back to article Sony CEO signals summer of tablets

Sony will enter the Android tablet arena before the summer is out, the Japanese giant's CEO, Howard Stringer, has revealed. It will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, he said, and ship in the US first, according to a Nikkei report mentioned by Bloomberg but not linked to. Company executive Kaz Hirai said in January at the Consumer …

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  1. David Lawrence
    Unhappy

    Jam tomorrow

    Ah even more jam tomorrow! Yes indeed - further vapourware from yet another manufacturer in a desperate and vain attempt to stop Apple from continuing to make an absolute killing in the tablet marketplace.

    I'm no Apple fanboi (only have an iPod classic) by any stretch but I can plainly see that there is no real competition at the moment (based on looks, price, quality, performance etc) and a press release of further jam tomorrow (which is all this is) changes nothing. I see Acer has announced some tablet prices - I haven't looked yet but I fear another Galaxy Tab/Xoom moment even now.....

    Sorry to be so gloomy but there is no light yet at the end of the tunnel!

    1. DrXym

      What

      I think it was clear from CES 2011 onwards that there are going to be a large number of tablets appearing over the course of this year. Some such as the Asus Eee Pad are pretty attractive and offer comparable features (and some advantages) for less money than an iPad. Problem at the moment is the iPad is seen as the price bar to come under, but nobody wants to undercut it by too much.

      I expect as the market fills up with tablets they will start competing with each other for price rather than the iPad. Tablets *should* be cheaper and the more of them there are, the more likely it is to happen. There is no reason that a perfectly functional 10" tablet can't retail for $300 or less. It's just at the minute retailers think they can get away with charging more than that.

  2. Adam T

    "It will also want to take some time to port its XMB UI on top of Android"

    Hope they've got permission from Andy Rubin for that!

  3. jamie 5

    An Title

    "It will also want to take some time to port its XMB UI on top of Android, and get its own app and content stores ready for the machine."

    If google let them.

  4. Carol Orlowski
    Stop

    Looking forward to this.

    Sony have the might to take on Apple, make a better tablet, with a more open (and better) OS, that sells for less.

    Bring it on....

    In the meantime, I'll make-do with my 10.1in Advent-Vega dual-core Tegra2 for £199...

    1. DrXym

      Sony laptops

      Problem is Sony thinks they're Apple when it comes to pricing. Look at the stupid prices their Vaio laptops retail for compared to functionally similar offerings from Acer, Toshiba etc.

    2. Ammaross Danan
      Coat

      Meh

      With the Vega's poor viewing angles, it isn't much worth it. I'm holding out to see if the Samsung 89 or 101 offers a decent price/quality ratio. the iPad was never in the runnings due to to lack of use-as-mass-storage-device mode, lacking SD card slot, and restriction of certain software types ("network utilities" to name one) from the iTunes App Store (yes, I'm prefixing "App Store" properly).

  5. Mark 65

    Can't afford it

    Don't know what it'll be like but I'm pretty confident of the title.

  6. asdf
    Flame

    what howard didn't say

    Is that being a Sony product though it is running Android for branding purposes of course the Sony will come with lots of draconian DRM that will require you to lease your pad as oppose to buy outright.

  7. Chris D Rogers
    Thumb Down

    What a surprise

    I'm confident Apple will be quaking in their boots - NOT.

    As the competition hots up, its possible that Apple will launch a revamped iPad in time for Thanksgiving in the USA - think of the sales potential?

    Me, I'm waiting for the upgraded iMac thanks very much, but would love an iPad 3 for my daughter for Christmas - currently have iTouch 4.

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