iPad Sony interested in challenging Apple's iPad

kjk · 02-04-2010, 12:24 PM

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...g_Apple_s_iPad

Quote:

Sony hinted on Thursday that it's preparing a challenger to Apple's upcoming iPad.

"That is a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product," said Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's CFO, who was speaking at a Tokyo news conference held to announce the company's quarterly financial results.

Oneda didn't provide any details of any planned products but did say Sony is eyeing a similar market to the upcoming Apple gadget.

"Time-wise we are a little behind the iPad but it's a space we would like to be an active player in," said Oneda.

CyGuy · 02-04-2010, 01:00 PM

Sony could build a product that would be much more desirable than the iPad, but would probably be very expensive. I do look forward to seeing what they offer in the tablet arena.

scottjl · 02-04-2010, 01:12 PM

Ok, there's quite a difference between saying you have something near release to challenge the iPad and that you'd like to develop something to challenge it. Hell, I'm officially declaring I'd like to release a product to challenge the iPad in its product space some time in the future. Ok, Sony is more likely to have some engineers lying they can assign to it but they don't have any hardware designs, any OS designs, etc. Best they could do on the short term is yet another laptop/tablet running Windows, or a beefed up Reader with a new OS?

Sony has a lot of its own issues to worry about right now with their plummeting profits and sales. I would hardly trust them to venture out into yet another market.

CyGuy · 02-04-2010, 01:27 PM

"...yet another laptop/tablet running Windows.." would be great. Their VAIO netbooks would be a great base for a tablet in my opinion. Ditch the keyboard and mouse, integrate the screen, and add multi-touch.

Bremen Cole · 02-04-2010, 01:28 PM

I welcome Sony to the 21st century. There was a time when Sony was the innovator, and other companies imitated them. Good to see they are at least trying.

It's funny to me how now companies are scrambling to come out with a pad..... There was never a law saying only Apple can bring interesting and new products to the marketplace. Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Acer... could have made a product like the iPad..... but they all seem to be in (as usual) imitate mode.

By the way, I have never been a fan of Apple. I tried a Mac about 5 years ago, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. (did like the iLife suite though) I avoided the iPod, but got fed up with weak features and accessories for other mp3 players and got one. Got years of service from it and loved it. Now have an iPhone and it is a great product. I am now looking forward to the launch of the iPad to see what it will be like in real life.

Not a fan of Apple, but I'm not so silly that I refuse to use a good product, no matter who makes it.

dmaul1114 · 02-04-2010, 02:28 PM

Very interested to see what Sony and other companies put out to compete with the iPad.

Apple set the bar high on the form factor, battery life and price fronts, so I can't wait to see how competitors try to 1up them.

scottjl · 02-04-2010, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyGuy

"...yet another laptop/tablet running Windows.." would be great. Their VAIO netbooks would be a great base for a tablet in my opinion. Ditch the keyboard and mouse, integrate the screen, and add multi-touch.

plenty of tablets out there to choose from now without a keyboard and mouse and a touch screen. what makes you think sony is going to make hardware that is any better? ok. might be thinner and more expensive. but i wouldn't look for any huge innovations.

the thing to remember here is it's the software that will make or break a tablet. pen/finger input needs to be easily accepted into all aspects of the operating system and applications. that is what has held windows tablets back for years. funny the NYT article that just came out which even documents how groups within microsoft were against tablets and sabotaged efforts.

sony, toshiba, samsung, etc, they can make amazing tablet hardware, but none of them write the operating system. so until microsoft can get their act together (and they're trying, supposedly) no one is going to be able to pull this off other than apple. no don't point at linux, their efforts, while very well appreciated, are far behind microsoft's.

CyGuy · 02-04-2010, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

plenty of tablets out there to choose from now without a keyboard and mouse and a touch screen.

I have yet to see one, other than a couple of WinCE units, and a couple of huge brick-of-a-tablet units with XP Tablet Edition. I have been looking and waiting for a long time for a real tablet device.

kjk · 02-04-2010, 05:51 PM

I can definitely see Sony leveraging their PSP/PS3 media library on a tablet sized device.

scottjl · 02-04-2010, 05:56 PM

@cyguy do you mean a .5" thin tablet like the iPad? No. those aren't plentiful and you won't find those. But plenty of laptop thick windows tablets out there. If you want something powerful enough to run Windows then expect it to be large enough to.

@kjk so you want a tablet style device that's running the PSP/PS3's operating system? I wouldn't see a huge market for that, just a tablet gaming device.

kjk · 02-04-2010, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

@kjk so you want a tablet style device that's running the PSP/PS3's operating system? I wouldn't see a huge market for that, just a tablet gaming device.

ahahaha no. But I might be interested in playing PS3 games on a 10" portable tablet.

scottjl · 02-04-2010, 06:29 PM

i wouldn't hold my breath for sony to start releasing their games for apple's tablet. your best bet is to hack up a ps3 with a flat screen into some sort of portable system.

dmaul1114 · 02-04-2010, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

@cyguy do you mean a .5" thin tablet like the iPad? No. those aren't plentiful and you won't find those. But plenty of laptop thick windows tablets out there. If you want something powerful enough to run Windows then expect it to be large enough to.

Yep, that's why I've avoided tablet PCs and don't have much interest in a Tablet having full PC power.

I mainly want one for reading and marking up PDFs, jotting notes, some light websurfing, maybe some streaming video watching etc. I care more about it being thin, light, cool running and getting decent battery life than having power to run a bunch of PC applications that don't work very well without a keyboard and mouse anyway.

Madam Broshkina · 02-04-2010, 06:47 PM

The Sony Dash is coming out soon for $199. Not a tablet but a personal internet viewer.

kjk · 02-04-2010, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

The Sony Dash is coming out soon for $199. Not a tablet but a personal internet viewer.

cool find, Madam Broshkina! I'm surprised the Sony guy didn't mention it in that article.

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02-04-2010, 01:00 PM	#2
CyGuy Avid Reader Posts: 769 Karma: 7777778 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: PocketBook 902, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, ASUS TF700, and Cybook Gen III	Sony could build a product that would be much more desirable than the iPad, but would probably be very expensive. I do look forward to seeing what they offer in the tablet arena.

02-04-2010, 01:12 PM	#3
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	Ok, there's quite a difference between saying you have something near release to challenge the iPad and that you'd like to develop something to challenge it. Hell, I'm officially declaring I'd like to release a product to challenge the iPad in its product space some time in the future. Ok, Sony is more likely to have some engineers lying they can assign to it but they don't have any hardware designs, any OS designs, etc. Best they could do on the short term is yet another laptop/tablet running Windows, or a beefed up Reader with a new OS? Sony has a lot of its own issues to worry about right now with their plummeting profits and sales. I would hardly trust them to venture out into yet another market.

02-04-2010, 01:27 PM	#4
CyGuy Avid Reader Posts: 769 Karma: 7777778 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: PocketBook 902, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, ASUS TF700, and Cybook Gen III	"...yet another laptop/tablet running Windows.." would be great. Their VAIO netbooks would be a great base for a tablet in my opinion. Ditch the keyboard and mouse, integrate the screen, and add multi-touch.

02-04-2010, 01:28 PM	#5
Bremen Cole Wizard Posts: 1,115 Karma: 2718 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Texas Device: iPad	I welcome Sony to the 21st century. There was a time when Sony was the innovator, and other companies imitated them. Good to see they are at least trying. It's funny to me how now companies are scrambling to come out with a pad..... There was never a law saying only Apple can bring interesting and new products to the marketplace. Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Acer... could have made a product like the iPad..... but they all seem to be in (as usual) imitate mode. By the way, I have never been a fan of Apple. I tried a Mac about 5 years ago, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. (did like the iLife suite though) I avoided the iPod, but got fed up with weak features and accessories for other mp3 players and got one. Got years of service from it and loved it. Now have an iPhone and it is a great product. I am now looking forward to the launch of the iPad to see what it will be like in real life. Not a fan of Apple, but I'm not so silly that I refuse to use a good product, no matter who makes it.

02-04-2010, 02:28 PM	#6
dmaul1114 Wizard Posts: 2,300 Karma: 1121709 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Amazon Kindle 1	Very interested to see what Sony and other companies put out to compete with the iPad. Apple set the bar high on the form factor, battery life and price fronts, so I can't wait to see how competitors try to 1up them.

02-04-2010, 05:51 PM	#9
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	I can definitely see Sony leveraging their PSP/PS3 media library on a tablet sized device.

02-04-2010, 05:56 PM	#10
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	@cyguy do you mean a .5" thin tablet like the iPad? No. those aren't plentiful and you won't find those. But plenty of laptop thick windows tablets out there. If you want something powerful enough to run Windows then expect it to be large enough to. @kjk so you want a tablet style device that's running the PSP/PS3's operating system? I wouldn't see a huge market for that, just a tablet gaming device.

02-04-2010, 06:29 PM	#12
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	i wouldn't hold my breath for sony to start releasing their games for apple's tablet. your best bet is to hack up a ps3 with a flat screen into some sort of portable system.

02-04-2010, 06:47 PM	#14
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	The Sony Dash is coming out soon for $199. Not a tablet but a personal internet viewer.

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