Sony Challenges Apple Ipad Catches Tablet Fever.

Sony has long said it would cautiously approach the tablet market while it built up its Reader e-book line, but it looks like things are picking up a little steam: CFO Nobuyuki Oneda said the company is "very interested" in the tablet market during his post-earnings report news conference. Oneda said that Sony's "confident we have the skills to create a product," and that "Time-wise we are a little behind the iPad but it's a space we would like to be an active player in." We could certainly see a Sony device about the size of the Reader Daily Edition making a splash, especially if it's tied in with Sony's new push at a unified online experience -- and dare we hope for tablet remix of the Dash Internet Viewer (pictured above) based on the Chumby OS? Time will tell.