Sony Unveils Android Tablet, Three Smartphones at IFA

During its big press event at the IFA trade show yesterday, Sony unveiled Android tablet and three smartphones. The devices were described by Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai as helping accelerate Sony's turnaround. Hirai briefly described the new products along with innovations in gaming and camera technologies, but offered no details on pricing. All of the smartphones are slated to launch globally sometime in the fourth quarter.

The new Xperia Tablet S will feature an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and run Android 4.0.3. The 9.4-in. display is HD quality, while the body is aluminum. Other details about the tablet were not available. The three smartphones include a high-end Xperia T, with an HD screen and Near Field Communication capabilities; the Xperia V, which has similar features to the T, but is also LTE-ready; and the affordable Xperia J. Xperia T and V run Android 4.04, upgradeable to 4.1, and are powered by the Mobile Bravia multimedia process for display clarity. Both run 1.5GHz dual-core processors from Qualcomm, while the Xperia J will have a single core 1GHz processor from Qualcomm. The Xperia J runs Android 4.0.