Sony Tablet P: cool but doomed

Sony, the Japanese electronics company that's occasionally just too innovative for its own good, has struck again with a double-screen folding tablet computer.

Reviewers seem fairly assured that the Tablet P will go the way of Betamax and Minidisc – innovative but ultimately doomed. However, they are at least delighted that Sony has given something different to a market dominated by the Apple iPad and Android tablets that look exactly the same.

The Tablet P, which will be based on Google's Android operating system, consists of two 5.5-inch screens, which can be folded over to the size of a paperback book for transport and storage. (It is worth noting that Sony has simultaneously unveiled the Tablet S, which has only one screen, but has a similarly ground-breaking shape.)

The Tablet P's obvious USP is that, unlike the iPad, this tablet can be carried around in your jacket pocket. The obvious drawback is the huge black bar between the two screens, which rather impinges on the user’s enjoyment.

"It might be doomed, but it's cool," writes Sascha Segan at PCMag.com. He loved the apps created by Sony especially for the Tablet P, but he predicts that the device's odd form will be a problem for anyone hoping to use apps created for more conventional Android tablets.

"If you want to design [apps] for this tablet, you're designing for just this tablet," he writes. "That means you'll see relatively few non-Sony apps that support it."

Dan Grabham of Techradar describes the Tablet P as a "massive glasses case". He believes it is "certainly an innovative device" but is "yet to be convinced about who exactly will buy it".

Brent Rose of Gizmodo, who prefers to call the Tablet P the "Taco Tablet", is similarly split. "I really love Sony for trying something different," he says. He praises the device’s portability and the software created by Sony to take advantage of the split screen form, including the PlayStation app, which uses the top screen as the display and the bottom screen as a control pad.

However, he hates the gap between the two screens, which "needs to go away" and is scathing about the decision to display films using only the top screen. "Seriously? Do you really think I need the entire bottom screen for Play/Fast Forward/Rewind? I do not. But I'm relegated to watching a tiny movie nonetheless."

In conclusion: "Let this one incubate a bit longer, Sony. You're close, but you're not nearly close enough."

Amazon, which is widely believed to be about to launch its own Android-based rival to the iPad, will be watching very closely. ·