is a discontinued series of
Android based
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s, produced from 2011 to 2012 by
Sony Corporation.
Two models were released:
Sony Tablet S and
Sony Tablet P.
It was succeeded by the
Sony Xperia Tablet S which is part of the mobile unit under the
Xperia brand name.
History and development
Sony's
Vaio division had released tablet-like products before, such as the
Sony Vaio U series in 2004. Its first tablet computer however was the Airboard, which was released in Japan in 2000 and the brainchild of Satoru Maeda.
On April 26, 2011, Sony announced that it would be developing two Android tablets, codenamed S1 and S2. The S1 (which became the Tablet S) was said to be "optimized for
rich media entertainment" while the S2 (later Tablet P) would be "ideal for mobile communication and entertainment".
On 15 June 2011, Sony released the first in a series of five videos titled "Two Will", promoting and featuring the Tablets in an elaborately designed
Rube Goldberg Machine. The episodes are entitled:
* Prologue
* The First Impression
* Going smoothly
* Filled with fun
* Together anywhere
Tablet S and P
The models originally ran
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
's operating system
Android 3.1 Honeycomb.
The first models were informally announced on 26 April 2011, using the code names, by Sony in the Sony IT Mobile Meeting. They featured
touchscreen
A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...
s, two
camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
s (a rear-facing 5
MP, a front-facing 0.3 MP),
infrared
Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...
sensor,
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
. Also, they support
PlayStation Suite,
DLNA, and are
3G/
4G compatible. The retail price in the U.S at the time of release was US$499–599.
In Europe, prices were at €499. To increase the number of apps available and provide marketing support for both tablets, Sony and
Adobe Systems
Adobe Inc. ( ), formerly Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American software, computer software company based in San Jose, California. It offers a wide range of programs from web design tools, photo manipulation and vector creation, through to ...
will hold a $200,000 competition targeting app developers. The series was formally launched in Berlin and Tokyo on 31 August 2011.
The ''Sony Tablet S'' (former code name ''Sony S1'') has one touchscreen display in a
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
layout, and a unique ''wrap design'' inspired by the way some persons fold magazines while reading them. In
landscape orientation, the unit along the top is about three times thicker than along the bottom, forming a mild slant.
It was released on 11 September 2011, as the first available member of the Sony Tablet series.
The
suggested retail prices are $499 for the 16 GB model and $599 for the 32 GB model.
In early reviews in late 2011, the units compared favorably to similar high-end tablets.
See also
*
Comparison of tablet computers
*
Sony Xperia
*
iPad
The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
References
External links
*
{{Android tablets
Android (operating system) devices
Products introduced in 2011