Sony is planning to finally enter the crowded tablet device market in early September if a new report from CNet"s Crave blog is to be believed. The site claims that Sony will launch the tablets just before the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin which begins on September 2. Sony is also supposed to announce the tablet"s official names at the launch; currently they are known as the S1 and the S2.
The article adds that the Sony S1 tablet will come in WiFi only and in 3G wireless versions. Both will be made available in 16 GB and 32 GB versions. The S1 will have a 9.4 inch screen and will also come with a full SD card slot for people who want to add extra storage. Look for several accessories to be made available for the S1 tablet including a Bluetooth keyboard and some kind of hardware dock. It"s also supposed to have some kind of connectivity for the Playstation 3 game console and can also serve as a remote control for televisions, Blu-Ray players and other products. Battery life is supposed to be as long as Apple"s iPad tablet.
The Sony S2 tablet, which will have two 5.5 inch screens that fold up like Nintendo"s DS console, will be made available with 16 GB and 32 GB versions available and with both WiFi and 3G wireless support; apparently there will be no WiFi only version of the S2 tablet. Both the S1 and the S2 will use the "Honeycomb" version of the Android operating system. It"s currently unknown what Sony will charge for these tablets.