Previews

Hands-on with the Tegra 3-powered Sony Xperia Tablet S

The saviour of PlayStation Mobile?

Hands-on with the Tegra 3-powered Sony Xperia Tablet S
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Having already seen some of what Nvidia Tegra 3 can do with the HTC One X and the bargain Nexus 7 tablet from Google, we have high hopes for the new Sony Xperia Tablet S.

Clocked at 1.3GHz when two to four cores are active, or 1.4GHz when operating in single-core mode (which it will for a lot of the time), the tablet packs a mighty punch compared to its predecessor.

The uniquely styled tablet, with its look of an open book with pages folded, is similar to the original Tablet S. The bulbous edge might look odd to some, but it makes the tablet easier to grip in the hand. It's also a design that isn't likely to raise any eyebrows in Cupertino.

Exposed to the elements

While not waterproof, the tablet is designed to be resistant to splashes for a prolonged period of time (enough to, say, spill a glass of water over it but not submerge it in the bath).

This should make it as useable on the move as it is in the home, even when the weather is bad. Sony has also made it possible to use the touchscreen even when it's wet, although I wasn't able to put this to the test.

So, it has the power, it has the looks, and it has the durability - but what about the performance? Well, the model I got to play with is definitely fast. Of course, most tablets are, and so it's the other details that can make all the difference - such as the 1GB of RAM that enables more apps to remain in memory, and thus quicker to access when task-switching.

Storage options include 16, 32, and 64GB models, and there's also a memory card slot that will let you expand by another 64GB. That's a mighty amount of storage for pictures, movies, music, and games.

With some games now coming with separate downloads of 1GB or more (game music, video, etc.), storage is the one problem with the Nexus 7, which tops out at 8 or 16GB and so might be unsuitable for anything more than casual gamers sticking to simple titles.

The lack of any 3G connectivity in the Tablet S means you'll need to fill it up with games, movies, and music before you head out.


Razor Salvation THD - one of the many Tegra 3 enhanced games on offer

This is a Sony PlayStation Certified device, so in principle any Sony PlayStation Mobile game will work across devices. Buy on one, play on the others.

It's all a (logical) ploy to get people to show loyalty to Sony when buying other kit, so hopefully you'll be tempted to buy a Sony TV, laptop, PlayStation, and smartphone to go with the Tablet S. Oh, and presumably a Vita too.


Buy any game for one PlayStation Certified device and run it on any other

Given the processing power, I hope this tablet finally sees Sony opting to release some PlayStation 2 games to run instead of the overpriced and, frankly, disappointing PSone games we've been subjected to so far.

They might have the nostalgia factor, but original PlayStation games are far too primitive to impress - especially when played on a device with a 1280x800-pixel resolution that far exceeds the original specs.

For anyone with a normal TV that hasn't yet been connected to the outside world, there's an integrated Infrared transmitter and app that lets you control a TV or Blu-ray player using an on-screen remote control.

Sony Smart TV owners can use the Bravia app, which actually allows you to fully operate the TV from the tablet, including entering text (e.g. web addresses for the TV browser) and sharing bookmarks.

Keep in uniform

After buying Ericsson out of its mobile joint venture and working more closely with the tablet division that gave us the original tablets (responsible for the Vaio laptops), Sony is definitely trying to create a standardised look and feel throughout its product range.

This means there are now more standardised applications, incorporating a revised gallery, updated Walkman player, and a movie player that can recognise films on your device even if they aren't correctly labelled. This is using Sony's Gracenote service, which now recognises video as well as audio.

As a way of tempting you to enjoy free music, the Xperia Tablet S will come with a 60-day trial of the Music Unlimited service. In addition, you can either opt to buy or rent films from Sony's own movie store, or just use Google's own Play store. Either way, you can stream movies or download them for offline viewing.


Floating apps feature on the Xperia Tablet S, such as a remote for your Sony Bravia TC.

NFC has now been added, too. Aside from the promise of one day revolutionising payments, this offers other useful features, such as the ability to tap another device to send contacts or web pages, or to pair up with accessories. One example is an NFC speaker that was also announced at IFA and features in Sony's new TV advertising campaign.

Although the actual connection is via Bluetooth, NFC enables the pairing process to be totally automated and saves you navigating through menus, searching for visible devices, and trying to remember the default PIN number.

Floating apps, first seen on the Samsung Galaxy S III but now available to all via the Google Play app store, also feature. These allow you to keep various apps open at the same time, such as a calculator or TV remote.

The tablet itself has a 9.4-inch 'TruBlack' panel with what Sony calls 'OptiContrast'. It certainly does have a good contrast ratio, with nice deep blacks and a very bright image if you turn the brightness up to maximum. It also promises less screen reflection, much like its range of televisions.

Sony has also used a low-friction coating. Even after hordes of people had put their fingers on the demo units I used, I certainly had no problem swiping away. However, the presence of Sony staff on hand to clean the screens periodically was a sign that the coating doesn't prevent fingermarks.

Bored of Ice Cream

One disappointment with the Xperia Tablet S is that it will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich and not the recently launched Jelly Bean, which introduces new features that would work well on the device, like Google Now and improved notifications.

An update is promised, but the wait could be frustratingly long.

In terms of accessories, there will be a range of colourful covers, including versions with integrated keyboards (à la Microsoft's Surface). There's also a docking stand that adds three USB ports and an HDMI connection, so you could connect your Tablet S to a TV and connect a wired keyboard, USB hard drive, mouse, or game controller.


A range of coloured covers for the tablet, in case plain black doesn't do it for you

We'll have to wait until we get our hands on the final review samples before giving our verdict on its true gaming potential, but with Nvidia now building up an impressive repertoire of Tegra HD titles the Tablet S will hopefully prove its worth - aided by Sony's own plans for mobile gaming.

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Jonathan Morris
Jonathan Morris
From starting out as a games tester for Mastertronic, Virgin and Sega in the late 1980s, it may seem odd to then ditch everything to write about mobile phones that, at the time, lasted 20 minutes between charges. He always had a hunch mobiles would become quite popular, but possibly didn't realise how powerful (and, ironically, returning to 20 minutes between charges). Jonathan's job is to continue advising on the best hardware to buy, in order to enjoy games that have advanced considerably since those long days and nights testing Double Dragon on the C64.