‘Sony adapts Honeycomb interface for its own tablet’

Sony seems to have plans to release an Android tablet that runs on a modified version of Honeycomb. The tablet has a different form factor, which should, among other things, lead to more comfort when holding.

The shape of the tablet can best be compared to a magazine that has been ‘flipped’, leaving only one page to read, so reports Engadget, which relies on a source at Sony. This design should make it easier to hold a relatively heavy tablet in one hand, because the center of gravity is on the thick side, where the user holds the device. Also, entering text should be easier if the device is placed on the table. Engadget showed through a mock-up what the idea behind the design of the tablet is.

Sony, which would have called its tablet S1 internally, wants to adapt Google’s Honeycomb interface, and has this done by the Vaio team. However, the tablet would come on the market without Vaio naming. The adjustments would be aimed at Qriocity support, Sony’s multimedia service for music and video, among other things. The S1 would also be made suitable for PlayStation games. Sony is probably the first manufacturer to have plans to adapt Google’s Honeycomb interface; other manufacturers, such as Samsung, Motorola and LG are releasing tablets with the standard Honeycomb UI.

The device also has a 9.4 “screen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. The housing runs Nvidia’s two-core Tegra 2 processor, which does its work at a clock speed of 1GHz. A version with only WiFi on board, so without 3G support is expected to cost $600 and will be released in September, but it is not known in which countries this will be, and the release of the S1 has been delayed several times.

According to Engadget, Sony is still working on a second tablet with Android Honeycomb. The news site did not want to give any details, but hinted at a tablet with two screens, which can be closed like a laptop.