Hasta La Gadget!

Alright, I was wrong. On the Engadget Podcast I said that Samsung is capable of navigating to store.apple.com and checking out the iPad prices. I figured Samsung would see $500 as its maximum unsubsidized price for the Galaxy Tab, but apparently Samsung decided its competition was the iPad with 3G. Is a $600 Galaxy Tab a compelling offering up against a $630 3G iPad? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s not an insane proposition by any means. In fact, I think it could do pretty well.

Continue reading Editorial: Why the Galaxy Tab’s price makes sense

Editorial: Why the Galaxy Tab’s price makes sense originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung gets official with Galaxy Tab accessory lineup

Samsung gets official with Galaxy Tab accessory lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We continue that elusive hunt for an official Galaxy Tab price with the most reliable (though still not authoritative) number yet: £530 ($850) from the Carphone Warehouse. Already announced as one of the first retailers to offer the device in the UK on that November 1 launch date, the Warehouse outfit has now set its price for the 16GB Tab at exactly the level of the 3G-equipped iPad. Coincidence? We think not. This is highly likely to be Samsung’s final pre-subsidy pricing, leaving it up to network operators to tempt us with some aggressive discounts. We can only hope.

[Thanks, Middy]

Samsung Galaxy Tab up for pre-order at Carphone Warehouse for £530 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple may be selling millions of iPads today but in a few years Android tablets are likely to surpass the iPad in market share, says a Wall Street analyst.

The Google designed Android operating system will be the iPad’s primary competition and newer releases of the OS coupled with choice of devices for consumers could help put Android tablets ahead of the iPad, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray told Business Insider.

“As in the smartphone market currently, we believe Google’s Android OS will power the stiffest competition to Apple’s iPad,” Munster wrote in a research note to his clients. “Long term, we believe Android could surpass the iPad in tablet market share due to devices from numerous manufacturers.”

The prediction is surprising because Munster is a long-time Apple watcher and in recent years has been extremely bullish about Apple’s prospects.

At least, in the smartphones category Android is surging.  More than 20 Android smartphones are available in the U.S. today. Android is now the most popular OS among people who bought a smartphone in the past six months, according to August data from The Nielsen Company. Blackberry RIM and Apple iOS are in a statistical dead heat for second place among those bought a smartphone recently.

Munster says the tablets category might see something similar. Apple launched its iPad in April and since then has sold more than three million devices. But competitors are taking on the iPad. Samsung plans to make its 7-inch Android tablet called Galaxy Tab available through all the major wireless carriers in the U.S. Dell has already released a 5-inch Android tablet called Streak and says it will introduce a 7-inch model early next year. Meanwhile, smaller companies such as ELocity have also introduced a Android tablet.

The release of Android 3.0 ‘Gingerbread’ version could accelerate the development of Android-based tablets says Munster. Android 3.0  is expected to support 1280 x 768 resolution for displays, the same as that on the iPad. That will make it easier for device makers to take the Android OS and port it on to larger displays–something LG has already indicated it will do. Last week, LG said it will hold off on creating tablets till Android 3.0 is launched–later this year or early next year.

For now, though, Apple has little to worry about. Next year, Android will make up just 26 percent  of the tablet market compared to the iPad at 57 percent, says Munster.

See Also:

• $250 Korean Android Tablet Looks Strangely Familiar
• Attack of the Pads: Tablets Take On Apple
• First Look: ELocity’s Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player
• LG Cancels Plans for Android Tablet by Year-End
• Samsung Introduces 7-Inch Tablet to Rival iPad

Photo: (laihiu/Flickr)

In case you were worried that it was just Apple love that got major news outlets on the iPad so quickly, you should know that the general sense of desperation (or is it their never ending sense of adventure?) pervading the likes of the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today has them building apps for the Galaxy Tab as well. The news comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, and has yet to be announced officially by the parties involved — though we have a hard time doubting any of it. It makes sense, of course: the big cost is producing content for a tablet form factor, not building the reader app, and the Galaxy Tab naturally won’t be the last of its Android kind. The WSJ and The Financial Times are also apparently some possible gets for RIM’s PlayBook, though less is known about those deals. On the Tab, The New York Times is supposed to be pre-loaded with some carrier’s versions of the device, and its app will be free until January of next year when The Times starts charging for its website.

News publishers looking to the Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry PlayBook for refuge as well originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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