What Sony’s Tablet Can Bring to the Table

February 8th, 2010 by K. T. Bradford

Now that we’re done with Apple rumors, how about some Sony tablet rumors? There was a bit of buzz generated last week when Sony’s CFO, Nobuyuki Oneda, said that the company is “very interested” in getting in on the tablet market and “confident we have the skills to create a product.”

This isn’t too surprising as just about every computer or electronics company has caught tablet fever. However, given that Sony is going for the whole universal media experience with their expansion of the PlayStation Network to encompass a wider range of devices from laptops to calculator watches, it makes sense for them to create yet another access point to this portal of entertainment goodness.

Sony already has the elements of a great tablet scattered throughout their various divisions. In a perfect world, they’d all come together to create one kickin’ device. Here are 5 things we’d like to see in a tablet from Sony based on the technology we’ve seen from them so far:

PSP Gaming Capability – These days tablets are almost synonymous with multimedia tablets, and I’d particularly expect this of Sony due to their already excellent mobile gaming platform. The core purpose of a Sony tablet wouldn’t need to be games or entertainment, but taking what’s good about the PSP and adding a bigger screen would be a great first step.
Excellent Audio Quality – We often praise the Sony Walkman X Series for having better audio quality than other portable music players, including the iPod and Zune HD. A Sony tablet should offer the best in this area, along with the active noise canceling the X Series does so well.
A Superior eReading Experience – Since Sony was one of the first eReader pioneers I hope that they’ll come up with some way to make reading eBooks on the tablet better for the eyes than LCDs. Utilizing Pixel Qi technology is probably off the table, as is Qualcomm’s mirasol. Still, I’d hate to see their experience here wasted. I also expect accessing Sony’s eBook store on this tablet will be a fun and engaging experience, and I want the selection to include both print titles and comic books/graphic novels.
High-End Design – As we pointed out in our You Grade The Brands post, Sony has a history of making miniaturization sexy as well as delivering eye-catching designs. Both of these strengths will come in to play when they create a tablet, obviously, and I could definitely deal with a device that uses the VAIO X as a starting point — thin, almost unbelievably light, with a steampunk flare.
A Sophisticated OS – As soon as the buzz started on the possibility of Sony making a tablet, many wondered if it would run a version of the Chumby OS currently utilized by the Dash Internet Viewer. Though that OS would be all right for a purely media-driven tablet, I hope that Sony goes with something a bit more robust to appeal to consumers who want a blend of entertainment and productivity.

What features or elements would you expect to see in a Sony tablet? Do you think the electronics maker has what it takes to create an iPad challenger?

Tired of the continuing saga of Apple tablet rumors? How about some Sony tablet rumors? There was a bit of buzz generated last week when Sony’s CFO, Nobuyuki Oneda, said that the company is “very interested” in getting in on the tablet market and “confident we have the skills to create a product.” This isn’t too surprising as just about every computer or electronics company has caught tablet fever. However, given that Sony is going for the whole universal media experience with their expansion of the PlayStation Network to encompass a wider range of devices from laptops to calculator watches, it makes sense for them to create yet another access point to this portal of entertainment goodness.

1. PSP Gaming Capability – These days tablets are almost synonymous with multimedia tablets, and I’d particularly expect this of Sony due to their already excellent mobile gaming platform. The core purpose of a Sony tablet wouldn’t need to be games or entertainment, but taking what’s good about the PSP and adding a bigger screen would be a great first step.

2. Excellent Audio Quality – We often praise the Sony Walkman Z Series for having better audio quality than other portable music players, including the iPod and Zune HD. A Sony tablet should offer the best in this area, along with the active noise cancelling the Z Series does so well.

3. A Superior eReading Experience – Since Sony was one of the first eReader pioneers I hope that they’re come up with some way to make reading eBooks on the tablet better for the eyes than LCDs. Utilizing Pixel Qi technology is probably off the table, as is Qualcomm’s mirasol. Still, I’d hate to see their experience here wasted. I also expect accessing Sony’s eBook store on this tablet will be a fun and engaging experience, and I want the selection to include both print titles and comic books/graphic novels.

4. High-End Design – As we pointed out in our You Grade The Brands post, Sony has a history of making miniaturization sexy as well as delivering eye-catching designs. Both of these strengths will come in to play when they create a tablet, obviously, and I could definitely deal with a device that uses the VAIO X as a starting point — thin, almost unbelievably light, with a steampunk flare.

5. A Sophisticated OS – As soon as the buzz started on the possibility of Sony making a tablet, many wondered if it would run a version of the Chumby OS currently utilized by the Dash Internet Viewer. Though that OS would be all right for a purely media-driven tablet, I hope that Sony goes with something a bit more robust to appeal to consumers who want a blend of entertainment and productivity.

What features or elements would you expect to see in a Sony tablet? Do you think the electronics maker has what it takes to create an iPad challenger?

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