Sony backs its folding tablet to take on the iPad

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10 April 2012

Sony has launched a folding tablet computer it hopes will rival the iPad.

Called the Tablet P, the £479 gadget was launched today at the IFA gadget show in Berlin alongside a more traditional tablet called the S.

Both are capable of doubling as a TV remote control, playing back video wirelessly on a living room TV and playing some Playstation games.

The P has two screens which can be combined to view web pages, or used individually to display two pages of a book, for instance. Sony hopes the design will help it steal a march on Apple. The tablets run a customised version of Google's Android software, and will go on sale in Dixons and John Lewis within weeks, although customers can preorder from today.

"We wanted something that stands out, to be the alternative to Apple you have to stand out from the sea of sameness," said Omar Gurnah of Sony UK.

The folding design of the P, which includes a 3G mobile phone connection, was inspired by market research into how people who have tablets use them. Mr Gurnah said: "We looked at where people use their tablets, and we found only 24 per cent of people take it out of the house, because they are quite big and cumbersome. So we put everything onto a tablet you can fold up and take everywhere with you."

The gadgets are also able to display video on a living room TV and play audio through living speakers on the most recent TVs, by simply "throwing" the video file onto the TV with a flick of the finger.

The larger tablet of the pair, the £399 T, has a 9.4in screen designed to look like a book, with one side heavier than the other, making it easy to hold. "We wanted our tablet to feel rather like a book or a folded newspaper," said Mr Gurnah.

Sony also plans to launch a download service to compete with Apple's iTunes service and has revealed a new wi-fi-connected electronic book set to go up against Amazon's Kindle.

Sony Tablet
From £349; sony.com
★★★✩✩

Sony may be late to the tablet market but the firm has managed to produce something different in a market packed with iPad lookalikes.

Its traditional tablet, the S, feels superb, and is easier to hold than even the iPad thanks to its contoured book-like design and gripped back. The included apps, particularly the TV remote and ability to show video on your TV, work brilliantly and really set the tablet aside. However, the folding P series feels a little too gimmicky for everyday use, especially as it's quite chunky. The screens are too small for most uses, although for those constantly on the move it's worth considering.

Sony's S is without doubt the best Android tablet on the market and the level of innovation and risk must be applauded. But Google needs to attract more developers before any manufacturer can really compete with the iPad - rather than trying to be the "best of the rest".

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