Could this be the iPad killer?? There’s a veritable plethora of reasons why it could be.
The new Samsung Galaxy Tab will be on sale in the US as of next month, across many of the major networks such as Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. As already mentioned in a previous post found here, we know of rumours dotted around the internet at the moment of prices for the Galaxy Tab ranging from between $200 – $400 on contract and around $600 – $700 as an unlocked package so nothing set in stone just yet. But later rumours spreading now sees pricing to over a grand in Europe alone (is this too much??) and as usual with wireless networks these days and based on their own marketing projects we’re still unsure on contract prices.
What we do know is that the Galaxy Tab will have a reasonably sized 7″ TFT Multitouch screen and on release day when you can finally to get your hands on one of these little wonders, the Galaxy Tab will carry Android 2.2 with a 1.0GHz application processor which will also adopt Adobe’s Flash 10.1. It’ll also feature a full HD 1080p video player and recorder (recorder upto 720p @30fps) and with a 3.5 mm audio jack you won’t need to bug anyone either (unless they’re curious and peeking over your shoulder).
What’s more is that you’ll be able to take home one of these with either 16Gb or 32Gb of memory as well as being able to boost that upto a further 32Gb with a micro SD card and due to its Li-Ion 4,000mAh battery, you’ll be able to enjoy 7 hours of movie viewing. Yet another thumbs up to Samsung is that their tablet is also a phone as just like a smart phone you’ll be able to send and receive mms and SMS messages. With all this and 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and housing a USB port (which’ll make it a lot easier to transfer data between tablet and PC), Samsung’s Galaxy Tab should do very, very well for itself. But the only thing we’d have to comment against Samsung is that they’ve added a camera where we feel like its just been tacked on at the last minute seeing as its only 3 mega pixels with a 1.3 mega pixel camera on the front for video chat but with everything else that this tablet has to offer, we’d quite easily gloss over that.
If you need yet more information on Samsung’s new iPad killer then go visit their official site here.
So there it is, were they enough reasons why the Galaxy Tablet may be a big thorn Apple’s side?? Will the rumoured price hinder you in purchasing one?? Let us know what you think.
Via: IGN, Techradar and Samsung
A smaller tablet…with a shorter battery life…running an OS that (per the OS maker) is not built for tablets…
…for only (roughly) twice the price for the unlocked product.
I dunno…maybe it’ll run rings around the iPad and sell like crazy, but I guess I don’t get it at this point.
The big problem with the Tab is the fact that it runs Android. Android is not written for tablets and won’t have access to Android Marketplace. Tablets like this will continue to falter.
It seems 7 inches might be to much of a stretch for Android to look OK on. Lets hope 3.0 (or whatever the tablet friendly version is) will be launched soon.
I see what you mean Bill, but as quoted from techradar also… “Samsung has chosen Android 2.2 as the OS of choice on the Galaxy Tab, giving it access to over 70,000 apps in the Android Market. Alongside support for Google Maps Navigation and Google Goggles, Froyo also supports Flash 10.1 giving it a significant web browsing edge over Safari on the iPad.”
A 7incher to compete with Dell’s 7incher, not with the iPad, and you say next month, ahhh…, maybe, but not introduced yet. Another future product. Yawn.
The Dell Streak & Samsung tablet are playing right into Apple’s hand: Android Market Fragmentation. Leading to complete and utter confusion.
In a rush to get competing tablet like devices to market, these companies are implementing various half-baked versions of Android’s Operating system; which even the newest version of Android is not nearly as finished as iOS 4.
This will play right into Apple’s hand. Why?
First, it will create an unsatisfactory end-user experience. The Dell Streak according to Walt Mossberg of the WSJ had numerous software and even hardware issues at launch in the US.
Walt was brave enough to mention them in his review. The Samsung I’m sure will have numerous shortcomings on the software side, some of which are mentioned above.
Second, software updates will be another point of contention with these Android tablets. Expect system and application crashes galore- again leading to an unsatisfactory end-user experience.
Here’s the best part- you wont hear about all these issues facing Android devices now and into the future. Why?
Well the media is so concerned about Apple’s influence in music, movies, books, magazines, etc., that they’ve pretty much made a “pact” to overlook these shortcoming in order to make sure that a “duty” free platform arises from the ashes. The media companies don’t want to pay the Apple “tax” of having their content on the iPAD or iPhone or iPOD Touch or iTunes.
So, the consumers won’t ever hear about how system and app crashes are common on these devices because everyone is so desperate for a viable competitor that they’re willing to look the other way for now.
Sought of like the Mac vs. Windows in the early to mid nineties. All the PC magazines were touting Windows although the Mac was light years ahead and much less prone to crashes and system issue. The Android fragmentation is heading that direction now for sure.
The Samsung costs $1,000 without a contract making it double the price of the iPad even though it has a smaller 7″ screen compared to the 10″ iPad.
The percentage of the market willing to sign up for another expensive 2-year contract for this thing in addition to their current cell phone plan is obviously going to be far smaller than the number of users going for a one-off purchase of $499.
The major reason Samsung has gone the 2-year contract route is because Google wants tablets to run Google Chrome and use web apps, not Android or native apps, so they are fragmenting their platforms before they have even gotten off the ground.
Google refuses to allow devices without expensive cellular phone capabilities to have access to the Android Marketplace which means Android devices that compete against either the iPod Touch or the iPad either lack the Android Marketplace placing them at an crippling disadvantage, or they have to bump the price way up to cover the 3G hardware costs.
Google says Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) will be optimised for tablets, but what’s the bet the carriers will shaft their Android users again and delay or not even offer the OS update to their Galaxy Tab users.
Then there is the lack of software – not only are there less than a third the apps in the Android Marketplace, neither the Android OS nor any of these apps are specifically written or optimised to take advantage of the larger screen and form factor of a tablet. Compare this to the 25,000 iPad-specific apps out of the 250,000 in the iOS App Store and the Galaxy Tab is at a severe disadvantage.
So, could this be the iPad killer? Nope. There are far too many reasons why it won’t be.
-Mart