent their competitors' market shares.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The "P" tablet seems like a novel idea. Like one poster mentioned, it's like a large NDS, but one side could be quite functional as a keyboard.

Who says Sony can't make a tablet to compete against Apple? I don't think Apple has perfected the tablet yet (e.g. lack of flash, computing power/memory and low resolution cameras). You people have been too caught up in the Apple mystique to recognize any of its defficiencies. Yes, it's a stylish product but not perfect.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

According to this article in Bloomberg, Sony is counting on its contents to have an edge over their competitors. Let's wait and see.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-31/sony-to-sell-tablet-s-in-europe-from-end-september-for-479-euros.html

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The only tablet that has a real chance against the iPad is the Fujitsu Q550, and that's only because they are going for the business market, and put in all the right features for such. Full disclosure: I own neither Fujitsu nor Apple products, but have literally no use for anything Apple puts out. Fujitsu...maybe, as the Q550 might well come in handy in an enterprise setting. As for this attempt by Sony, the little one is a mistake, and the bigger one isn't really offering anything new that other companies don't already have.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Anybody who still has a chunky old laptop in this day and age is a bit of a fossil"

Ha ha ha I recently read an article about a salaryman who had been carrying around his laptop and a charger, and was given an iPad to use by his company and now he carries around the iPad, his laptop and the charger.

Where's the dang keyboard on these tablets? When they get them, call me in the morning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It didn't take long for the iFans to appear on this thread. "Apple products are just SOOOO superior" "other tablets are rip-off", "the new iPad will eliminate the need for computers!" give me a break!

First of all, what product is superior is debatable, but the idea that Apple products are always superior is just plain wrong. Apple does concentrate on the user interface a lot, which is their strong point, but in terms of hardware or capabilities, their products often trail behind the competition. You can do a lot more with an Android tablet than with an iPad. Apple itself seems to have recognized it because they are rumored to include widgets and an Android-like notification system in iOS 5. If they had always been superior, they wouldn't be updating their software to offer Android features offered 2 years ago. Apple also seems to start becoming scared of Android, to the point that they went to the courts to try and prevent the sale of the Samsung Galaxy in Germany (turns out Apple claims only it has the right to a thin and light tablet with a metal case).

Second of all, other tablets aren't rip-offs. Tablets have existed for years, and the ones released shortly before the iPad did look like the iPad came to look. It's just that they generally were running desktop OS and were priced for specialized use, not customer use, selling at over 1500$ generally speaking. Check also for the Archos 9, a netbook in tablet form released in 2009 (before the iPad). The innovation Apple did with the iPad was that instead of taking a laptop and removing the keyboard, they basically made an oversized iPod touch, which itself was an iPhone without phone components. The iPad is essentially a big smartphone without a phone, but the same can be said for Android tablets. Even now, there is more innovation on the side of Android than Apple, look at the example of the tablet P on this very article. Maybe it won't succeed, but it's an interesting concept. Oh, and BTW, Android development was started in 2003, Google bought it in 2005, so it's not a rip-off of iOS.

Third, Android tablets can already replace PCs for people who never use PCs for anything but surfing the web, using social networks and reading e-mails. Over the air updating? Check. Native USB connectivity? Check. No need to plug the tablet ever in a PC? Check. Android tablets released last year (ex: Archos 101) can do it. The iPad still needs to be plugged in to a computer using iTunes to do system updates and to get files. Yeah, yeah, "it's coming with iOS 5", but it does put the lie to the idea that Apple products are superior in every way and that Apple is the innovator in everything, many if not most of the major new features of iOS 5 are copied nearly directly from Android.

So anyway, you can like the iPad if you want, but don't overdo it. Loving the iPad doesn't force you to hate every other tablet around, no more than having a girlfriend means you have to find all other girls ugly.

That being said, Sony is entering a market that has already a lot of competitors. Motorola, Acer, Asus, Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo are already putting out Android 3.x tablets. They are still carving out a chunk of the tablet market, still dominated by Apple, but there are a lot of them for the space occupied by Android. I am not sure that Sony's tablet S stands out enough to find its niche in the market. Asus and Acer offer keyboard docks to make the tablets into laptops and a cheaper price, Samsung offers the thinnest and lightest tablet with the best screen, Toshiba offer an affordable tablet with great connectivity and full-size ports... what does the Sony Tablet S offer more than these others? The tablet P is interesting, but a bit too expensive in my opinion.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Even the models look unappealing. I read somewhere that if you combined all the sales of non-Apple tabs sold around the world it doesn't even dent Apple's market share. Sony should come out with another Betamax, just to really demonstrate how stupid they are.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I work in an IT company where PCs are the standard. But for the past 6 years I've use Macs as my personal machines, so I have a lot of experience with both platforms. I don't understand a lot of the anti-Apple vitriol that gets spewed on these types of threads, nor do I have a lot of time for the Apple fanboys that think they're somehow superior because they paid a bit more for their laptop. All devices have strengths and weaknesses, and a person's decision to purchase a particular machine should be based on what their needs are.

The iPad is currently the clear leader in this market, but that doesn't mean that they can't be challenged. Especially since it does still suffer from several well-known issues.

I haven't had the chance to see one in person yet, but the early reviews on the new Sony tablet have ranged from very good to excellent. Sony may not have come up with a game-changer here, but why not give them a bit of time to see what they can do? Not too long ago Sony was one of the top consumer products companies in the world, and Apple was almost bankrupt, and barely hanging on. Things can change very quickly in this industry.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Haha, they should do what HP did with their Touch Pad - discount it to $99! (Because HP is ending its Touch Pad.) Now everyone wants to buy the Touch Pad!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ipad's are better, way better

0 ( +0 / -0 )

angloo - What makes you say that?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Headline is not relevant to the product. Please remove and replace with a headline that is relevant. Thank you very much.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Too little, and far too late. Apple is already working on the third version of the iPad, which will supposedly more or less eliminate the need for a PC (or so I've heard) for many people. Sorry, Sony... give up on the tablets and try to be innovative like long ago -- nothing will beat Apple.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@ Kronos : bloomberg will report whatever is doomed to fail...gloom.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Serrano. IPads have wireless keyboards available as accessories...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Interesting. HP just got out of this market because they didn't think they could compete long-term against the likes of Apple, but Sony is rolling out two new products. Let's hope for Sony and Japan's sake that HP doesn't know something they don't. But still interesting that a company that was once world-renowned for ground-breaking new products is now just an also-ran in so many categories.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Anybody who still has a chunky old laptop in this day and age is a bit of a fossil.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

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