Samsung's newest Android tablet - the Galaxy Tab - might not have been the best kept secret in the world, but its arrival at IFA 2010 still create a lot of buzz and excitement. The tablet, which has a 7-inch screen and weighs in at only 380g, is meant to be the portable and pocket-size answer to the hefty iPad. Effectively a bigger version of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, a 7″ version seemed like a nice middle-ground between phone and iPad form factors.
Samsung gave a hint to its future plans when rumours start to spread that Samsung is not going to stop at just one tablet. There are news that Samsung is going to release both the 8″ and 10″ models of the Galaxy Tab within the year. Both tablets will also run Android with the TouchWiz UI overlaid.
For the moment, Samsung is declining to comment as you would expect. Such a move definitely signifies Samsung’s desire to go into the same markets as Apple, putting the two companies in direct competition, not just in the smartphone arena but also at the laptop and tablet market.
Let’s take a look at the hardware specs
- Android 2.2 running TouchWiz 3.0
- 7-inch TFT LCD with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA)
- Dimensions of 190 x 120 x 12mm
- Weighs 380 grams
- 1GHz Cortex A8 processor
- 16GB or 32GB internal storage
- microSD expansion for up to 32GB additional storage
- Front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and rear 3 megapixel camera with flash
- 4,000mAh battery
- 3G data / voice (there's a speakerphone and Bluetooth for phone calls, but no earpiece)
- 5GHz dual-band 802.11n WiFi
- Standard back color is white, carriers might offer different colors
- Full HD video playback
- There's a 30-pin dock connector on the bottom that allows for HDMI, USB, and docking accessories
Overall, the Galaxy Tab is a good looking, solidly built and lightweight device. The screen resolution and display is great, though it is a pity that Samsung has not decided to produce AMOLED screens on the Galaxy Tab as it did on its Galaxy S smartphone. Hands on reviews have shown that capacitive touch response is just as excellent as the iPad's, and the processor doesn't seem to have much trouble keeping up with the UI.
The tablet, in general, has a pretty “safe” side to it when it comes to the exterior facade. Let's put it this way: It looks and feels like iPad's close relative and if you are not careful, you might mistook it for an iPad.This might not be a bad thing at all as it makes commercial sense to conform to current consumers' expectations of a tablet device. Where Samsung has differentiate itself for this device though is via its portability, as well as its applications.
Samsung had built up some apps specifically to take advantage of the screen size and resolution, including a very attractive calendar app, an email app that has a dual pane view in landscape, a messaging app, a Media Hub music store and player, an e-reading launcher app (that points to PressDisplay for newspapers, Kobo for e-books, and Zinio for magazines), and more.
On the third party front, Samsung says that apps which were developed within Google's UI guidelines should scale up correctly, but others might need to be reworked.
The company has projected that it will sell 10 million of the tablets by Q3 2011, grabbing one-third of all tablet sales world wide, which is a very brave estimate by any means. By comparison, Apple's iPad has sold over 3 million units to-date.
This estimate comes from Samsung product executive Hankil Yoon, who recently spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Other details shared by Mr. Yoon include a more accurate projection of how much the tablet will cost. Reports last week has suggested that the Tab would cost closer to the $1,000 mark unsubsidized. The USD$200 - USD$300 range that is shared by Yoon for a "contracted" price sounds a lot better for customers, though the final retail price still depends on the network operators. Yoon did, however, say that Samsung is currently talking to U.S. network operators about making the Tab available in the U.S. very soon within the year.
Personally, we will really like to see some much-needed competition to Apple’s iPad but it remains to be seen if a non-Apple company can convince consumers to buy something once viewed so frivolous like a tablet. A lot rests on the shoulders of developers, as usual, to make or break this quasi-new platform, but for Samsung's part we think the company has done enough to be a serious 7-inch contender against Apple's 9.7-inch juggernaut. Well, for what it's worth, the Galaxy Tab is a much better name than the iPad - which has unfortunately become the butt of many jokes.
