Hasta La Gadget!

How much will Samsung’s Galaxy Tab cost? The guesses range from $300 up, but a listing on Amazon Germany puts the 7-inch tablet at €800, or $1,020. If this actually turns out to be true (and I suspect it will), then the device will almost certainly be a mainstream flop.

Say what you like about the iPad, but don’t argue that it isn’t cheap. The entry-level model is just $500, which is somewhat miraculous for what it packs in, and even more surprising given that Apple likes to make a good chink of change on its hardware sales. Still don’t agree? Take a look at the Dell streak, a tablet with a much smaller screen which runs Google’s Android OS. It costs $550.

As a smaller tablet, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab needs to have a smaller price. Lets be generous for a moment and say that Amazon is listing the 32GB model (the page doesn’t say if it has 16GB or 32GB storage). Next, we’ll take the price of the 32 GB iPad Wi-Fi+3G (the Tab has 3G as standard): $729.00. The Tab is almost $300 more. UPDATE: Reader Jonathan Huyghe emailed to point out that in on Amazon Germany the 32 GB iPad Wi-Fi+3G is €820, €20 more than the Tab. The German Apple Store lists it for €700, however.

I’m sure there will be a market for this little device: it certainly looks good, and Samsung has sold over a million Galaxy S smartphones in just a month and a half. But is it too late? It seems like nobody can yet beat the iPad on price (hell, nobody can beat the iPod Touch on price, and that’s been around for years). Given that the one thing that rivals had over the iPod was price (the iPod was always a little more expensive than other MP3 players) and they still could’t crack Apple’s hold on the market, things don’t look good. And that’s before we even get to the apps.

Samsung Galaxy Tab [Amazon. Thanks, Sascha!]

See Also:

• Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab Caught in the Wild
• Gadget Lab Podcast: iPods, Apple TV and Samsung's Galaxy Tab …
• Samsung to Launch 7-inch Tablet in September
• Samsung Introduces 7-Inch Tablet to Rival iPad
• Video: Samsung Tablet Looks Like a Strong iPad Rival
• Samsung Enters Tablet Race With the Galaxy Tape
• Samsung Ships One Million Galaxy S Phones in 45 Days

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Early reports indicate Europe will pay a pretty penny for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, but the 7-inch tablet may cost a good bit less when it comes to US shores — the Wall Street Journal paraphrases a Samsung executive who claims it could run between $200 and $300 depending on the all-important carrier subsidies. The Korea Times, meanwhile, suggests a $300 to $400 retail price according to a different Samsung bigwig, who added that the Tab “will cost slightly more than the Galaxy S smartphone.” As you’re probably aware, Sammy’s Galaxy S typically retails for about $200 in the US — excepting Sprint’s Epic 4G at $250 — so if you held a bursting Li-ion battery to our head and forced us to guess, we’d say the latter range of dollar signs is far more likely.

By the way, Vodafone shows the Galaxy Tab as “coming soon.” Hit our more coverage links for details.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Samsung suggests Galaxy Tab will cost between $200 and $400 on contract — also coming to Vodafone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An increasing number of Euroland news outlets are reporting an eye-watering set of prices for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Although still unofficial and therefore not yet to be trusted, the values we’re hearing are €699 ($890) in France and €799 ($1,020) in Germany. Those presumably represent the cost of the 16GB and 32GB Tab, respectively, and align perfectly with Apple’s iPad WiFi + 3G pricing — aside from the fact the iPads have double the storage at each price point. Oops! That does make us wary to believe these numbers just yet, but if you want a laugh, why not check out UK importer Expansys today, which is offering a cracking deal for the 16GB Galaxy Tab at £680 ($1,050). And with only a 39-day wait!

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

Update: So we’re hearing some conflicting information here. Samsung itself is telling us at IFA that no pricing has been announced and that any prices floating around are speculation — but it seems the company has already announced a suggested retail prices of SEK 9,000 in Sweden including VAT, which works out to about $1,240 (or $930 without VAT). In other words, even after taxes have been removed from the equation, you’re looking at a pretty pricey option for an unsubsidized device here. Let’s hope we see some steep discounts on contract, eh? Thanks, Rasmus!

Update 2: O2 Germany’s official Twitter account informs us that the Galaxy Tab will cost the Bundesrepublik roughly €759 (about $972) in all — a €99 ($127) deposit to start off and then €27.50 ($35) a month likely over two years. Thanks, Nils!

Samsung Galaxy Tab reported to retail at €699 and €799 in Europe (update: O2 Germany pricing) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ARMdevices.net, Journal du Geek, Expansys, Chip.de  | Email this | Comments

After a week of painful teasing, Samsung has come clean about its Galaxy Tab 7-inch Android tablet. We got the nitty gritty specs, along with some quality time with the device, and we like what we’re seeing on both fronts. Follow along after the break as we break it all down, including some hot hot video of the thing in action!

Update: Added Samsung’s official press release, product images and first video ad for the Galaxy Tab.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab preview

Samsung Galaxy Tab preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After weeks of leaked photos and videos, Samsung’s 7-inch tablet called the Galaxy Tab is finally here. Samsung has announced the launch of the tablet that could become the first major Android-powered challenger to the Apple iPad.

The Galaxy Tab 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 hasn’t announced a price yet for the Galaxy Tab.

Since Apple launched the iPad in April, almost every major consumer electronics maker has said it is working on a slate of its own. Yet only a few have yet made it to the market.

Earlier this month, Dell launched the Streak, a device with a 5-inch display that has been billed as a tablet but is priced and acts like a phone. Dell plans to introduce more tablets. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and HP are also reportedly developing tablets. The JooJoo tablet, launched in March by a former partner of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, debuted to negative reviews, has not sold well and is embroiled in legal wrangling.

Meanwhile, Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads.

The Galaxy Tab has a smooth, slab-like design that’s similar to the iPad. It packs in a powerful Cortex A8 1.0-GHz processor and supports HD video. The device has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video telephony over 3G and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera to capture images and video. It will offer 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage and will have microSD expansion for up to 32 GB of additional storage.

The Galaxy Tab will support 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, along with push e-mail. It will not offer voice-calling features (except via VoIP apps).

Android OS fills out a smart hardware package

Hold the Galaxy Tab and the first thing that strikes you is how compact the device is. The Galaxy Tab has a smaller screen than the iPad and that translates into a lighter device.

The tablet’s smaller size also makes it easier to hold it in just one hand as you would with an e-reader like the Kindle or the Nook. The 7-inch display means the device is small enough to slip into the pocket of a suit or a purse.

The Galaxy Tab runs Android, an operating system that so far has done best on smartphones.

But Samsung seems to have done a good job of making the Android OS work on the tablet form factor. Samsung has an attractive calendar app for the Galaxy Tab and the e-mail app on the tablet is comparable to that on the iPad.

The Galaxy Tab also includes an e-reading application powered by Kobo — the e-reader sold at Borders. The tablet has a Media Hub for video clips and movies, which Samsung hopes to offer as rentals or downloads that users can buy.

Almost all independent apps in the Android Market will work for the Galaxy Tab, says Samsung. So users can buy the tablet and immediately have apps they can download and play with. But we will have to test this to see if it will work for all apps in the Market.

Samsung plans to launch the device in Europe in mid September, and in the United States and Asia shortly thereafter.

See Also:

• Samsung to Launch 7-inch Tablet in September
• Video: Samsung Tablet Looks Like a Strong iPad Rival
• Samsung Enters Tablet Race With the Galaxy Tape
• First Look: ELocity’s Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player …
• Attack of the Pads: Tablets Take On Apple

Photos: Samsung