On behalf of the Modern Electronics Company Ltd (MECL), a subsidiary of the Al Faisaliah Group and Sony, Prince Mohammed Khalid Al-Faisal, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Al -Faisaliah Group, launched the Sony Tablet S in Riyadh. The ceremony was attended by Araki Kazutoyo, general manager of IT Marketing of Sony Gulf, Kazuteru Makiyama, director of sales and marketing of MECL/SONY and Ziyard Al-Tunisi, vice president and general manager of operations of the Faisaliah Group. Prince Mohammed said the Sony tablet has special features that could connect the user with his Sony television or his playstation. “ It is the only device that lets you control your home entertainment devices and share content wirelessly with friends and family. It has been designed to suit the tastes of people of all ages,” the prince said. He said Sony Tablet S promises rich media entertainment on its 23.8cm (9.4 inch) high-resolution touchscreen. It’s powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor coupled with Sony’s rapid response technologies allow for faster browsing of content and applications, he added. Kazutoyo said the machine is being launched simultaneously in the Kingdom as well as in the UAE, the countries that have a ready market for Sony products. He said the product would be available for purchase from the end of this month. He, however, said the company will begin pre-sales beginning Wednesday till Jan 27. “ This will help us to avoid the anticipated rush for the purchase and we would complement the customers, who reserve their products during this period with a cradle and a bag as gifts for the use of tab,” Kazutoyo said. He pointed out that the host of inbuilt applications offers holistic entertainment experience and its cross-device connectivity enables better network capability. Highlighting its salient features, he said the Sony Tablet S model has a front and rear-facing camera for still and video image capture. The inbuilt USB 2.0 port and SD card slot permits direct file transfers from other devices such as PCs, digital cameras or camcorders. Weighing around 598 grams (WiFi version), he said the tablet’s unique asymmetrical design conveys a sense of lightness for hours of comfortable use. “ The screen slopes gently when placed on a flat surface, enhancing visibility and making typing more comfortable.” The device is also equipped with TruBlack technology by Sony, which reduces reflection and glares for high-contrast visibility by controlling the refraction of light between the LCD and the screen. The tablet’s highly responsive and smooth touchscreen and large keys of its virtual keyboard add to the comfort of usage. Personal photos, music and video content can be streamed at the touch of a button from the tablet to DLNA-compatible TV sets, wireless speakers and other devices.