Sony shows off two new unique Android tablets

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sony has finally unveiled the S1 and S2; two uniquely shaped tablets, that it says, are for the more status minded buyer. Though both run the Android operating system, neither is shaped like the mostly etch-a-sketch designs currently on the market. The S1 has a folded back looking top that was designed to look and feel like a magazine that has been folded back. Company reps say that makes it more comfortable to hold in one hand. The S2 is a dual screen tablet embedded in a clam-shell case that can be opened and closed, making it look, as one observer at a recent press junket in New York described, like a sunglasses case.

The S1 and S2 will be the first tablets introduced by Sony into the United States, and both appear to be aimed at users who are both looking for something different and have the money to pay for it.

In addition to being more comfortable to hold, the added thickness at the top of the S1 means that when it’s laid on a table it tilts slightly towards the user, rather than at the ceiling, making it easier to read and type. Listed as a 9.4 inch tablet, the S1, which like the S2 will almost certainly be renamed before its official launch sometime in the fall, features both a USB and docking port.

The S2, listed as a 5.5 inch tablet, actually provides a virtual 10 inch screen when the images on the two screens are used as one; it can be used either horizontally or vertically, which makes it ideal for reading eBooks in one direction and for use as a regular tablet in the other. Its big selling point is that it can be closed and put in a pocket, even if just barely.

Both tablets are based on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 system on a chip (SoC) and have been, according to Sony, optimized to provide a faster user experience. Oddly, the S1 doesn’t have cellular connectivity, and thus the only means for getting online is via WiFi. The S2 on the hand can’t connect via WiFi; users will connect using only AT&T’s (in the U.S.) wireless services. Another draw for these two tablets is that both will have a PlayStation Certification, which means both will be able to run the PlayStation games that have been ported to an emulator on Android systems.

Pricing for the two new tablets has yet to be announced.

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