Sony pegged for summer tablet release

Sony is reportedly looking to develop a tablet system based on the Android Honeycomb operating system.

Bloomberg cited a report from Japan's Nikkei news service in saying that Sony will launch a tablet into the US market by the end of the summer.

The report surfaces as many vendors have released their first Android tablets or have given word on plans to enter the market in the near future. Google helped to spark tablet development earlier this year with the release of the Honeycomb Android build.

Analysts have forecast that total tablet sales in 2011 could reach 22 million units as strong sales in the enterprise help to drive the market.

Much of the market share will be claimed by the Apple iPad. The company released the latest version of the tablet last month and, while early sales have been strong, high demand for the iPad 2 along with fears of production shortfalls have raised the possibility of a looming shortage.

Other platforms, however, may not arrive for some time. Microsoft has stated that it will not release a tablet-optimised operating system until Windows 8 arrives in late 2012.

The move has prompted speculation that Microsoft smartphone partner Nokia could be planning to step away from Redmond and use Android for its next generation of tablet systems.