The only new e-reader or tablet Sony brought to CES this year was a Vaio concept Slate that they were showing off beneath 3 inches of impregnable glass! This new device is a real indication on where the company wants to go with its design on its next generation of devices.
The one thing right off the bat I noticed was the lack of straight lines, the entire device was angler and had rounded corners. From a design point of view it looked amazing and really stands out in a world of tablets where most look the same. Details were sparse, as everything is subject to change, but there were some consistencies. First of all, their new tablet was running on the Google Android operating system and featured capacitive menu buttons on the back. These are your quintessential settings, menu, back, and home keys found on most tablet computers that have hit the market so far. The Sony logo on the front of the unit was actually glowing which I thought was a neat way for it to stand out.
Sony was showing two models of the same slate and the differences were in the accessories that are bundled with it. There was a flexible skin on the back that allowed it to sit on a silicone stand. They also had an accompanied Bluetooth keyboard, which is very innovative and was a full QWERTY. The second tablet was shown without the accessories and gives you an indication on the core hardware design.
The video below shows you the entire video that was playing on the tablet and shows off some of the features, like 1080P movies. Details are sparse and Sony staff were mandated to keep everything under a strict veil of secrecy. If only I had some diamond cutting tools with me, I could have got a more “hands on” report.
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Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
