The most recent Tablet PC to be unveiled was originally named the Sony S1 tablet, finally arriving as the Sony Tablet S. The Android-based Sony tablet has many features that tablet shoppers have come to expect in a Tablet PC, like dual cameras, capacitive touch screen and dual core processor. But Sony has employed a couple of unique features in their Sony Tablet S in an attempt to stand out in a crowded tablet marketplace. A unique, ergonomically designed, wedge shape is immediately the biggest difference you notice when you pick up this tablet, and that wedge shaped design was made to fit more naturally in your hand as you hold it.
In another major difference, the Sony Tablet S is preprogrammed with universal remote control capabilities. A study earlier in the year showed that many tablet owners use the device at home more than away. This feature will allow you control over your Blu-ray disc player, HDTV, DVD player, stereo and cable box without having to use multiple remotes. Another more subtle difference is the size of the screen. Sony designed their Tablet S with a 9.4 inch capacitive touchscreen, slightly smaller than the popular 10 inch size most tablets offer today.
The Sony Tablet S retails for $499 and $599 respectively for its 16 GB and 32 GB models. It comes programmed for Wi-Fi Internet access, and at this time, no 3G version has been announced. Being a Sony tablet, the Tablet S is PlayStation certified, and Sony has prepackaged Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes video games for the video gaming tablet shopper. The remaining Sony Tablet S specs are as follows.
The 9.4 inch capacitive TFT touchscreen display has built-in light and proximity sensors, and offers 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. An Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core 1.0 GHz processing chip set is on board, and Google’s 3.1 Honeycomb version of their Android operating system handles your requests. A rear facing 5 mp camera and front facing 0.3 mp chat cam are present, and video calls are supported as well as video recording.
BlueTooth version 2.1 and Wi-Fi are on board, as well as an infrared port, to allow for device connectivity, as well as microUSB and full sized SD slot for memory expansion up to 32 GB. The Sony Tablet S also allows for video mirroring to a big screen HDTV or monitor via DLNA technology.
