JAPANESE electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp. today announced plans for two tablet computers, codenamed S1 and S2, in a direct challenge to Apple’s iPad.
The S1 has a single screen and is for home use while the portable S2 has two screens, Sony said at a news conference to unveil the devices.
The tablet devices will have access to online content to buy and download videos, music and other entertainment and be compatible with existing PlayStation games, Sony official Kunimasa Suzuki said.
Digital books can also be downloaded and read on the multimedia computers.
The S1 has a 10 inch (25 centimetre) screen, two cameras and Wi-Fi access for surfing the Internet while the folding clamshell S2 has dual 5.5 inch colour touch screens and fits into a pocket.
“This design is particularly relevant for reading digital books whose content is displayed on screen as two pages side-by side,” Suzuki said.
Both devices use the Google Android 3.0 operating system.
They are expected to go on sale from autumn around the world.
Sony is a late entrant into the tablet computer market dominated by Apple.
