From our recent visit to Singapore for the Sony year-end event, we checked out the Sony Tablet S in one of their concept stores at the Wisma Atria. We asked the reps why this hasn’t been launched in the Philippines and the quickest answer we got is that the regional office is the one the decides.
So we asked some more and got this tentative date — end of the 1st quarter of 2012 and an estimated starting retail price of Php25,000.
Now there’s the problem — the release date in the Philippines is a bit late and the price point is around 10-20% higher than other tablets in its category.
The Sony Tablet S didn’t really offer a lot more value than other Honeycomb tablets in the 10-inch category. In fact, the plastic construction and girth is a bit of a turn-off for some.
Then again, the 1st quarter 2012 is also a bit late. By that time, some manufacturers will have quad-core processors released in the market making the Sony Tablet S look outdated (and expensive).
Sony Tablet S specs:
9.4″ display @ 1280×800 pixels
NVidia Tegra 2 dual-core 1.0GHz processor
1GB RAM
16GB and 32GB internal storage
Standard SD Card slot expansion
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Infrared (IR)
5MP rear camera
VGA front-facing camera
micro-USB port
aGPS
5000mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 3.1 Honeycomb
The hardware configuration is standard compared to most of the other high-end tablets in the market. Note that the 5MP rear camera uses Sony’s Exmor technology so we’re hoping really good shots even in low-light conditions.
What really separates it from all of them is that the Tablet S has a built-in Infrared transmitter (IR). Yes — that’s a built-in Universal IR Remote Control. This basically allows you to control other appliances and devices that can receive IR signals (TVs, DVD players, stereo systems, etc).
And while there’s no HDMI port to speak of, the Sony Tablet S has this “Throw” feature that streams movies to your TV (basically it’s just DLNA).
What Sony will do is ship the Tablet S with the 3G variants instead. What we’re not sure is if the Php25,000 price tag already includes the 3G models or just the WiFi.
i love sony but the date was very late to launch.
in short, too little too late.
i’ve been waiting for this since last month
) tagal pa pala.
wow, giant remote control (plus an expensive one). I hope their price will go down, but then again…SONY pa!
The Tegra 2 has problems – see the thread by a veteran Android engineer:
https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/2FXDCz8x93s
did you really read that post??? please get your facts straight before posting such comments. Tegra 2 doesn’t have any problems, it’s Android’s design that has problems. Android has to work on multiple device configurations and therefore is not optimized on any hardware. Tegra 2 was mentioned because even with its power, it can’t deliver smooth UI animation due to Android’s limitations.
saw one at SM MEGAMALL its for 23k-24k.
what store in megamall you saw the tablet s?
March 2012? Do they really expect to compete with the Transformer Prime and iPad 3 at that price point?
Typical idiocy by executives when it comes to tech launches.
This will be obsolete by March 2012 in the Philippines. Nowadays there is a lot of tablets releasing in the market every month. By the time it arrived here in the Philippines, others will just choose and buy the latest tablets in the market unless of course Sony Philippines sells it a cheap price of 15,000 and below. In the U.S. it is already available but the Sony tablet cant compete with Apple Ipad 2 and Samsung Tablet10.1′/8.9′/7.7′/7′. People just wait for the next Apple Ipad 3 next year around June-August as announced by Apple.
Hey guys, I already have a tablet. I am thinking of selling it because I already have an Ipad 2.Comment here if youre interested. I have the 32 GB. Thanks
im planning to buy one, pedi mo ba send pics ng tablet mo and info and all. heres my email add:handsomechad25@yahoo.com. tnx
wow super tagal nman yan….sa hong kong nalang ako bili…tagal pa dto sa pinas
It’s unfair to say that sony tablet cannot compete with ipad and samsung. In my case I love sony not only because of the brand but, it’s stylsh, and they really think out of the box (IR – which is not available in some tablets).
If only sony tablet s is available in the Philippines, with the same suply as that of Ipad and samsung, maybe sony can tilt the market on their side.
In my opinion lang ha.
It’s unfair to say that sony tablet cannot compete with ipad and samsung. In my case I love sony not only because of the brand but, it’s stylsh, and they really think out of the box (IR – which is not available in some tablets).
If only sony tablet s is available in the Philippines, with the same suply as that of Ipad and samsung, maybe sony can tilt the market on their side.
I will still buy sony tablet s if its available.
In my opinion lang ha.