While the tablet market continues to expand and each week, we seem to hear about a new Android variation, there still remains one true king, Apple. Playing second fiddle to them, Samsung has continued to copy offer new tablets and holds a respectable second place behind the Cupertino based company. Then, there is everyone else. Sony like others has continued to offer one or two tablets a year like the Xperia Tablet S and the soon to be released Xperia Tablet Z. Others like Microsoft are pouring billions into their own tablet initiative with the likes of the Surface and Surface Pro though there is little traction with consumers. While the tablet market is a highly active one, much like the smartphone segment, the game is currently controlled by Apple and Samsung. So how do you win in such an environment and gain marketshare? By offering something totally different and that’s exactly what Sony has announced with their 13.3-inch e-ink tablet.
Tablets
In hopes that the saying “3rd times the charm” holds true, Sony is opening up the floodgates and is now taking pre-orders for the Xperia Tablet Z. The followup slate to the Tablet S and Xperia Tablet S, the Xperia Tablet Z takes many of the design cues from its predecessors while improving on it in every way. Unlike previous models which were underpowered for their time, the Xperia Tablet Z now packs some of the latest specs which include:
- Quad Core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064 Cortex-A9) processor
- 2GB RAM
- Bluetooth 4
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- 2.2 MP Front Camera
- 8.1 MP Rear Camera
If you’ve been neglecting your Sony Xperia Tablet S or tend to ignore updates, it’s time to fire up your tablet and connect it to the web. After hanging onto Ice Cream Sandwich for a bit too long, Sony is finally bringing Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1) to the Xperia Tablet S. The free update can be accessed from the System Update and takes just under 10 minutes to complete. It should be noted that the update requires that your Xperia Tablet S be plugged in, or have over 30% battery life, with 300MB of free space. After the jump, the Sony Xperia Tablet S Jelly Bean changelog.
Did you know that the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, and Xperia Tablet Z will work natively with Mac? Thanks to Sony’s Bridge for Mac program, the latest Android smartphones and tablets will be able to easily connect with OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and allow you to transfer music from iTunes and photos from iPhoto. With Bridge for Mac coming to v3.2, Sony is improving the software with less lag, better media handling, and new backup and restore options.
Last week, Sony released a video showcasing the beauty of their latest slate, the Xperia Tablet Z. In the video, Sony went out of their way to highlight both the outer beauty of the Tablet Z and inner beauty by disassembling the tablet and having its innards laid out on the table. While quite the impressive feat, this lead to the logical question of, “can the Xperia Tablet Z be put back together?’ In short, absolutely yes. While iFixIt has complained that the iPad and Surface tablets are nearly impossible to take apart without destroying them, the Xperia Tablet Z is not only put back together, but it’s also powered on to show full functionality.
Th only disappointing part of the video is that Shawn doesn’t end the piece by saying “zim zim zala bim” and then mystically disappearing in a puff of smoke. The magical video awaits you, after the jump.
Owners of the Sony Xperia Tablet S should have late April to early May marked on their schedule. Via their official community page, Sony has announced that Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is headed to their second generation Tablet S and is designed to address a few major bugs that have plagued users, including us. It remains unlikely that the first generation Tablet S will receive this latest update with the current build only being made available for the Xperia Tablet S. So what type of bugs will this address?
A great many of us are gadget lovers and cannot function properly without them. Some of us by choice (hence the reason this site was started) and others due to the benefits that they’ve been able to bring to our daily tasks. Even within the tech and geek community lies a divide – there are hardcores who don’t want to just know what the device does, but they want to know how it does it. What are in its internals and how are they assembled? Thanks to Sony, that group is getting something new to feast their eyes on; a proper tear down of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z.
Are you excited about the latest high end tablet from Sony, the Xperia Tablet Z? You know – the one sporting a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 display, four built in speakers, and that’s PlayStation certified. Yea, we thought you were. Though not set to launch till May, Sony is doing everything they can to wet your appetite till its release. After the jump, an all new promo video from Sony awaits you, showing off the devices functionality and build quality.
