Sony P Tablet vs Sony S Tablet

We compare Sony's two new Android 3.2-powered tablets to see which is most worthy of your time

Sony has gleefully skipped carefree into the tablet world with two very individual devices, which are sure to attract attention – the wedge-shaped S tablet and the quirky clamshell P tablet. We take the time to compare the two and see which comes out on top.

Form:
Sony P Tablet - 180x158x14mm, 370g
Sony S Tablet - 241.2x174.3x10.1-20.6mm (tapers), 598g
The first thing which strikes you looking at both these tablets is how interesting and innovative Sony has been with the shapes and designs.

They couldn’t really be any more different, on the one hand you have the P tablet – a clamshell, split-screen device with a very space-age feel. When closed it looks like the world’s most stylish glasses case with its curved outer surfaces and long profile.

Open it up and you’re presented with two neat touchscreens cleanly surrounded by a shiny black border.
It all looks very prestigious and if you didn’t know it was a tablet you’d wonder what on earth it was as it could easily be mistaken for some kind of bespoke controller for a swanky home entertainment system – and we mean that in a nice way. Not in a Peep Show 'megatron' way.

The S tablet is not so extreme, but it’s still determined to be different.
On the surface it looks much more like a conventional tablet with its rectangular shape and sharp corners. However, a closer look reveals some very purposeful design tweaks which help it stand out from the crowd.
For starters, as we mentioned before it is wedge-shaped. Look at it side on and you’ll see it tapers from 20.6mm thick at the top down to a 10.6mm razor edge.

The devil is in the details here and that thicker edge is rounded-off and carries a continuous curve round the back of the device neatly. Plus it’s made of a snazzy carbon-fibre style material giving it a mean look.
We like the thoughtful design of the S tablet but it doesn’t have the same charm and portability of the P tablet, which is still sizeable when unfolded while being lighter and handier all round.
Winner – Sony P Tablet

Storage:
The P tablet has a fixed internal capacity at 4GB but the S tablet is better equipped with options for either 16GB or 32GB. Both use 1GB of RAM to back up processor tasks.
External storage is similar between the two though not identical. Both support an additional 32GB of data via cards but while the P tablet supports micro SD the S tablet uses full sized SD cards, which could be considered something of a faux-pas on Sony's part.

The S tablet has a lot more space to play with, which automatically makes it a more attractive prospect, however we’re not overly keen on the use of the larger SD format cards.

As tablets often make companions for smartphones, being hindered by potentially non-transferable external storage is not the best setup.

Obviously we’d rather have the internal capacity of the S inside the P tablet but 4GB is still not to be sneezed at and we think on balance we’d take the P’s versatility with micro SD over what the S offers.
Winner – Sony P Tablet

Display:
Again both tablets have very different setups here.
The S tablet once again sports a more traditional approach with a single continuous screen – it’s a 9.4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen at 1280x800 pixels resolution.

Pixel density is a little less impressive at 161 pixels-per-inch (ppi).

The P tablet is up to some crazy stuff but we love it. It’s got a pair of 5.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreens in a split arrangement, rather like a Nintendo 3DS, with each clocking in at 1024x480 pixels and a decent 206ppi.

Each tablet has the same run-down of display features – multi-touch input, accelerometer and gyro sensors are all included.

With two 5.5-inch screens you’ve got more room to play with and in a handier package to boot.
Not only this but the pixel density is a lot better than on the S tablet. The P tablet gets our vote this round.
Winner – Sony P Tablet

Processor:
Processing power is identical between the devices. Both are equipped with a 1GHz dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor running Nvidia’s Tegra 2 T20 chipset.
Visuals are whipped into shape by another bit of Nvidia tech in the form of a GeForce graphics processing unit (GPU).
It’s a stalemate here but each is offering an impressive hardware line-up capable of some nifty performance.
Winner - Draw

Operating System:
Yet more similarities in this category with Sony’s duo of Android devices running the tablet-specific Honeycomb build.
Honeycomb is our favourite build of Android, at least until Ice Cream Sandwich arrives.
It resolves pretty much every gripe we’ve had with previous iterations of the system.
A slicker, faster and more intuitive interface makes it easy to get to grips with and, because they run on dual core processors, there’s not a hint of lag or stuttering.

Web browsing was a continual bugbear in previous builds of Android, but here you’ve got all the glory of Javascript plus fast site loading, tabbed functionality and silky scrolling and pinch zoom navigation.
Intensive apps and games are more viable than ever before thanks to newly added OpenGL graphics acceleration and a bespoke Renderscript 3D graphics engine.

Multi-tasking is as deftly handled as ever and now includes a useful apps tray for quick switching between active programs.

The notifications bar has also been improved to include more text and now image information in each alert.
Winner - Draw

Camera:
Guess what? That’s right, identical setups again, but Sony has taken a thorough approach to the device's imaging compartments, which we appreciate.
Both tablets have 5-megapixel primaries at 2560х1920 pixels and VGA secondary cameras.
Video capture in each case is at 720p and there’s also video calling support.

The features run-down includes autofocus, touch focus, geo-tagging, image stabilisation and face and smile detection.
All in all it's good stuff here.
Winner - Draw

Final Thoughts:
We’re really liking Sony’s efforts here and the company has taken a very thoughtful and unique approach to making two tablets which will really standout from the competition.
Both are highly competitive offerings which should easily please most users.

However, we do have a favourite and that is the P tablet. There’s nothing else quite like it and we can clearly see how usable it would be in daily life.

We feel it brilliantly bridges the gap between the larger 10-inch tablets and the smaller 7-inch versions offered by many other manufacturers.

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HTC Status Free and Motorola Triumph $250 this week at Target

It’s no mistake that we’ve got more than a couple posts each week regarding Target Superstore, it’s just logical – yours truly lives in the heart of the beast, the birthplace of Target itself, Minneapolis / Saint Paul, Minnesota. The ad you see below was photographed inside the Target which sits on the very ground where the first Target in the world once stood (unfortunately it was terrible, apparently, and they had to knock it down to make way for a much better building to house Target once again.) Wild! Now that you’ve got the facts, let’s talk about these devices on sale: three of them are running Android and all three of them have a deal attached.


First there’s the most awesome nearly-vanilla Motorola device by the name of Virgin Mobile Triumph. This is a device we first laid eyes on in NYC when we came to realize the awesomeness of the truth: it was the first time Motorola had offered a device as stripped down as this at an off-contract price as low as this, and it was being carried by Virgin Mobile no less.
Then there’s the HTC Status [aka HTC ChaCha] [internationally, that is] carried by AT&T. While we’d recently heard rumors that this device’s end of life would be much sooner than anyone could have possibly guessed, we’ve got a soft spot in our hearts for the uniquely wonderful keyboard from back when we reviewed the device a few weeks ago. Beyond that it’s what they’ve called “The Facebook Phone” because there’s literally a physical Facebook button sitting near the bottom of it. Also get yourself a unique flavor of HTC Sense with this landscape oriented display on a portrait-style smartphone. The deal here is that while this device is inexpensive in the first place at $29.99 (or $399.99 off-contract), you can get it for free today from Target with a 2-year contract.
Finally there’s the low to mid-tier T-Mobile Samsung Gravity Smart. We reviewed this device and found it to be acceptably filled with Android, but not a whole lot more beyond that. It’s a Samsung device, it’s got a nice look to it, and today you can get it for free on a 2-year contract. Tough decision you’ve got here.
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Amazon rewarding developers $50 for submitting apps to the Amazon App Store

Amazon looks to grow their app store and seem to really be ramping up the efforts on the Android front. With the possibility of an Android tablet coming soon and more, they are getting ready to start offering rewards to developers that opt to submit their apps into the Amazon App Store. Yay, That reward is $50 dollars.

Amazon will be offering starting today through November 15th, a $50 dollar credit for Amazon Web Services (AWS) for all developers that submit applications for approval. More details can be found over at amazonappstoredev.com and while it’s not a lot, $50 is $50 dollars right? Amazon’s AWS offers a variety of cloud-computing services and solutions that is used by a large portion of online businesses.
Developers can use the AWS to help build and update their apps, with unlimited cloud storage for updates, social network updates, integration and more. Developers can also use the AWS for things like messaging for mobile-to-mobile communication and chat type apps too. There are plenty of options and uses available and all of that and more is available at amazonappstoredev.com.
This ends mid November right in time for when recent sources have been claiming Amazon will launch the Amazon Kindle Tablet powered by Android. It seems Amazon wants to have an impressive App Store to go along with this major launch, and it totally makes sense. What do you think?
[via Amazon AppStore Blog]

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Oracle vs Google Android lawsuit to End

It’s been over a year since we first reported that Oracle was looking into a suit against Google for its perceived infringement of their Java code, and we’ve finally come to a point where it appears that both parties are willing to reach, maybe, perhaps, a settlement. This settlement may well come in this newest announced move for a mediation meeting between representatives from Google and representatives from Oracle, this newest move sparking talk about how serious Google is taking the case and questions over whether or not they’re prepared to defend themselves in a case that could, ultimately, believe it or not, end up in the destruction of Android as we know it today.

One of the most interesting very possibly related events to surround this whole situation is the announcement last week that Java creator James Gosling would be leaving Google after only 6 months on the job. His tenure with the group starting and ending at the start and possible end of this, at first glance, unrelated court case. After that, is all obvious factoids.
A big drop of information came earlier this year when a mister Florian Mueller found code which he saw as evidence against Google in the very case we’re speaking about now. Later the same month we found this evidence to be bunk for the most part – to which Mueller came back and said that he’d found six more files to be considered in the case. We saw Oracle supposedly deleting a blog post showing their CEO’s approval of Java in Android, then a few more stories popped up about a seemingly unrelated few talks between Google and Microsoft on patents – war, war I tell you!
BONUS from our sister-site SlashGear: in July of 2011 the still relatively new Google CEO Larry Page was the subject of a 2 hour grilling on the case.
Today we’ve gotten word that both parties have agreed to walk toward one another without weapons of any kind, no knives, no clubs, no sharp sticks, and settle this thing like good god-fearing Americans – or whatever well-mannered law-abiding citizens are called these days. Both groups have released statements:
Google writes:

Google welcomes the Court’s suggestion that the parties participate in a mediation of this case before a Magistrate Judge. Google does not object to participating in a mediation before a Magistrate Judge who is not otherwise involved in this case.
Google recognizes the importance of having top executives of the parties attend the Court-ordered mediation. Google proposes that Andrew Rubin, who is Senior Vice President, Mobile and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer, attend for Google together with Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel of Google. Mr. Rubin’s executive responsibilities include all of Google’s mobile business, of which the Android business is a part. Mr. Rubin is knowledgeable regarding the issues in this case and he is fully empowered to resolve this matter on reasonable terms.
Google also understands from counsel for Oracle that they propose that Safra Catz and Thomas Kurian attend on behalf of Oracle — and Google agrees with this choice. Ms. Catz is one of two Presidents of Oracle who, like Mr. Rubin, reports directly to Oracle’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Rubin and Ms. Catz were involved in previous discussions involving the subject matter at issue in this case.

Oracle writes:

Oracle concurs with the Court’s view that an additional attempt at settlement of the case through mediation before a United State Magistrate Judge is warranted. Oracle has found previous efforts at settlement, including private discussions between the parties, frustrating for lack of follow-through, and believes that those efforts have not exhausted the possibilities for resolving the case.
As suggested by the Court, Oracle considers it essential that both parties bring top-level executives. Accordingly, Oracle’s executive representatives in the mediation before the Magistrate Judge will be Safra Catz, President of Oracle Corporation, and Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President of Oracle Product Development.
Oracle will strive to make its representatives available as necessary and proposes that the mediation occur before the end of September.

It is Judge William Alsup who presides over this case and who has suggested such a mediation before the case heads to jury. Oracle’s Safra Catz, is generally considered by a whiz when it comes to this sort of talk, while Florian Mueller, who just seems to keep popping up in this epic story somehow, says:

The choice of Andy Rubin and Google’s General Counsel Kent Walker is very questionable. While Google can’t be penalized for the fact that it doesn’t give anyone the title of “President”, those two executives are clearly not at a level with Safra Catz.

Without a doubt we’ve still got a little while before this case is settled for real, but because the stakes are so high, we’ve just GOT to keep you updated on the proceedings and all the little jabs and cuts. What do you think will end up happening? Will Oracle win? Or will Google emerge victorious with a stomach full of Oracle airplane?
[via SlashGear]

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HTC Sensation 4G CyanogenMod nightly builds coming shortly

I’ve been seeing a bit of comments as of late from many different places regarding the HTC Sensation and its CyanogenMod 7 status. Today I figured I’d give you all a small update to let you all know that it is coming, and soon. While technically I don’t know this for sure, the main man behind CM7 on the Sensation is Keyan Mobli (aka kmobs) and he’s been updating us occasionally on Google+ and the past few days we’ve received good news.

 Thanks to kmobs we now know that they basically just have one more bug or so to get over and we will start seeing nightly builds very soon.

Only one real issue remains that blocks CM7 for Sensation from nightly status. We’re really close guys.

Keyan also mentions that he’s been using CM7 on his Sensation 4G as his daily phone for a few weeks now and the pure speed, and consistency they are getting makes it one of the fastest phones he’s used. You can read all about that and his comments by checking out his Google+ at +Keyan Mobli.
Then another update came last night mentioning that once they get the camera fully working CM7 nightly builds for the HTC Sensation 4G will be able to start and that they’ve made some huge progress. From the comments it appears they’ve almost fixed all the bugs. From the looks of things and recent updates it sounds like we might be seeing CM7 on the HTC Sensation for the masses come sometime next week.  Or use the community provided way and achieve an unlocked bootloader, root, and a custom recovery using the Revolutionary tool.
CyanogenMod 7 for the HTC Sensation 4G is coming soon, keep calm and don’t ask for ETA’s and it will be here before you know it.
[via Google+]

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Motorola DROID 3 OTA update coming soon

Well, the Motorola Droid 3 hasn’t been out too long but it is already set to get an over the air update soon, possibly sometime this week. Something we have heard of many times is about to start and that is a “soak test” for the over the air update. This update should hopefully fix a slew of small problems plaguing the device since launch such as battery issues and what not, as well as hopefully add Google Talk voice chat capabilities with Android 2.3.4

In the photo below is a copy of an email sent out to many readers and Droid 3 owners that will take part in the “soak test” to make sure the update is ready for the masses and will start rolling out to all users a few days following, as long as no issues are found that are show stoppers.

We’d like to hear from our readers. If you are experiencing any issues with your Droid 3 feel free to drop us a comment below and we will be sure to check on it. Hopefully this update comes sooner than later and will fix any issues users are having but I’ve not heard any large complaints thus far. Stand-by as the update should be starting soon in the next week or two.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Droid 3

Manufactuer : Motorola

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : July 07, 2011

Release Date : July 07, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4 Inch
• Resolution : 540x960
• Screen Type : qHD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.90 Inch
• Width : 2.50 Inch
• Depth : 0.50 Inch
• Weight : 184 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1540 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 300 hours

Software

• Android OS:
• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

• Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

• Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : OMAP4

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : 16.384 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

• External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

• Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:
• CDMA

• GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

• CDMA Band:
• 800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

• Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via Droid-Life]

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Nexus Prime Confirmed again via Unlisted Samsung Code

When it comes to leaked information about Android devices, the name Nexus (or Nexus Prime in this case) ranks up there with ravenous hoards of Android-based automatons bent on the destruction of the human race – and Nexus isn’t going to kill you, so that’s saying something! What we’ve got today is another leak of information from Samsung on their upcoming device very likely called the Nexus Prime. What this magical mystical future device is said to be holding is the first and most vanilla flavored Ice Cream Sandwich of them all, and today Samsung has been discovered to be hosting a webpage that all but confirms the handset’s existence.

It is at /uaprof/NexusPrime.xml in Samsung Mobile’s webpage guts that you can for yourself see the clues as they present themselves plainly. We can now be pretty sure that not only is Samsung preparing to deliver a device by the name of Nexus Prime, but we can see that this device, codenamed GT-I9250, will have what can only be described as a surprisingly tiny 480 x 800 pixel WVGA resolution display. While this does seem to present itself as a devastatingly small specification for a display on a device that’s set to hold the next big generation of Android mobile OS, it is possible that Samsung placed such a number in the code to throw publishers like us off the trail. Sneaky of them!
This device is more than likely set to be released inside 2011, with another factoid presenting itself in the form of a camera spec allowing us an additional clue as to the true innards of the device. What we can see here is the MMS Max Image Resolution set at 1200 x 1600 pixels. Will this MMS, often also the main camera’s resolution numbers as well, be what we can expect from the camera itself, or is Samsung setting us up for a fooling once again?
Then there’s a quite separate account of Ice Cream Sandwich we’ve got to pay attention to, this one being spoken, perhaps mistakenly so though I doubt it, by none other than Eric Schmidt at this year’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco:

“We have a new operating system, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich for some reason, which is being released in October/November, which everyone’s really excited about.” – Schmidt

Check that spoken aloud in the video below at about halfway through:


Finally, and this is a bit off topic, there’s an image floating around these Android internets that you’ve likely seen before, this being a vector-illustrated Transformer set inside the Nexus X logo, as seen below. I’d like here to let you know who made this image so you can revel in his awesome works: head to the online portfolio of ~nviii~Surberus to not only get a large-sized image of the bot, but a wallpaper of it as well. Win!

[via SlashGear]

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Motorola DROID Bionic being sold through Verizon phone sales

In cased you guys missed it the Motorola DROID Bionic is finally official today. It will be available starting tomorrow September 8th, so you better hurry and go wait in line tomorrow morning, or do you. A few readers and tips are starting to flood in this afternoon that Verizon’s phone sales are actually taking orders if you get lucky.

With buyers choosing overnight shipping the BIONIC could be on your doorstep tomorrow morning rather than running to a nearly store and dealing with that drama. This isn’t confirmed but we have received more than a few reports on this so feel free to give it a try and hopefully order your own amazingly fast 4G LTE Bionic.
If you would like to give the phone sales a try and hopefully reserve a Bionic for yourself feel free to call *611 from a Verizon phone, or             1-800-256-4646       from any other phone. Oh and as an added bonus another Bionic commercial has leaked online although the quality seems to be lacking, check it out below.

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Samsung Stratosphere Verizon 4G LTE Slider hits the FCC

The Samsung SCH-i405 better known as Verizon’s 4G LTE rocking Samsung Stratosphere, passed through the FCC today with what obviously are 4G LTE bands on board.

I personally welcome 4G LTE phones in the mid-range price offering and it appears Verizon has more than a few planned. Between the Stratosphere and the Pantech Breakout they are off to a good start. Seeing the Samsung Stratosphere finally clear the FCC makes us believe we will be seeing this device hit the streets rather soon, but we can’t be for sure.
A recently leaked roadmap marks the Stratosphere down for a September 8th release along with the DROID Bionic but chances are this mid-range LTE phone is still a few weeks away. The Stratosphere is basically a Samsung Epic 4G with Verizon 4G LTE, with similar specs to a Galaxy S device and not a SGSII.
More options are always welcome, and a 4G LTE slider should make a few people happy, stay tuned for more details.
[via FCC]

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