Hasta La Gadget!

Bad news, folks: not only is the Sprint Samsung Galaxy Tab a 3G-only device, but Samsung just confirmed to us that telephony was cut out of the Tab for the US market. That means you won’t be able to pair up a Bluetooth headset and use the Tab as a really large phone like you can on the Euro model. That’s super lame — telephony features might have been the only way the inevitable two-year carrier contract would have been justifiable. Suffice to say, we’re even more curious to hear about official pricing now, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting it until Samsung and its carrier partners are good and ready. We’ll let you know.

Samsung Galaxy Tab loses voice capabilities in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, isn’t this a bit sad — the Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be 3G-only. Ouch — we’d definitely heard that Sprint’s version of the Galaxy Tab would follow in the steps of the Epic 4G and have a WiMAX radio, but no dice, amigos. We’re guessing Sprint won’t be cheekily releasing a Tab case with a built-in Overdrive pocket, either.

Sprint Samsung Galaxy Tab won’t have 4G originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After revealing the Galaxy Tab will be coming to all four major US carriers, Samsung also said a WiFi-only version will be coming soon. No word on pricing or availability yet, but it’s pretty critical that Samsung meet the $499 base price of the iPad, especially since the Wall Street Journal says the carriers will offer the 3G version for $200 – $300, a price point that all but guarantees required data contracts given the unlocked European pricing. We’ll be trying to find out more after the press conference, so stay tuned…

Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi-only version coming, 3G versions almost certain to require contracts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We pretty much assumed this would go down at Samsung’s event on Thursday, but now we’ve got more confirmation Verizon will indeed carry the Samsung Galaxy Tab — check out this leaked screenshot from the employees-only VZWeb system. Details are light, but it looks like Froyo and Flash 10.1 will be preinstalled along with “a number of exclusive apps” to differentiate it from the rumored versions coming to AT&T and Sprint — we’d say Skype fits the bill quite nicely here, as does the thanks-for-telling-us-it-costs-$10-per-month NFL Mobile app with live game streaming and the RedZone channel. Unfortunately, it sounds like we’ll have a bit of a wait for pricing and availability details, which will be released “over the coming weeks,” and that’s really all we want to know — if this thing requires a two-year contract we’re thisclose to calling it a dud out of the gate. We’ll see, we’ll see — Thursday’s only two days away.

Verizon to announce Samsung Galaxy Tab on Thursday? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The way that rumors and Verizon’s statements have been lining up this year, you might’ve been under the impression that its upcoming Android tablets would be carrier exclusives — but maybe not: ye olde Wall Street Journal is citing “three people familiar with the matter” (it’s not often they give a quantity of familiar people!) as saying that Big Red, AT&T, and Sprint are all on tap to take delivery of the Galaxy Tab. In light of Samsung’s strategy in deploying the Galaxy S as far and wide (and with as little exclusivity) as possible, that’d certainly make sense — the company is comfortable switching between GSM, CDMA, and even WiMAX radios at this point without breaking a sweat.

Speaking of WiMAX, this rumor certainly lends credence to the possibility that the Sprint version will be 4G-equipped, giving the Epic a big brother in the carrier’s growing stable of sexy WiMAX hardware. Samsung has an event lined up in New York next Thursday, the 16th (which we’ll be attending, naturally) and the WSJ goes on to say that the Tab’s US unveil is going to go down there. Pricing remains an open question, but considering that the Tab’s a full-on cellphone in addition to a data device, it seems that American customers might need to be comfortable with another contract if they want in on this thing. Ouch.

Samsung Galaxy Tab heading to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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