Since the launch of the Tablet S and Tablet P last year, little has been heard from Sony on the subject of future tablet plans. However, that changes today with the leak of a massive cache of slides detailing the company's next-generation "Xperia tablet." The slides first appeared in an XDA forum post, where the poster said the tablet would come to market in time for the holidays.
The new tablet will be "positioned as part of the Xperia family," which includes Sony's range of Android smartphones. Externally, the leaked slides indicate a thinner, lighter design, while keeping the Tablet S's trademark "wedge" design and 9.4-inch screen size. Tentative specs list the thickness as 8.8mm at the bottom of the wedge, and 11.85 at the top. The device is said to weigh 570 grams, down from 598. And in contrast to the plastic chassis of Sony's earlier tablet, the new model will be constructed of anodized aluminum-magnesium alloy and splashproof glass. Screen resolution looks set to remain at 1280x800 pixels (WXGA).
Internally, the Xperia tablet will apparently sport an NVIDIA Tegra 3 CPU with 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, and the camera specs have been bumped up to 1MP on the front and 8MP around the back. Battery life is estimated at 10 hours of Wifi browsing, on a 6000mAh battery. Interestingly, the OS version is marked as "ICS or later," suggesting the possibility that the Xperia tablet will ship with Jelly Bean at launch.
In addition to Android 4-point-something, you can expect the full Sony Entertainment Network suite, including PlayStation support and access to the Sony Reader store for e-books. A range of third-party apps are mentioned in the slides too, including the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Picasa, Box.net, Skype and Facebook, which may be pre-loaded.
A range of accessories is promised too, including stands, carrying cases, and a Microsoft Surface-style keyboard cover (though there's no indication of whether this works the same as Microsoft's offering). Tentative pricing starts at $449.99 for the 16GB version. 32GB is set for $549.99, and 64GB for $649.99.
With the IFA show just around the corner, and Sony confirmed to be in attendance, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for a possible unveiling in Berlin late next month. For more details, check the slides after the break.
Source: XDA; via: XperiaBlog
Reader comments
Sony 'Xperia Tablet' details leak - Tegra 3, splashproof glass and a keyboard cover
Interesting, nice assortment of accessories. Will like to see if they can stand by that pricing when it/if it gets released.
$650 for the 64GB version is reasonable. Too bad a 64GB S3 can't be priced similarly!!!
The little "confidential" tag made me laugh! Obviously someone didn't do his/her job...
I forsee Apple suing cause of the splash guard screen. we all know they had a pat# and early version of the IPAD with a splah guard screen back in 1874 LOL.
Not to be a smart ass...but...
When is glass not splash proof? Let alone water proof?
Just asking.
I was going to ask the same thing. Maybe the put a tighter seal around the edges?
as i know, spalsh proof is just capable of some water spilled in the device... but water proof is the device you can dive in water
Will this also have an IR blaster? As an owner of both a Sony tablet S and Nexus 7, the IR blaster is the only reason I still have the Sony tablet still around
yes, it have a IR diode, and the sony guy say its supports something name IR macro too, but i dunno what is
Looked through the slides some more there is an IR blaster. Also it has a "Guest" mode that allows to set different app access. This is huge for tablets since they are usually sitting in the living room and you don't want everyone to have access to things like your Gmail.
Yup, IR was definitely the big selling point on the original, and I'm glad they're keeping it around. Wonder if any other manufacturers will catch on and start including them.
It is a Quad-core too. I like this tablet. Maybe the price has to be $350 for 16 GB, $450 for 32 GB and $550 for 64 GB. I like the accesories too. Defenitly I'll buy this tablet but I'll wait a little to see if the price get lower.
i was one of the people that the sony guy revealed the information in XDA... he said that prices are outdated, and that the prices for now are, 399 16gb, 499 32gb and 599 64gb