It’s been a little while since we last heard from Sony and their Xperia Tablet Z. The tablet, which launched in the manufacturer’s home country of Japan a couple of days ago, has already hit Europe and will soon be followed by the United States. While there is no hard launch date for a US release, there is some good news for customers here in the states looking to pick up the device, It just passed through the FCC.
The FCC filing in question is for the WiFi only variant of the Xperia Tablet Z, the same version that’s currently being sold in Europe for €449 or US $577. However, if the rumors out there are to be believed there will be a significant cut in price when it hits our shores, a $78 price cut to be exact, as Sony apparently has plans on selling the device for $499 when we finally get it here in the US.
It’s also important to mention that there is also an LTE enabled version of this tablet but so far that device is limited to NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Unfortunately, there have been no announced plans thus far to make that device available outside of the home market.
For a quick refresher here is a look at the specifications for the Sony Xperia Tablet Z in case you forgot:
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU
2GB RAM
6,000mAh battery
8.1MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera
DLNA enabled
NFC
PlayStation Certified
Four stereo speakers
10.1 inch 1,920 x 1,200 display
32 or 64 GB internal storage and removable SD card slot
Universal IR blaster
Just looking at those stats along with the price tag, it’s clear that Sony wants to take a spot in the premium tablet market which means it will go head to head with the likes of the iPad and the Nexus 10. Going this route is certainly a gamble for the company as the Android tablet field is currently being dominated by lower priced devices most notably the Nexus 7.
What are your thoughts? Is anyone out there interested in dropping $500 on a tablet not a Nexus or iPad? It there even really a market for Android tablets at all in that price range? Let us know in the comments if the Sony Xperia Tablet Z interests you.