Sony launches tablet computers

Posted by Fry Lawrence On Thursday, May 5th 2011 in Technology

Sony has launched two tablet computers to compete with Apple's iPad. The devices, entitled only S1 and S2 for the moment, will run the Android operating system. The Japanese company, which unveiled its two new tablets on Tuesday, April 26, is hoping to be able to compete with Apple's innovative iPad. The first of the new tablets will have a 9.4-inch touchscreen and a fairly traditional design. The other tablet will have two 5.5-inch displays and a folding design. PlayStation games will be available on both devices, which will be a premiere. The S1 and S2 tablets will be on the market this autumn. An exact date hasn't been announced yet. It will be difficult for Sony to achieve success on a market dominated by Apple's iPad, which is increasingly popular.

The iPad was launched in April 2010. Since then, the market has been growing at a fast rate. Several other electronics companies have launched their own tablets, but Apple remains the dominant force (by a large margin). At present, Samsung's Galaxy Tab is second on the market. Sony's tablets are considered to be a bit late on the market. At the moment, there are more than 100 tablets running the Android OS, which will make it difficult for Sony to be unique. Sony's chance to make a difference could be the PlayStation content that they can and will make available with the tablets. Also, a recent survey showed that Android is losing some of its popularity with application developers, which could mean that not all the moneymaking applications would be available on Google's operating system.

This could be a setback for the new Sony tablets. Despite the fact that the market is quite crowded, other companies are also in a hurry to provide some new competition for the iPad. Along with Sony's S1 and S2, this year will see the release of HP's TouchPad. It remains to be seen if Sony can come up with something that can really compete with Apple. In the opinion of most analysts, the iPad will be almost impossible to dethrone over the next few years. Although the S1 and S2 tablets were unveiled on Tuesday in front of the media, they won't be on the market till autumn. Kazuo Hirai, the presumed successor to Howard Stringer as Sony's CEO, as well as Andy Rubin from Android were present at the media launch. As of yet, Sonny hasn't given any information about the pricing of the two tablets.