Hasta La Gadget!

What secret could this Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 hold? Check out the little LTE logo hiding out on the back of the device. Yep, T-Mobile’s aggressively magenta-ed out IFA booth was showcasing this beauty, as a way of showing off the European carrier’s blazing LTE speeds. Hardware, it seems, was incidental to the company’s demos — but boy howdy do we care.

The T-Mobile reps didn’t offer up much in the way of information on that front (in fact, they mostly tried to move us along to the next LTE-capable device for more speed demos), but the company’s paperwork highlights the device’s 32GB capacity, 1.5GHz dual-core processor and Android 3.2 operating system. The hardware itself should prove quite familiar to anyone who’s ever spent time with a Galaxy Tab — same brilliant glossy screen, same smooth plastic back.

Not much is available, so far as pricing and availability, though the T-Mobile representative that we spoke with believes the thing will be hitting the network in Q4.

Update: AndroidOS.in is reporting that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE will hit German airwaves in December.

[Thanks, TMO_lover]

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8.9 goes LTE for T-Mobile at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here it is, official as official gets: Samsung just announced the Galaxy Tab 7.7. As the name suggests, it has a 7.7-inch (1280 x 800) display — specifically, a Super AMOLED Plus panel. Like so many other 7-inchers hitting the market, it runs Android 3.2 and yes, that’s a skinned flavor of Honeycomb, with Samsung’s tablet-optimized TouchWiz UX layered on top. Inside, it runs the same Samsung-made dual-core 1.4GHz processor found in the new Galaxy Note, along with an HSPA+ radio promising theoretical download speeds as high as 21Mbps. Other specs for the 0.74-pound (335-gram) tablet include 16GB to 64GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 5,100mAh battery rated for 10 hours, 802.11n WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and dual 3MP and 2MP cameras. In a nutshell, it’s the in-between-sized do-over a lot of folks have been awaiting since the original Galaxy Tab grew stale — a slate that promises faster speeds and some seriously improved viewing angles. We’ll be the judge of that in our review, but in the meantime stay tuned for some early hands-on impressions.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 official: dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, Android 3.2, HSPA+

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 official: dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, Android 3.2, HSPA+ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We haven’t had a chance to head on down to The Hague to have a look-see for ourselves, but Dutch tech site Webwereld spotted some more inconsistencies in Apple’s Samsung lawsuit filings. This time the culprit is a shrunken Galaxy S II, standing side-by-side with an identically tall iPhone 3G — when in reality the Samsung phone is seven millimeters taller than its Apple counterpart, and slightly wider as well. The image, filed in the Netherlands, is part of an intellectual property suit against Samsung, and came to light just days after accusations that Apple manipulated photos of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that it submitted to a German court. While misleading, this latest error isn’t nearly as concerning as last week’s shrunken Tab — which could easily be described as image manipulation, considering that the tablet included in that filing represented an incorrect 4:3 aspect ratio, while the Samsung device has a 16:10 display.

[Thanks, Florian]

Did Apple shrink the Samsung Galaxy S II in Dutch lawsuit filing? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you a Galaxy Tab 10.1 owner still waiting to upgrade your slate to TouchWiz UX? Well, prepare to be disappointed — Samsung has pulled the update. It’s remaining tight-lipped on the subject but it looks to be in response to some users experiencing lagging graphics or bricked devices. When Android Police tweeted Samsung’s Carla Saavedra she said “(the update) has been temporarily halted to assess progress & ensure it’s a positive experience for customers” and said regular service would “resume shortly” but “no specifics were given.” We’ll keep our eyes on this one, but in the meantime you can read the torrid exchange after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Samsung halts TouchWiz UX updates to prevent bricking issues?

Samsung halts TouchWiz UX updates to prevent bricking issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were there when a select few got their Galaxy Tab 10.1’s loaded up with TouchWiz for the very first time, and we gave you a rundown of what to expect from the newly skinned slate. Now the day has finally arrived for all the other owners to get the new software, and Samsung’s delivered the OTA update as promised. We grabbed the update ourselves on an untouched Tab, and found that it’s a 188MB download — so be prepared to hurry up and wait a while for your new media-enhanced, widget-happy tablet experience. Once you’re done doing the download dance, do let us know how the new UX is treating you in the comments.

[Thanks, Michael]

OTA TouchWiz update comes to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 right on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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