DTN News - TECHNOLOGY NEWS: Sony Plans Two Android Tablets

Defense News: DTN News - TECHNOLOGY NEWS: Sony Plans Two Android Tablets

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI - WSJ

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / TOKYO, Japan - April 27, 2011:

Sony Corp. plans to introduce two tablets later this year running Google Inc.'s Android operating system, more than a year after Apple Inc. released the iPad and sparked the tablet-computer boom.

Sony is the latest competitor to offer products aimed at chipping away at the iPad's 80% share of the rapidly growing tablet market. Sony said Tuesday it aims to be the top seller of Android-based tablet computers by next year.

Sony Unveils New Tablets

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Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Sony unveils one of its two soon-to-be-released tablets, the S1.

Sony's two tablets, code-named S1 and S2, will be released sometime after the fall. The S1 has a typical tablet shape and tapers down from one thicker side. It has a 9.4-inch touch-screen display. The S2 is a cylindrical, clamshell device that opens and closes, with two 5.5-inch touch-screen displays.

Sony said the tablets will come with wireless connectivity through Wi-Fi or high-speed mobile-phone services. The company didn't specify what mobile carriers it plans to work with and offered no details on sales targets. It also didn't disclose pricing except to say that the tablets would be "competitive."

Japan Real Time

• Recap: Sony's Tablet Unveiling

Sony also offered a preview of two new Vaio personal computers running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. The company briefly showed a picture of a Vaio Freestyle Hybrid PC, which looks like a tablet with a slide-out keyboard. Sony also displayed a thin Ultra Mobile PC. The company didn't offer details about the products except to say both are expected out before year-end.

Sony plans to enter the tablet-computer market later this year with two models running Google's Android operating system, but how do the devices size up next to competitors like Apple's iPad? WSJ's Jake Schlesinger and Daisuke Wakabayashi discuss.

Sony aims to position its tablet computers as do-all entertainment devices tapping into its network of video, music, electronic books and videogames. Under Chief Executive Howard Stringer, Sony has pursued a strategy of linking online services to its wide range of electronic devices.

"We see this as a symbolic product to freely highlight what we can bring to the table," said Kunimasa Suzuki, deputy president of Sony's consumer-products and services group. "We need the tablet to be the hero of our network strategy."

Sony faces an uphill climb in the tablet-computer market. While demand is strong, the field also is crowded with nearly every electronics, PC, and smartphone maker unveiling tablets.

Sony's new tablets will run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, which has been designed specifically to run on tablets. But the company's plans to debut the product after the autumn puts the product behind other non-Apple tablets running the same software.

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., with its Xoom device, introduced the world's first tablet running Honeycomb. Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc. and others plan to beat Sony to the market with Honeycomb tablets.

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Koichi Mitsui/Zuma Press

Sony executive Kunimasa Suzuki displays the company's S1, which has a typical tablet shape and will be released after the fall.

Mr. Suzuki, who is in charge of Sony's mobile-devices strategy, said the company aims to win over customers with its unique design and technologies to speed Web browsing and response times. The S1 and S2 also will be able to send videos to Sony television sets and serve as remote controls for other Sony TV sets and other products.

Both devices will run Nvidia Inc.'s Tegra 2 processors.

"It's a wickedly difficult market and a lot of people are fighting for number two, but Sony has as good of a chance as anyone," said Jay Defibaugh, equities research director at MF Global FXA Securities in Tokyo. "They will need to differentiate in a sea of new models flooding the market and they seem aware of that."

The global tablet market is expected to nearly quadruple this year to about 70 million units, expanding to almost 300 million by 2015, according to research firm Gartner. While two in every three tablets sold this year will be iPads, Gartner said, Android-based models are expected to whittle away at Apple's dominance. By 2015, Gartner forecasts that Apple will control 47% of the market to Android's 39%.

Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703778104576286173945660258.html#ixzz1KhxI0ncf

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI - WSJ

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Applied Energetics Receives $10.4 Million Contract From U.S. Marine Corps

Defense News ~ TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Applied Energetics, Inc., (Nasdaq: AERG) today announced it has been awarded a $10.4 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps. The contract funds will support field operational support for deployed systems, training of U.S. Marines, procurement of additional systems, development of improvements to allow installation of the system on additional Marine Corps and U.S. Army vehicles, and an engineering package to facilitate future transition of the system to Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). Due to the sensitivity of the effort, the Customer has requested that no additional details regarding this contract be publicly disclosed.
Joseph Hayden, Chief Operating Officer of Applied Energetics, commented, "We are very pleased to continue supporting the U.S. Marine Corps and to assist them in meeting their most critical operational requirements. We believe our close collaboration over the last year and a half has been an essential element in the success of this program to date, and we believe this follow-on contract is evidence of the Customer's confidence in our product and our Company. I am most proud of the dedication and professionalism of our employees who have been closely integrated with the Marines during the training process for our system and through the Operational Assessment of its performance."
The agreement is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract issued by the U.S. Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command (U.S. Army RDECOM – Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) and funded by the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). The contract period of performance is 12 months.
About Applied Energetics, Inc.
Applied Energetics, Inc., based in Tucson, Arizona, specializes in development and manufacture of advanced high performance lasers, high voltage electronics, advanced optical systems, and integrated guided energy systems for defense, aerospace, industrial, and scientific customers worldwide. Applied Energetics pioneered the development of Laser Guided Energy™ (LGE™) technology, and related solutions for defense and security applications. For more information about Applied Energetics, please visit www.appliedenergetics.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Such factors include, but are not limited to: the dependence on sales of a limited number of products and the uncertainty of the timing and magnitude of government funding and orders, dependence on sales to government customers; the uncertainty of patent protection; the uncertainty of strategic alliances; the uncertainty of management tenure; the impact of third-party suppliers' manufacturing constraints or difficulties; management's ability to achieve business performance objectives, market acceptance of, and demand for, the Company's products, and resulting revenues; development and testing of technology and products; manufacturing capabilities; impact of competitive products and pricing; litigation and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words "looking forward," "believe," "demonstrate," "intend," "expect," "contemplate," "estimate," "anticipate," "likely" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Applied Energetics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release.