Following up, Sony Mobile has also announced its follow up to the previous Tablet S with a newly rebranded model in the Xperia Tablet S, reflecting a desire to unite all tablet and mobile devices under a common brand. The Xperia Tablet S is nearly identical to the previous model in terms of design, save for a major materials change as Sony has switched the bodyshell construction from lightweight ABS plastic to equally lightweight aluminium.
The Xperia Tablet S features a Tegra 3 based processor, Android 4.0 and up to 64GB of built-in storage depending on model selected. Sony also retained the Tablet S’ IR emitter from the previous model, which allows the tablet to double as a universal remote and this time has added programming capability to add custom shortcuts for specific actions. The remainder of the specifications includes a full-size SD slot, a 9.4-inch (1,280 x 800) IPS touch screen and a 6,000mAh battery promising 10 hours of runtime.
As mentioned earlier, the tablet will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, but Sony is promising an upgrade to Jelly Bean as soon as it can optimize all its custom apps shipping with the tablet, which include a new Watch Now app that allows for live TV-viewing with participating cable subscription required, the option to “check into” shows and share comments on Facebook and Twitter.
Sony has also added a new Guest Mode that lets you create custom user profiles, forbidding the use of certain apps which solves the problem of shared tablet use between friends and family. Sony also added Music and Video Unlimited services as well as 5GB of space in PlayMemories, Sony’s new cloud storage service.
The tablet will be available next week on September 7th, with pre-orders starting today. It will start at $400 for the 16GB model, the 32GB going for $500 and the 64GB for $600 with a new slate of accessories such as a Microsoft Surface alike keyboard we heard priced at $100 and subsequently beating Microsoft at the offering by nearly two months. A new three-position stand is also an option, with HDMI output and a USB adapter for charging, also for $100 as well as a charging cradle ($40), a regular stand ($25), a dock speaker ($130) and a carrying case, priced at either $51 or $80, depending on whether leather is chosen as the material.
