I’ve had my Sony Tablet S for almost a year and it keeps getting new updates. The Ice Cream Sandwich update also brought along something called “small apps” that can run over the top of other apps for multi-tasking. Now, another software update has been pushed out to the Sony Tablet S, bringing more “small apps,” plus a new feature called Guest Mode.

The new Guest Mode is similar in some ways to the multi-user function on the new Nook tablets. For the most part, smartphones and tablets are an individual experience, but what if your friend wanted to borrow your tablet briefly? With Guest Mode, they are given a completely separate session with separate home screens and logins from the main account. This way, they can’t snoop around in your Facebook or Gmail.

You can password protect Guest Mode and hand-pick which apps they can (and can’t) use. You can even have multiple guest modes, in case you want one for your colleagues and another one that’s a little more censored for the kids.

The update also brings along more of the “small apps” that came along with the first ICS update. The browser is still there, making it easy to check things while still in another app, but they’ve added a handy calculator, voice recorder, and countdown timer, as well as faster access to the universal remote. I particularly like having that calculator there.

There are also some other changes, like a new “Walkman” app for music-playing and a new “album” app for viewing your photos, but these don’t really change your experience all that much. If you’ve got a Sony Tablet S, just wait for the update to get pushed to you over the air and run through the steps. The update takes about five minutes and then your tablet will restart itself. It’s still ICS and not Jelly Bean, but I am digging some of these incremental upgrades.  If you’re interested in buying one, the price has dropped to just $329, not too bad for a 9.4-inch, Tegra2 tablet.

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They were supposed to get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich at the same time, but I guess that hinge in the middle turned out to be a bit of a speed bump. As you might recall, the Sony Tablet S got the official ICS update late last month, but Tablet P owners have been stuck with Honeycomb in the interim. That’s changing now, Sony is ready to push out Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the dual screen Sony Tablet P. As with the Tablet S, the update will be pushed out automatically via the software update feature.

The skinned version of Android 4.0 going to the Tablet P is pretty much identical to the one for the Tablet S, except that it’ll be displayed across the two screens. What this means is that you’ll get access to the “small apps” of the browser, remote control, and calculator that can then be overlaid on top of the full app you have running behind it. There’s also the quick access to the camera from the home screen, as well as the inclusion of a native screenshot feature. The better file manager with full direct access to the SD card should be there too, as will the “enhanced gallery media viewer.”

Android 4.0 ICS update for the Sony Tablet P will be officially unleashed onto the world on May 24. While the official announcement only made mention of the Japanese market, the international release should be at or around the same time. All you have to do is keep your Tablet P connected to Wi-Fi and it’ll let you know when a software update is available.

[Source]

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Personally, one of the highlights is the inclusion of a native screenshot capture. It used to be that you had to root the Sony Tablet S to get this feature, but now it’s built-in; just press the power and reduce volume buttons at the same time. The ICS update also brings direct access to the SD card, an enhanced web browser that allows for offline viewing, a new panoramic camera mode, and an enhanced gallery media viewer with photo editing tools.

The lock screen is also enhanced, giving direct access to notifications and giving the ability to unlock directly to the camera app. On the home screen, you can now create folders for apps by dragging them together and these folders can be named as you see fit. And finally, they’ve developed exclusive “small apps” that can run over top other apps for some multi-tasking, not unlike what you get in a desktop environment.

The update is automatic. The next time your Sony Tablet S connects to Wi-Fi, it’ll prompt you to do a system update. Click OK, let it jump through some hoops, and you’ll have Android 4.0 running in a few minutes.

[Source]

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Consumers have a lot of choices when it comes to tablets these days. There’s the iPad 2, of course, but you’ve also got an assortment of Android tablets, in addition to cheaper alternatives like the Kindle Fire. In the world of Honeycomb tablets, though, it can sometimes be difficult to really differentiate between the different offerings. Sony is certainly giving it a try.

You might remember when we first previewed the Sony Tablet S and now we’ve got our hands on one for a more comprehensive review. How different is it compared to all the other Honeycomb tablets that are already out there? What sets it apart from the pack that would make you choose it over the others? Read on to find out.

Features at a Glance

On paper, the Sony Tablet S is going to sound a lot like the competitors. It gets its power from the standard NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, backed by 1GB of RAM and your choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. They’ve opted for a somewhat nonstandard 9.4-inch touchscreen, but most people will just place this in the same bin as the 10-inchers. One big differentiating feature is the inclusion of a full size SD card slot, whereas many other tablets go with microSD. That’s great for travel when you might take the photos from your camera and plunk the SD card in here for a bigger viewing experience.

Here’s a quick overview video that I put together that better illustrates some of these features.

The 5MP rear camera and VGA front camera do the job that they need to do, but they’re far from being the top of the league. Rounding out the specs are the usual array of WiFi, Bluetooth, microUSB and Flash support. There’s also infrared support, so you can control all of your home theater equipment with the right apps too.

The Folded Magazine Design

Another big way that Sony is trying to separate its Tablet S from the rest of the pack is with the physical design. Instead of going with a regular flat slate, the Tablet S has a unique “folded” design that is meant to mirror what you get when you open a page of a magazine and fold it over. This makes for a wedge-like profile.

In some ways, this works, since it creates a slight angle when you place the tablet on a flat surface. It also creates these indented grooves on the sides, so the buttons are less likely to be pressed accidentally. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily superior to the more conventional flat sides, but it does make the experience just a little different.

Everyday Performance and Benchmarks

Using the Sony Tablet S as an everyday device, I don’t have a lot in terms of deal-breaking complaints. Flipping between the different home screens and quickly scrolling through webpages isn’t quite as snappy as it could be, but it’s not so painfully slow as to render it frustrating. I tried a variety of media streaming apps, games, and so on to see how it stood up and the Tablet S is perfectly suitable.

In running it through the Quadrant Standard benchmark, though, I found that most of the scores ranged from about 1,550 to 1,750 or so. This isn’t so painfully useless, but it is toward the lower end of the spectrum. This is the same range as the Motorola Xoom, but a fair bit behind the 2100 range that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is able to achieve.

It’s possible that the ICS update could help this, but that’s all really conjecture at this point.

It’s a PlayStation Tablet…

Just like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone, the Tablet S comes with PlayStation certification. In the grand scheme of things, this really won’t make that much of a difference to most tablet users, but it does mean that this tablet is somewhat optimized for the Sony mobile gamer. And yes, I know that Angry Birds Seasons isn’t a PlayStation game.

Conclusion

What makes you special? It’s the question that we ask of just about every tablet that we see, since they’re all so similar. They come with different sized screens, but the processing power is roughly similar, as are battery life and general daily performance. You are stuck with a proprietary charging port, complete with a power supply brick, but most other Android tablets don’t charge over USB either. I do like the full size SD card slot, though, and the “folded” wedge design is growing on me.

The recent price cut might help a little, but just about every other manufacturer of Honeycomb tablets is doing much the same thing. At the end of the day, the Sony Tablet S is perfectly adequate, but it’s also not terribly special either.

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Sony Tablet is evolving, and we’d like to keep you informed with the latest updates.Today we’re happy to confirm that an update to Android 4.0 will be available for Sony Tablet.Details including timing will be announced in due course, so please stay tuned.

Just recently we released the Software Development Kit for Sony Tablet P.  For more information on this and future updates please visit us at Sony Tablet Evolution.

Best regards

Lee

For UK Sony customers, it means that Sony Tablet P and Sony Tablet S will get the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade very soon. These slates are not exactly most popular tablets at the US market, so, here’s what  Sony Tablet S looks like:

It’s a Tegra 2 1 GHz tablet with 9.4″ (1280×800) screen, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM, GPS, IR, optional 3G, dual cameras 5 MP/0.3 MP rear/front. Pretty hefty at 1.3 pounds and wedged shape.

Sony tablet P, while based on pretty similar hardware, is a different device altogether:

Split screens are  5.5″, 1024×480 each, so it’s quite a pocketable tablet when folded.

Both Sony tablets currently run Honeycomb, so upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich is not only welcomed by their customers, it looks quite natural. Hopefully, this upgrade will step up the demand for Sony tablets.

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