Sharp's Galapagos media tablets landing December 10, costing quite a few Yen

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Sharp's evolutionary tablets are coming, people. It's just that
they're coming to Japan and they're not going to be terribly
affordable when they do arrive. The Kin maker has just revealed a
December 10 launch date for its Mobile and Home Galapagos models -- a
5.5-inch slate with 1024 x 600 resolution and a 10.8-incher with 1366
x 800 resolution, respectively -- pricing them at ¥39,800 ($474)
and ¥54,800 ($653) for the Japanese market. As usual, direct
currency translations are inadvisable, but if you must have a price
comparison of some sort, the larger Galapagos model (equipped with an
8GB microSDHC storage card) costs ¥4,000 less than Apple's 32GB
WiFi-only iPad. Of course, the big differentiator in Sharp's mind will
be the e-bookstore and content ecosystem it's working so hard to
create for these Galapagos terminals -- the value of which has yet to
be determined.