Hasta La Gadget!

Despite the announcement of its first Android tablet last month, Samsung has been coy about the most awaited information of the device: pricing.

Now a leak suggests the Galaxy Tab will be priced at $400 with a two-year contract on Sprint and $600 without a contract. The device could be available starting November 14 in the U.S., according to The Boy Genius Report site.

Samsung has said that the Galaxy Tab will be available on all the four major wireless service providers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. The tablets include 3G and WiFi connectivity.

The pricing, if correct, will put the Galaxy Tab in an interesting position against the Apple iPad. A 16 GB version of the iPad costs $500 but a 3G data plan from AT&T is available on month-to-month and without a long-term contract.

The Galaxy Tab will be the first major Android tablet to hit the market. The device runs Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and has a 7-inch LCD display with a 1024 x 600 resolution. At 0.8 pounds, the device weighs just about half as much as the iPad. It also supports Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1 so it can display web pages that run Flash — something the iPad can’t.

Samsung has said most apps in the Android Market will work on the Galaxy Tab. But already big news publishers such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today are reportedly planning Android apps optimized for the Galaxy Tab.

See Also:

• Samsung Tablet to Debut on Big Four U.S. Carriers
• Video: Samsung Tablet Looks Like a Strong iPad Rival
• Samsung Introduces 7-Inch Tablet to Rival iPad
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
• Tablet Wars: How the BlackBerry PlayBook Measures Up

Photo: Samsung Galaxy Tab

It might not share the Galaxy S’ vibrant Super AMOLED display, but there is one way in which the Galaxy Tab’s visage is identical to its elder smartphone sibling: both are protected by Gorilla Glass. Corning has just dropped a quickie press release to announce that Samsung’s upcoming 7-inch tablet will benefit from its scratch- and impact-resistant alkali-aluminosilicate goodness. Guess now Samsung’s ad advising us to stuff this slate into our pants pockets makes a lot more sense.

[Thanks, Olivier]

Continue reading Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will come with Gorilla Glass screen

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will come with Gorilla Glass screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, so now we understand Verizon’s intentions to hastily roll out LTE service to NFL cities. The NFL, which has sided with Sprint over the years when it comes to cellular distribution of content, is apparently in even deeper talks with newfound partner Big Red in order to get its prized content into even more hands. As the idea of watching NFL games on-the-go because more and more sensible, the league is apparently mulling the decision to distribute games (and potentially more) on the next big thing. You know, tablets. Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy, recently said the following: “The NFL will be on a tablet. It’s a question of what shape or form. We are currently talking to Verizon about it.” VZW declined to comment on the rumblings, but it’s really not a shocker — the carrier’s doing everything it can to get a live LTE network here in the States, and inking a deal with America’s most popular sporting league would obviously bring in boatloads of revenue. The real question is this: what tablet is the NFL eying, and if it’s not the Samsung Galaxy Tab, what’s Verizon’s second tablet going to be? Inquiring minds would love to know.

NFL ‘currently talking’ with Verizon to distribute programming on tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What a day — yesterday, that is. Research in Motion finally announced its long-awaited BlackBerry tablet, the 7-inch PlayBook (thankfully not named the BlackPad). While there’s still quite a few missing details, and nary an unit in site for us to try first-hand, we’ve still got a sampling of specs for this little guy to go tête-à-tête on the quantitative field of proverbial battle, at least as it can be seen so far (that early 2011 release date is still a ways off). Looks very promising so far, lined up against Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, and the Dell Streak, but our known unknowns — i.e. price, app support, and overall feel of using the QNX-built operating system — are what will really make or break the slate. Until that time, enjoy our number-crunching below:

	BlackBerry PlayBook	Apple iPad	Samsung Galaxy Tab	Dell Streak
Screen size	7 inches	9.7 inches	7 inches	5 inches
Resolution	1024 x 600	1024 x 768	1024 x 600	800 x 480
Pixel density (approx.)	170	133	170	187
Platform	BB Tablet OS	iOS 3.2.2 (4.2 in November)	Android 2.2	Android 1.6 (2.1 / 2.2 in future)
Adobe Flash support	10.1	Not Supported	10.1	Not supported
Processor	1GHz dual-core Cortex A9	1GHz Apple A4 (ARMv7)	1GHz Cortex A8	1GHz Snapdragon
Graphics	Unknown	PowerVR SGX 535	PowerVR SGX 540	Adreno 200
RAM	1GB	256MB	512MB	512MB
Internal Storage	16GB / 32GB (unconfirmed)	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	16GB / 32GB	512MB
Expansion	Unknown	None	microSD	microSD
Connectivity	802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR	802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR	802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0	802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Cellular data	3G and 4G promised for future	3G optional (AT&T)	3G (all carriers)	3G (AT&T)
GPS	None	3G models only	Yes	Yes
Camera	3MP front, 5MP rear	None	1.3MP front, 3MP rear	VGA front, 5MP rear
Weight	0.9 lbs	1.5 – 1.6 lbs	0.84 lbs	0.49 lbs

BlackBerry PlayBook vs. iPad vs. Galaxy Tab vs. Streak: the tale of the tape originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re guessing it hasn’t kept too many folks up at night, but those curious about the multitouch brains behind the Samsung Galaxy Tab now finally have their answer: Atmel’s maXTouch touchscreen controller. As you may recall, that was first announced over a year ago, and promised to bring a whole host of benefits to multitouch devices, including unlimited touch functionality, and faster, more precise input than competing devices. Interestingly, Atmel has also boasted that its controller is able to recognize touches even with gloves — in addition to styli — but it’s not clear if the Galaxy Tab takes advantage of that particular ability. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Atmel confirms the Samsung Galaxy Tab uses its maXTouch touchscreen controller

Atmel confirms the Samsung Galaxy Tab uses its maXTouch touchscreen controller originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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