BlackBerry PlayBook vs. iPad vs. Galaxy Tab vs. Streak: the tale of the tape

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 size7 inches9.7 inches7 inches5 inches
Resolution1024 x 6001024 x 7681024 x 600800 x 480
Pixel density (approx.)170133170187
PlatformBB Tablet OSiOS 3.2.2 (4.2 in November)Android 2.2Android 1.6 (2.1 / 2.2 in future)
Adobe Flash support10.1Not Supported10.1Not supported
Processor1GHz dual-core Cortex A91GHz Apple A4 (ARMv7)1GHz Cortex A81GHz Snapdragon
GraphicsUnknownPowerVR SGX 535PowerVR SGX 540Adreno 200
RAM1GB256MB512MB512MB
Internal Storage16GB / 32GB (unconfirmed)16GB / 32GB / 64GB16GB / 32GB512MB
ExpansionUnknownNonemicroSDmicroSD
Connectivity802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Cellular data3G and 4G promised for future3G optional (AT&T)3G (all carriers)3G (AT&T)
GPSNone3G models onlyYesYes
Camera3MP front,
5MP rear
None

1.3MP front,
3MP rear

VGA front,
5MP rear
Weight0.9 lbs1.5 – 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.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Galaxy Tab Bluetooth Stylus emerges, up for £49.99 pre-order

It’s been a month since we caught our first glimpse of the Galaxy Tab‘s Bluetooth Stylus and today, although still seemingly unofficial, it’s appeared in its first pre-order listing. Priced at £49.99 ($79) by UK online specialist Play, this capacitive stylus will facilitate handwriting recognition for those of us not served well enough by the Tab’s generally excellent soft keyboard. It’s also capable of hooking up to two Bluetooth devices at a time and has the extra intelligence thrown in to receive and reject phone calls — whether on the Tab or on your phone. It’s an intriguing piece of kit, maybe Samsung should go ahead and make it official now, eh?

Galaxy Tab Bluetooth Stylus emerges, up for £49.99 pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePlay.com  | Email this | Comments

Atmel confirms the Samsung Galaxy Tab uses its maXTouch touchscreen controller

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.

Permalink   |  sourceAtmel  | Email this | Comments

10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager (updated)

Tucked away at the bottom of a news story about who’ll be carrying the 7-inch Galaxy Tab in Ireland this year is the promise of a 10-inch Tab (presumably for the whole world) next year. This comes straight from local General Manager Gary Twohig, who seems to have casually disclosed his company’s plans for a 10-inch Android slate in the first half of 2011. Beyond that, all we know is that it’ll include the V8 JavaScript Engine that first showed up as a touted feature in Froyo, though if we had to bet our Led Zep record collection, we’d probably say this 10-incher will be holding out for Android 3.x — either Gingerbread or Honeycomb — for an experience better optimized to run on larger screens. In fact, that may be the likeliest reason why this new tablet didn’t debut with its 7-inch sibling: waiting on a better OS.

[Thanks, Iain]

Update: The original story has undergone a bit of massaging since we first reported on it and the connection between Gary Twohig and the 10-inch Tab has now been removed. We’re still inclined to believe the content, however, as Samsung itself has not been shy about its plans to bring multiple Galaxy Tab sizes to the world.

10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSilicon Republic  | Email this | Comments

Samsung Tab priced at $999 in Australian money, ships November

It seems that though just about everybody’s getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab, few know how much it costs, but Australian customers can expect to pay AUD $999 if they’re buying off-contract. Several Australian media organizations are reporting that’s what the seven-inch, 16GB Android 2.2 tablet will cost, when it arrives at the country’s three major phone carriers for a slated November release. Smarthouse points out that the price reveal surprised Australian executives as a comparable iPad 3G 16GB costs just $799, though a Samsung VP told the publication, “we believe this is a fair price.” We’ll just let the market decide on that one, okay?

Samsung Tab priced at $999 in Australian money, ships November originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSmarthouse, News.com.au, Sydney Morning Herald  | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy Tab feature tour reminds of just how pocketable it isn’t (video)

Sony tried to convince us that its VAIO P was a pocketable computer, so we quite naturally pointed, laughed and mocked. It seems only fair, therefore, to give Samsung the same treatment when it tries to sell us on the idea that we’d be perfectly comfortable stashing its Galaxy Tab slate in the back pocket of our denims. Listen, the only way we’re ever going to put hundreds of dollars’ worth of money into our rear pocket is in note form, protected by our Jules Winnfield-endorsed faux leather wallet. But then again, if you actually like your gadgets to protrude a little bit, maybe this is just the Tab for you. Follow the break for the full video tour.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab feature tour reminds of just how pocketable it isn’t (video)

Samsung Galaxy Tab feature tour reminds of just how pocketable it isn’t (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink HD Blog.it  |  sourcegadgetsNgames (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy Tab keyboard, desktop, and car docks eyes-on

The press release from earlier today provided all the textual details, but now we’ve gotten our own eyes on the Samsung Galaxy Tab accessory lineup — not to be touched at the event, but we could gaze all the same. Pictured above is the $99.99 keyboard dock that gives you a full physical QWERTY on top of a charger / sync dock, along with stereo audio output. Then comes the desktop dock (formerly referred to as the HDMI dock) that allows you to watch videos up to 1080p, view pictures, and listen to music via HDMI All the pictures are below, can ya dig?out. Last but not least is the car / GPS dock for $99.99, for GPS turn-by-turn navigation on the go.

Samsung Galaxy Tab keyboard, desktop, and car docks eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi-only version coming, 3G versions almost certain to require contracts

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.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Official: Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon

That’s right! Once again, Samsung’s gotten all four of the major US carriers in its court — and just as we’d heard, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab will be heading to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile sometime during the October / November timeframe. We wish we had more to share on the availability part, but Samsung’s leaving that and the pricing announcements to the carriers. (We do know that the keyboard dock will cost $100 and the desktop dock $50.) We got to check out the US version of the Galaxy Tab earlier today, and its raw specs — 1GHz Hummingbird, Android 2.2, 7-inch, 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution display, front and rear cams — were exactly the same as the one we previewed last week at IFA. However, Samsung tells us that TouchWiz will be tweaked slightly for the stateside crowd — it won’t have the Reader or Music hubs, but will have the social networking apps and a new Media Hub. There will also be preloaded carrier apps — for instance, AT&T’s version will come with its Connection Manager. Obviously, we can only hope that Verizon’s wised up and isn’t planning to totally Bing-out its Tab. No word on an unlocked or WiFi version hitting the US, but apparently it’s being talked about internally. We’ll be bringing you some more hands-on shots soon and trying to dig up more on pricing, but hit the break for the full press release.

Updated: Samsung just confirmed that a WiFi-only version will come at some point…

Continue reading Official: Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon

Official: Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Exclusive: Galaxy Tab, red / white BlackBerry Torch and Samsung Focus hitting AT&T in Q4

Mmm, delicious. That’s the feeling we’re left with after being inundated with yet another round of AT&T leaks, this time giving us insight at a few flagship devices on tap for the carrier’s holiday push. First up is the Galaxy Tab — an Android 2.2-based tablet that we had previously heard rumored for AT&T’s airwaves. Thanks to a branded snapshot from the carrier’s internals, we can confirm that the Tab will indeed be sold on Ma Bell, and it (along with three other new Android devices) will ship “prior to December.” Moving on, we’ve got even more confirmation that the Samsung Cetus (i917) will be one of the operator’s first Windows Phone 7 devices, and it looks as if a heretofore unheard of Samsung Focus and HTC Surround will be joining it. Better still, we’ve got it on good authority that three other WP7 handsets will be splashing down alongside those others in time for the holidays. As for the remaining BlackBerry loyalists, AT&T will be tempting you with a trio of limited run Torch motifs coming in “mid to late November,” with an all-white version, red / black model and olive colored edition on tap. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, naturally.

Exclusive: Galaxy Tab, red / white BlackBerry Torch and Samsung Focus hitting AT&T in Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments