Sony unveils Android tablet, three smartphones at IFA

Computerworld - Sony Mobile today announced three new smartphones and a 9.4-in. Android 4.0 tablet at the IFA show in Berlin.

The devices were described by Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai as helping accelerate Sony's turnaround. "Sony is an extraordinary company going through extraordinary times," Hirai, who assumed his post in April, said via Webcast.

"This company cannot stand still," he added. "Sony is committed to accelerating its turnaround and business growth."

The new Xperia Tablet S will feature an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a 9.4-in. display.

Hirai briefly described the new products along with innovations in gaming and camera technologies, but offered no details on pricing. All of the smartphones are slated to launch globally sometime in the fourth quarter, Sony said.

The new Xperia Tablet S will feature an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and run Android 4.0.3. The 9.4-in. display is HD quality, while the body is aluminum. Other details about the tablet were not available.

The three smartphones include a high-end Xperia T, with an HD screen and Near Field Communication capabilities; the Xperia V, which has similar features to the T, but is also LTE-ready; and the affordable Xperia J. Xperia T and V run Android 4.04, upgradeable to 4.1, and are powered by the Mobile Bravia multimedia process for display clarity. Both run 1.5GHz dual-core processors from Qualcomm, while the Xperia J will have a single core 1GHz processor from Qualcomm. The Xperia J runs Android 4.0.

The Xperia T, V and J smartphones are set to launch later this year.

The Xperia T has the largest screen at 4.55-in, while the Xperia V has a 4.3-in. display (both with 1280-x-720-pixel resolution) and the Xperia J has a 4-in. display with 480-x-854-pixel resolution. All three phones have two cameras; Sony said the Xperia T and Xperia V have rear-facing cameras with 13 megapixels, putting them at the top of what's currently offered in smartphones.

The Xperia T has the most internal memory, with 16GB; the Xperia V has 8GB; and the Xperia J has 4GB. All three offer support for up to a 32GB microSD card.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at  @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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