Sony Mobile

For those unaware, Apple today announced some new products, the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display. Those who know me are aware of my incredibly close ties with Apple yet this article isn’t about the iPad vs Xperia Tablet. Instead, the announcement got me thinking about Sony’s tablet ambitions and how they’ve evolved with the less-than-stellar Tablet S and the improved Xperia Tablet S and finally, the highly-refined Xperia Tablet Z. As I tell a lot of my friends, clients, and colleagues, Sony is the electronic industry’s best kept secret. They tend to have innovative designs and breakthroughs in hardware, and they even release them prior to their competitors. Yet Nikon sells more mirrorless cameras than Sony thanks to their ad campaign starring Ashton Kutcher. This happens despite Sony pioneering the product category with the NEX series, and this is not an anomaly related to just the NEX cameras. At this time, Sony has the most aggressive 4K television lineup with the 55-inch XBR (XBR-55X850A) starting at $3,500 yet wait till Samsung jumps into the market with their own version and I guarantee they will be the center of the conversation. Speaking of Samsung, while the company has just released their first foray into the SmartWatch category, Sony has been busy releasing their second generation SmartWatch with a four day battery life versus the 12-24 hours from Samsung yet no one knows of Sony’s watch ambitions outside of the hyper tech crowd and the same holds true for the company’s tablet ambitions.

This is a pressing matter for Sony and one that they need to address boldly if they want success on a larger scale. In fact, this issue isn’t about Sony vs. Samsung or Sony vs. Apple. Instead, it’s what Sony must do to reach everyday consumers who make up the majority of consumer electronic sales. So with that as backdrop, I’d like to introduce you all to a new series called “Let’s Reconsider” where we look at Sony products that have come and gone. No, we’re not looking at old devices from a decade ago or even a year ago. Instead, the series will highlight Sony products that have been released within the year and/or are still relevant, yet have little publicity and public awareness. Unlike a product review, this series will be designed as a reminder about what the given product has to offer and we’ll leave you, our educated readers, to make up your mind if it deserves your purchase. So with the announcement of the iPad Air and a continued strong growth of tablets in the post-PC world, our first series will focus on the Sony Xperia Tablet Z.