The Japanese consumer electronics giant introduced its first tablet yesterday and a second dual-screen model is expected to ship by the end of the year. The first one, dubbed Tablet S, features a unique shape and a few clever content services that should help in stand out in a crowd of Android/Tegra tablets.
However, although reviewers praise some features, such as the inclusion of PlayStation Suite services, excellent media player and some clever UI customizations. The folded newspaper form factor seems to be a mixed bag, it sometimes it comes in handy, but then again it makes the whole package feel a bit clumsy and thick. Some reviewers also criticized the subpar build quality.
On a whole Tablet S seems to struggle to justify the $499 price tag (16GB version). The fact that a 32GB model costs a cool $100 more doesn’t help, either. Analysts believe Sony will be forced to cut the price if it hopes to seize market share, following in the footsteps of Motorola with its Xoom tablet and other vendors who realized that they cannot price their tablets on a par with the iPad.
Tablet S probably won’t flop like HP’s TouchPad, but it won’t be much of a success, either. It is just another overpriced Armdroid tablet and when the only distinguishing feature to boast about is a plastic fold in the design, you know you are in trouble.