By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY, NSW: The latest round in the increasingly saturated tablet war has commenced, with Sony revealing it will soon launch its imaginatively titled ‘Sony Tablet’ sometime between September and November this year.

By that time, HTC is expected to have released its Flyer tablets, as well as Motorola and BlackBerry, who have scheduled releases for the Xoom and PlayBook before the end of this quarter.

There are two Sony Tablets set to be released, codenamed S1 and S2. Both these devices will use Android’s Honeycomb (3.0) mobile tablet operating system.

The S1 will have a 9.4-inch and will be marketed as an entertainment tablet device, whilst the S2, which features a folding function (similar to the Nintendo DS) will have two 5.5-inch display.

Both will feature Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connectivity.

Here’s Sony corporate executive, SVP and deputy president of consumer products and services group, Kunimasa Suzuki.

“‘Sony Tablet’ delivers an entertainment experience where users can enjoy cloud-based services on-the-go at any time,” he said. “We’re aiming to create a new lifestyle by integrating consumer hardware, including ‘Sony Tablet’ with content and network.”

The new S1 Sony Tablet.

And here is Google SVP of mobile, Andy Rubin.

“Android 3.0 is a new version of the Android platform with a new holographic user interface that is designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets. I'm excited about ‘Sony Tablet’ as it will further spur the development of applications and network offerings which users are looking for.”

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At the launch of the iPad 2, Steve Jobs taunted Apple’s rivals, saying that companies like Sony have been “scrambling to copy the first generation iPad”, and that the iPad 2 would move “the bar far ahead of the competition, [causing] them to go back to the drawing boards yet again.”

It will be interesting to see whether Apple will be moving the bar again before Sony Tablet is released.