Rumor: Sony is planning an iPad rival, runs PSOne games

Yikes. Me-too products — we’re drowning in them. Go to an electronics store here in Tokyo and the first floor is flooded with tablet devices. Of course, no one cares about them. It looks like an ocean of black glass smudged with fingerprints. I suppose the market and demand is growing, but like with the portable music player market, I think Apple has the biggest ship in the sea.

Sony wants to set sail on these seas. The rumor is that they’re working on an iPad rival. Sources tell Engadget that it goes by the name of S1, and it’s looking like a 9.4″ Android tablet. The S1 is said to be able to run Android 3.0, and will have support for PlayStation integration, which means you’ll be able to get down with PSOne games with this tablet. 

The rumor is detailed enough to even give a price and date. According to GI, the device will cost $599 and will be released in September. It will feature Nvidia’s TEGRA 2 processor and will have a 1200×800 pixel screen. Apparently there’s some protrusion that lets you hold the tablet like a magazine on the device’s back.