Hasta La Gadget!

In a world of 10-inch dual-core Androids, HTC has opted to tread its own path by cranking up processor speeds, sticking to a 7-inch form factor and eschewing the latest Honeycomb build for a Gingerbread version it could customize more comprehensively with Sense. All that’s well and good, but sometimes all it comes down to is how these gadgets look and feel. So to help you wrap your mind around the Flyer’s new aluminum body, we present a couple of comparison galleries with it set against two devices that need no introduction. Get clicking!

HTC Flyer vs. Galaxy Tab vs. iPad… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaming phones! Bigger tablets! Galaxy S reboots and a sneaky, perfectly-timed mini iPhone rumor to throw water on the whole thing! Today was a day of mobile/tablet news, dear readers, and it’s all here. More »

Geez, it’s been a long weekend of almost incessant Galaxy Tab II teasing, but the time has come: Samsung’s finally releasing the official details of its 10.1-inch, Android Honeycomb tablet to the world. Contrary to the leaks, the tablet is called the Galaxy Tab 10.1 — grabbing its moniker from the screen size, obviously — and like the rest of the upcoming Android 3.0 tablets it’s powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, will be available with 16GB or 32GB of storage, and has a front-facing 2 megapixel camera as well as a 8 megapixel imager around back. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, but we’ve got the nitty-gritty too — find specs, full impressions and even some video of the slate in action after the break! Oh, and don’t forget to stop by the galleries below to see the new Tab 10.1 up close and then face off with Sammy’s original Tab, not to mention the Apple iPad.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 official: Tegra 2, Honeycomb, dual cameras (hands-on with video)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 official: Tegra 2, Honeycomb, dual cameras (hands-on with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, we’ve just laid eyes on some internal Samsung documents and can bring you the official names and specs of the successors to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab. Firstly, the Galaxy S II will tout a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1GHz dual-core Orion / Exynos processor, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, and 24Mbps HSPA+ connectivity. All those stats were leaked earlier this morning, along with the image above, and we’ve once again seen the 8.49mm thickness for this device, although we now believe it is the measurement at its thinnest point — it’s likely that the S II will fatten up to 9.9mm, presumably to accommodate the camera module, one of the last remaining parts of smartphone construction that require extra girth (NFC being another).

As to the Galaxy Tab II, it is indeed the 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet we’ve been hearing so much about, with the added bonus of it being a Google Experience Device. That should mean no Samsung-derived skin customizations atop the stock Android 3.0 UI — exactly what we expect to see from the Motorola Xoom. Also matching the Xoom are the resolution, at 1280 x 800, and CPU speed, at 1GHz, though we couldn’t determine whether the Tab II will be a dual- or single-core tablet. Our money’s on seeing the Exynos 4210 appear in both new Galaxy devices, but we’ll have to wait until Samsung’s presser tomorrow to find out for sure. One more note of import on specs: we saw a 16GB / 32GB / 64GB storage listing, but couldn’t be sure what product it referred to — wouldn’t it be lovely if the Galaxy S II was the first smartphone to step past the 60GB barrier?

Finally, looking toward the future, Samsung is apparently working on a 4-inch WVGA display with 3D capabilities — presumably autostereoscopic like LG’s Optimus 3D — and an intriguing “Motion UI” control scheme. The latter will allow you to pan inside Google Maps and StreetView just by the movement of your phone, as well as zoom in and out of pages by tilting the handset up and down (a gyroscope will be required for both functions). Samsung also has big plans for LTE, with a focus on pumping out whatever you receive over the 4G connection to a nearby HDTV using dual display technology. The two applications we caught sight of were personal broadcasting, where your Sammy handset would act as an extremely sophisticated internet TV receiver, and cloud-based gaming. Here’s hoping we learn more about these future ventures tomorrow.

Samsung Galaxy S II and 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab II confirmed for MWC, 4-inch 3D display, LTE-based cloud gaming coming later originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Feb 2011 11:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poor Samsung can’t catch a break. First executive Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, saying that sales of the Galaxy Tab were “quite smooth” but the transcript of that conversation saying that they were instead “quite small.” Now the company is refuting another claim, that return rates for the Tab are near 16 percent. The company did so in a statement so tersely worded we can feature its entirety right here:

The return rate of the Galaxy Tab in the US as claimed by an North American market research firm is incorrect. According to Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business the return rate is below 2 percent.

So, there you have it. Below two percent, and right on par with what we’ve heard for the iPad.

Samsung refutes high Galaxy Tab returns, says rate is ‘below 2 percent’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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