At Mobile World Congress, Sony announced that Xperia Tablet Z – the slimmest and lightest 10.1 water resistant tablet available - will launch globally in Q2 calendar 2013.
The Xperia Tablet Z runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and packs in an 8MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera. According to Sony, the tablet is the world's 'slimmest and lightest' 10-inch tablet at only 6.9mm thick and weighing 495g.
Powering the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is Qualcomm's quad-core 1.5-GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro with 2GB of RAM. This is a first for a tablet, according to Sony, and we've seen how fast the S4 Pro can fly in recent smartphones equipped with the beefy chip.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features an increasingly standard 1080p display, which looked incredibly rich, with colors that popped like AMOLED screens, but without the blueish hue typically associated with those displays.
The Tablet Z is available in a Wi-Fi version in the US. It includes Sony's Near Field Communication (NFC) One-Touch functions, which allow users to transfer content among compatible devices, including audio, video and images.
The Xperia Tablet Z easily controlled the TV and cable box, with a simple flick of a slide towards the TV bringing up the selected program.
A black model of the Xperia Tablet Z will be available in 16GB and 32GB storage options for $499 and $599, respectively. A microSD slot will allow storage up to 64GB.
Sony will offer a white, 32GB model, but only through Sony Stores and the company's online retail shop.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z certainly looks the part of a high-end Android tablet, with an impressive combination of design and features.
Full phone specifications of Sony Xperia Tablet Z:
- 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
- 3G Network: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100, LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600
- Dimensions: 266 x 172 x 6.9 mm (10.47 x 6.77 x 0.27 in)
- Weight: 495 g (1.09 lb)
- Display Type: LED-backlit LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
- Size: 1200 x 1920 pixels, 10.1 inches (~224 ppi pixel density)
- Multitouch: Yes, up to 10 fingers
- Protection: Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass
- Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers
- Memory Internal: 16 GB, 2 GB RAM
- Card slot: microSD, up to 64 GB
- GPRS: Up to 107 kbps
- EDGE: Up to 296 kbps
- Speed: HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
- Bluetooth: Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
- NFC: Yes
- USB: Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL)
- Camera Primary: 8.1 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus
- OS: Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), planned upgrade to v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064
- CPU: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
- GPU: Adreno 320
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, compass
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
- Browser: HTML5
- Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
- GPS: Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
- Java: Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
- Colors: Black, White
- Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh battery
