You may call Sony a very late entrant into the rough and tumble market of Android tablets.  Companies like Samsung, ASUS, and of course Apple have saturated stores throughout the country with device after device for the last year now. All the while, Sony had and has been patiently developing like a tiger in the brush. Forgive the horrible analogy, because tigers obviously do not develop tablets nor do they brush. But what Sony can certainly do is market gadgets that stand out both in their build quality and design (like this recently released gaming device); all this despite the nicknames given in this article’s title. Whether their offerings will be able to find their place in this market will be completely up to you, the consumer. Lets take an in-depth  look at the released Sony S tablet and the soon to be released Sony Tablet P.

The Sony Tablet S, released last year certainly stands out from its peers with its remarkable and actually unique design. Rather than simply copying a certain, pad; Sony has gone along melding the old and the new with the Tablet S design.At a weight of just 598g, the Tablet S is quite lighter as compared to the likes of Motorola Xoom. The tab has a 9.4 inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels that gives that characteristic sharp and colorful visuals that is the trademark of Sony. The unique design of the screen ensures that even when kept flat it is at an angle, which is ideal for typing, reading or browsing.

It has been said that Tablet S is similar to a folded newspaper and it feels precisely like that in your hand. When other tablets feel a little tricky to hold in a single hand, the Tablet S is easy to grip in portrait. You would also find the design to be easy to grip in the landscape mode. Compared to most of the similar-spec tablets, the Tablet S is much lighter and easier to hold. The Sony Tablet S’ 160ppi pixel density is among the highest you can find , giving you finer detail – the texts are crispier and you can view more on the website without zooming much. The Tablet S runs on Android 3.2. A Honeycomb tablet, it has all the controls on the screen except for the volume and power/standby controls.

It has microSD and USB card slots hidden under the flap and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is interesting to note the SD card feature, as it is included to facilitate those who want to insert the card from their digital camera instead of those seeking to enhance storage capacity. The Tablet S has wireless connections in the form of Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n while the top model has 3G connectivity. It has a 5 megapixel main camera on the back and a 0.3 megapixel camera on the front. The hardware consists of Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset with a speed of 1GHz and 1GB RAM.

In addition, Sony has packed several applications that display different aspects of the existing machine from Sony. This includes Video Unlimited, Music Unlimited and Reader to handle e-Books. There is a Social Feeds Reader that gives you access to Facebook and Twitter, and SelectApp gives you suggestions about more apps. There are some amazing IR remote features in the tablet. It has hundreds of remote configurations of several manufacturers, allowing you to run several televisions and media accessories. The unique thing about this feature is that you can control your television through your tablet without using its remote.

I secretly want the Sony Tablet P; despite gearing up to be an exclusive AT&T device. The Tablet P’s design is what I wish this device looked like. The tablet P’s wide screens and clean aesthetic undoubtedly make it one of the best designed products to be released this year. We hope to do a full report on the Tablet P when it is released in the US later this season; until then I hope that two of the most glaring issues with the Tablet P are resolved before its late spring US release.  First, this: £500 ($780). At that price tag, you can afford a iPhone, a PS3, several games, and maybe even a really nice dinner with that certain someone. Making the Tablet P also an Exclusive AT&T offering without a cheaper Wi-Fi option will likely limit sales for the device. Possibly setting the device to be fated as a niche toy for the rich, famous, and AT&T. Join us later for our full review on the soon to be released US Sony Tablet P.