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Topic: Laptops

Is Sony working on an Android-based PlayStation tablet?

Summary: Sony has been fairly silent on the tablet PC front while its rivals have been falling all over themselves to announce competitors to the iPad. But the electronics giant may be readying an Android 3.

Sean Portnoy

By for Laptops & Desktops |

Sony has been fairly silent on the tablet PC front while its rivals have been falling all over themselves to announce competitors to the iPad. But the electronics giant may be readying an Android 3.0 tablet that will be PlayStation Certified.

According to Fudzilla, the slate, which will use the latest version of Android -- dubbed Honeycomb -- may appear as early as this summer, though it's unclear if it would launch in Japan first before hitting the U.S. later in the year.

Sony has already announced its PlayStation Suite platform for Android devices, which will offer classic PlayStation titles as downloadable content and also allow developers to create new games using the environment.

Given the popularity of the PlayStation brand, offering a PS tablet would probably be a shrewd move on the part of Sony to make its Android tablet stand out. It's too early to know, however, if such a tablet would bring anything new to the table in terms of hardware or gaming friendliness that could really set it apart. If Sony plans to enter a crowded space months after competitors will have rival slates on the market, it better kick things up a notch.

Topics: Laptops, Hardware, Mobility, Tablets

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7 comments
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  • RE: Is Sony working on an Android-based PlayStation tablet?

    IS anyone truly surprised by this move?
    Bates_
    Reply Vote

  • We meet again... ohh... Lord of the X...

    ...XBox... I mean...

    Ironically as much as Microsoft wants to battle Google on a one-on-one game, the more "hands" appear to help the latter.

    This time, when everybody thought that Windows Phone 7 had the upper hand with XBox Live games, here comes the PS Suite (from Sony, not from Google) to counter the attack.

    And worse yet, for the Softies, this is not a "branded" solution but rather, a lot of PS One games will come right out of the box.

    With that said, one of the greatest advantages that the Nokia WP phones had, will evaporate by the time the joint release appears.
    cosuna
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Is Sony working on an Android-based PlayStation tablet?

    This may be pretty awesome, depending upon the 1) functionality of the tablet, 2) the games (hopefully they will run the gamut from PS 1-3 and perhaps even PSP) and other features not seen on competitor's units. I will adopt a wait and see approach to this, and will be on board (LOL) if it innovates.
    okiwa002
    Reply Vote

  • No styrofoam mock-ups please...

    Just don't pre-announce something with a non-working mock-up Sony, like Samsung did with their new Tabs. (And they couldn't even get the dimensions right for the mock-ups.) Show everyone a hands-on, working prototype which is not more than 3 or 4 months from shipping. Worldwide, not just Japan.
    Synthmeister
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Is Sony working on an Android-based PlayStation tablet?

    Unless...<br><br>- the NGP is Android based<br>- Any Sony PS Tab is android based<br>- both are compatable with the Xperia Play android gaming handset<br><br>They might as well throw the towel in and ceed the market to Nintendo's last gasp of the DS platform the 3DS, Android handsets/tabs, and Apple with portable gaming with the IOS devices like iPod Touch/iPhone.

    Dedicated portable gaming is dying, now the platform has made it to powerful power light ARM chipsets, with supporting 3D acceleration that also do music, do internet, do office automation, do e-mail/web/socail, do video, can be a phone and (critically for many) fit in a dock to be a music system.
    neilpost
    Reply Vote

  • Heh, could that be the NGP

    A.K.A. Nintendo Got Pawned?

    With the N.G.P.'s built in quad core, I'm sure one could install Honeycomb on it, or even better, Windows 8 when it hits the market :D The NGP will surely make a great two in one kick-ass against both crApple and Nintendo ;)
    MrElectrifyer
    Reply Vote

  • Sony already lost credibility in this space

    While their hardware and technology is awesome. Sony has demonstrated time and time again that they are against open platforms.

    They will tease us, sure, like they did with the Linux kit for PS2 and the OtherOS feature on the PS3. Once hooked, then, pull the rug from under your feet.

    But again, we have short memory.

    Sony engineers develop great products that will eventually be crippled by Sony itself.
    rarsa
    Reply Vote
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