Sony to launch first tablet PCs to take on Apple

TOKYO, JAPAN: Sony on Tuesday said it will launch its first tablet PCs, hoping to gain second place in the growing market dominated by Apple's iPad.

The new gadgets will use an operating system based on Android 3.0, Kunimasa Suzuki, deputy president of the consumer products and services group, told reporters in Tokyo. One of the model will have two screens, he added.

Suzuki raised eyebrows in January when he told reporters Sony was aiming for the No.2 position in the tablet market behind Apple within a year.