Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been around in a few different hues, and has since grown into a TouchWiz UX kind of outfit, and we’re guessing it’s about time Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 found its way into our weekly HWYC feature. It’s undoubtedly the Android slate to beat, even today, but that doesn’t mean that it’s spit-shine perfect. For those who opted for this beaut, we’re keenly interested in hearing how your experience has been. Are you still satisfied with Honeycomb as a tablet operating system? Is the screen still wowing you? Any durability issues we should know about it? And if you had the keys to Sammy’s Design Kingdom, what would you do differently on the next Tab 10.1? Realign the aspect ratio? Go matte? Up the screen resolution? Speak up in comments below — and keep it sane, cool?

How would you change Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leave it the regional folks to steal the thunder of the Big Four. While we were all led to think that Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch would be the first subsidized Galaxy S II to officially land in the US of A, it looks as if Alaska’s GCI has beat ’em all to the punch — and in more areas than one. A tipster residing in The Last Frontier just picked one up today, and best of all, it’s running a solid Benjamin less than it will on those other operators. Oh, and it’s compatible with the company’s “4G” (read: HSPA+) network. Unadulterated wilderness? Yep. Northern Lights? Definitely. Early / cheap access to the year’s hottest Android smartphone? Evidently. So, who’s up for a little northern exposure?

[Thanks, Joshua]

Samsung Galaxy S II now shipping for $100 in America… on Alaska’s GCI originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Galaxy S II lands at Vodafone, ignores post-Labor Day etiquette originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S II still reigns supreme in the eyes of many smartphone aficionados, but it’s now joined by a healthy collection of lesser Galaxy devices, including (in alphabetical order) the Wave M (Magical), M Pro, R (Royal), W (Wonder), Xcover, and Wave Y (Young) — all announced last month, but presented for the first time as a mismatched family here at IFA. There’s the wise, conservative elder (R), the speedy head of household (W), the rowdy, rugged, dirt-bike-sporting teenager (Xcover), the mid-twenties QWERTY typing champion (M Pro), and the slightly rebellious, underpowered preteen (Wave Y) following in its older sibling’s footsteps (M).

BlackBerry owners looking to make the switch to Gingerbread may find the M Pro most appealing, with its 2.7-inch HVGA touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, and QWERTY keyboard. The Royal steps things up with a 1GHz dual-core processor, 4.2-inch “Super Clear” LCD, Gingerbread, HSPA+, and a 5 megapixel camera. The Wonder includes those last three features as well, but swaps in a 3.7-inch WVGA display and 1.4GHz processor. And the dustproof and water resistant Xcover sports a 3.65-inch HVGA LCD, 800MHz processor, and 3 megapixel camera.

With its small footprint, 3.2-inch HVGA LCD, 2 megapixel camera and relatively sluggish 832MHz processor, the Wave Young is probably enough to satisfy your pre-teen, but anyone on to their second or third smartphone will almost certainly be underwhelmed. It’s running Samsung’s new Bada 2.0 OS, like its Magical Pro sibling, which includes the same processor but jumps to a 3.65-inch HVGA display and 5 megapixel sensor. Both include Samsung’s new ChatON IM service as well. All in all, it’s not the speediest family in town — and there’s no US visa on order for a future trip to the states — but not everyone needs the top of the line, so skip on past the break and through the front door to meet the latest Sam fam.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy R, Wave M, M Pro, W, Xcover, and Wave Y hands-on (video)

Samsung Galaxy R, Wave M, M Pro, W, Xcover, and Wave Y hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How excited is Samsung about the new Galaxy Note? The company is convinced that the device heralds a whole new space for the industry, something in between the smartphone and the tablet. And what’s the space called? The Note, of course. At 5.3 inches, the thing does feel a lot more like a cell phone than a tablet — albeit a really large one. It’s still reasonably portable, certainly more so than the also recently announced Galaxy Tab 7.7, but the added screen real estate might not be worth the extra pocket space for those who don’t use their portable devices to watch movies.

Interestingly, the major application here actually seems to be enterprise users. While Android 2.3 isn’t particularly known for being a great business OS, the ability to scribble notes with the stylus, the “S Pen,” harkens back to the old PDAs and will likely appeal to users sick of typing with their fingers. That said, we had some difficulty mastering the pen in the short time that we spent with it. Despite Samsung’s insistence on the thing’s accuracy, the stylus was quite slippery on the device’s glossy screen, and we had a lot of difficulty being precise for simple drawings — as you can see in the scribble above.

All in all, it’s hard to envision the Note as a whole new space, and it remains to be seen whether the S Pen can indeed give the aged stylus new life. Check on our hands-on video after the break and see for yourself.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note hands-on (video)

Samsung Galaxy Note hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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