Sony recently announced that its to upgrade its Tablet P and Tablet S to the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS This can only be seen as positive news for Sony as it dips its toe into the already crowded Android Tablet market

Figure 1: Tablet S (Left) & Tablet P (Right)

Tablet S:

Design and Feel
In order to stand out in this crowded marketplace Sony needed to be innovative and different. With the design and development of this tablet they have attempted to do just that. Tablet S resembles a folded paper and it’s wedge shaped design means the tablet seems propped up on flat surfaces. This is a shortcoming in most tablets and Sony’s innovation solves this simple yet annoying problem. Further to the physical design Tablet S packs a punch under the hood. The Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of memory, a capacitive 9.4 inch touchscreen and a SD expansion slot ensure that this tablet delivers a strong user experience.

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Figure 2: Tablet S

Tablet S currently ships with Android Honycomb 3.1 and while this should be considered a high specification tablet, some unwanted user experiences have been documented. Such as poor rendering on some sites and the rotation of the screen sticking. Typically screen swiping and App use is very smooth so hopefully these minor issues will be remedied with the update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Cost
Sony is clearly pushing Tablet S forward for strong sales in the new year and has recently dropped the price of this tablet. Tablet S is currently available in the UK at £350 GBP and in the US for $400 USD.

Tablet P:

Design and feel
With the Tablet P Sony has tossed the tablet design rulebook out the window. The tablet is designed like a clam-shell with two screens which fold onto one another. This is useful for the purpose of scratch protection.  It also means that the device becomes very transportable when not in use. These devices have the added advantage of access to retro Playstation games such as Crash Bandicoot. Although the onscreen controls will not be to every-ones taste.

Figure 3: Tablet P (Closed)

The Sony Tablet P comes with two capacitive 5.5 inch screens and the Tegra 2 dual-core processor. The dual screen set-up is excellent for typing emails or text, but may be considered restrictive if watching films or videos. Tablet P’s built in memory of 4GB will fill up fast when music and videos are added, but the expansion slot allows this memory to be expanded to a maximum of 32GB.

The performance of Tablet P is excellent when swiping through screens and using Apps. Another strong point is the excellent quality of display, due to the 1024×480 pixel resolution.

Some problems are experienced with Internet connectivity when moving short distances from the WIFI router. This is unfortunate and may cause ‘banging head off wall’ syndrome to develop rapidly. Poor sound from the built in speakers means that viewing movies becomes impractical without the use of headphones.

Cost
Tablet P is currently available in the UK at £450 GBP. This price tag will not help sales of Tablet P in an already competitive market.

Bottom Line

Sony’s Tablet S and Tablet P are most welcome additions to the android tablet marketplace. With the impending addition of Ice Cream Sandwich we feel that these tablets will become even more desirable. Hopefully the issues listed above will be tackled and fixed through the update to 4.0. Credit should be given to Sony for being innovative in a market which has become accustomed to chunky blocks sporting the Android badge.

Tablet S is now competitively priced and should sell well given its sleek innovative design. Unfortunately Tablet P left a little to be desired and with the high price tag it’s placed in direct competition with some Android Tablet market leaders.

Daniel