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Samsung has slimmed down its Galaxy Tab 10.1, but is it enough to compete with the iPad?

Samsung has already superseded its own inadequate 10-inch Galaxy tab with a brand-new tablet that is thinner than the iPad 2. The company has also announced a tweener-sized 8.9-inch tablet.

This upgrade to the cheap-feeling Tab 10.1 we saw at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, measures in at 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm and weighs 595g. Compare that to the iPad 2, at 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm and 601 g for the Wi-Fi only model.

The new tablet, announced at the CTIA show in Orlando, Florida, also has a 1280 x 800 multitouch display, a 1-GHz dual core processor, stereo speakers, Flash support (note — like the previous Tab 10.1 it appears to come without Flash pre-installed) and a new TouchWiz UI built on top of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. It also has a 3-MP camera at the back, and a 2-MP up front.

Price wise, Samsung has got this one dead right, making it the exact same price as the iPad: $500 for the 16-GB Wi-Fi-only model, and $600 for the 32-GB Wi-Fi version. The smaller Tab 8.9 will cost $470 and $570 for the same capacities.

And none of this will matter. There will be a few people who buy the Tab, but the “regular” non-geek person doesn’t go to the store to buy a “tablet.” They go to the store to buy an iPad, just as they used to go buy iPods, not MP3 players.

It may still be too early to call this one, but I have a feeling that Apple already has this market sewn up, and while there will be plenty of other tablets on display at your local big box store, the iPad will be the only one that sells in meaningful numbers. Just like the iPod.

The full press release is pasted below.

See Also:

• Galaxy Tab
• Samsung's Galaxy Tab: iPad's First Solid Contender
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Hands-On: A Plastic Toy With a Gorgeous …
• Samsung Chief Calls Galaxy Tab 10.1 'Inadequate'

Samsung Unveils GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9,

World’s Thinnest Mobile Tablets

Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9

to feature the first customized Android™ 3.0 experience

ORLANDO, March 22, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the global leader in Android™ mobile devices, announced two new additions to its family of GALAXY Tabs, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9, the world’s thinnest mobile tablets, measuring just 8.6 millimeters.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 feature Samsung’s own TouchWiz user interface implemented on the Android™ 3.0 (Honeycomb) platform, offering superior multi-tasking and enhanced user interaction and navigation.

“The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are remarkable examples of Samsung’s constant innovation and show our dedication to designing premium tablets that fit the unique needs of consumers around the world”, said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business. “By combining Samsung’s innovations in design and display with

our exciting new user experience, we’ve created a new class of products that will lead the tablet market.”

Thinner & Lighter

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are the thinnest mobile tablets available. The GALAXY Tab 10.1 weighs 595 grams and 8.9 weighs 470 grams. Combining the GALAXY Tabs’ ultra-thin form factor with a lightweight design adds to the outstanding mobility of these two products.

Super Fast

The new GALAXY Tabs will support HSPA+ network speeds of up to 21Mbps as well as Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity to deliver rapid mobile download speeds and reduce data transfer times. Also, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 include a 1GHz dual core application processor for a powerful multimedia and web browsing experience.

Customized User Experience “Samsung TouchWiz UX”

Samsung’s TouchWiz user experience is designed with a Live Panel menu users can customize to display a variety of content on the home screen including digital pictures, favorite Web sites and social network feeds.

In addition, the interface includes an application tray of commonly used features such as task manager, calendar and music player which can be launched while other major applications are also in use, including large file downloads and document editing. This Mini Apps Tray provides a mixture of convenience and flexibility previously unheard of with tablet devices.

The Ultimate Entertainment Hub

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are pre-loaded with Readers Hub and Music Hub giving consumers instant access to more than 2.2 million books, 2,000 newspaper (49 languages), 2,300 magazines (22 languages), and 13 million songs. The devices are also designed with Samsung’s Social Hub, which will aggregate email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar and social network connections into a single interface.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 feature a 3 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera, providing smooth transition and seamless 1080p HD video and Flash playback for a rich entertainment experience.

Ready for Business

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 will include an industry leading suite of solutions designed to give enterprise customers and IT managers more security. Developed in collaboration with industry-leading partners such as Cisco, Sybase, SAP and Citrix, Samsung’s enterprise mobility solutions will provide flexibility and connectivity for mobile workforces, ensuring that users are able to operate more efficiently on–the-move.

GALAXY Tab 10.1

GALAXY Tab 10.1, with its WXGA TFT LCD display (1280 x 800) powered by 1GHz dual core AP, is 8.6mm thin and weighs only 595g. It is the perfect device for sharing and enjoying media content with family and friends. In addition, with its surround-sound stereo speakers and support for Flash 10.2, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 will deliver premium entertainment experience whether watching videos, movies or playing games.

GALAXY Tab 8.9

At just 8.6mm thin and weighing only 470g, the GALAXY Tab 8.9 is the perfect device for today’s mobile professional. Whether writing emails on a trip or reading an eBook on the couch, the GALAXY Tab 8.9 provides the ultimate tablet experience without compromising mobility.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 now join the original 7-inch GALAXY Tab to provide consumers with an unmatched array of choices to select the mobile tablet experience that fits their needs the best.

Samsung’s entire line of GALAXY Tabs will be on display at the Samsung booth (#2440) at CTIA Wireless 2011, March 22 through March 24.

Still having trouble locating an iPad 2 here in the US of A? Grab your passport, bub. Starting on Friday, March 25th, Apple will start hawking its latest and greatest tablet in 25 other nations, with sales to begin at 5PM local time through Apple retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers (or 1AM online). ‘Course, this is a move we’ve been expecting all along, but at least the folks in Cupertino seem to be wasting no time in expanding availability. You can find the full list of nations just after the break, but if you’re situated in Hong Kong, Singapore or South Korea, it looks as if you’ll have to wait until April. A real downer, we know.

Continue reading Apple slinging iPad 2 to 25 more countries this Friday, even more next month

Apple slinging iPad 2 to 25 more countries this Friday, even more next month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ekocase’s bamboo- and faux-leather iPad case does its best to look like an oversized hipster notebook.

Sustainably-harvested bamboo frame? Check. “Animal-friendly faux-leather cover?” Check. Moleskine-like styling? Triple check.

The Ekocase2 is an iPad and iPad 2 case that should appeal to all of you vegetarian, Earth-loving, iPad-using hipsters.

Like many clever gadget accessories these days, it doesn’t exist yet except in prototype form, but if the creator, Ryan Frazier, gets enough pledges of support on his Kickstarter page, it’ll go into production. It’s got an interesting locking system that uses two bamboo pegs to hold the iPad in place, and will come in a variety of colors, just like your favorite paper notebooks.

Apart from the styling and the materials, I like that the elastic strap can also be used to hang the iPad on the back of a car’s headrest, turning it into a video display screen for entertaining the tykes in the back seat. You can’t do that with a Moleskine.

Gadget Lab’s iPad case and power plug reporter Charlie Sorrel is taking the day off. –Ed.

Boxee 1.5 bringing ‘huge browser update’ by end of March originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, we breeze through our review of the iPad 2 (thinner, lighter, faster — you get the point) to get to a more interesting point: You don’t need to buy a 3G model thanks to widely available hot-spot capability.

In other tablet news, some chip analysts shaved away at the processor in the Samsung Galaxy Tab and found a secret message hidden inside, along with some quirky toons. Clever.

By the way — we have a winner for our Zibits giveaway: Congratulations, Wyatt Roy!

Mike Calore, Wired.com Reviews editor, joins the show to nerd out about some weapons of massive distraction: an automatic Nerf dart gun and a crazy bow-and-arrow toy — perfect for office warfare.

Calore closes the podcast with a look at the Buddha Machine, a handheld box that creates musical loops and plays them from a tiny speaker.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast No. 108

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0108.mp3