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Samsung's Galaxy Tab Android Tablet Now Official
itwbennett writes "Samsung held a media event Thursday introducing the Galaxy Tab, and making official what we've already known for weeks, says blogger Peter Smith. 'We still don't have a price or a concrete ship date (though definitely this fall; Samsung says it'll be available for the holiday season),' says Smith. 'It'll ship with Android 2.2 (Froyo), runs Flash, has a 1Ghz Hummingbird CPU, 16GB of memory, a 7" LCD (1204 x 600 ) screen and weighs about 13 ounces. They're claiming a 7-hour battery life. Two cameras: a front-facing 1.3 megapixel, and a back-facing 3 megapixel. It has an HDMI port and will also share media to DLNA devices on the same network.'" Engadget adds some video footage.
Do you mean this?
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-7-Inch-UMPC-with-Touchscreen/dp/B001TZVW8E 1 new from $835.18
That's not the same product, that's a winxp thing with a hard drive.
No buffering, according to this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100917/tc_pcworld/samsunggalaxytabfaq
"All content from the Media Hub is offered as downloads over Wi-Fi. There will be no online streaming through the Samsung Media Hub."
Exact specs, what the hardware is, price, where are they releasing it (which countries), where will I be able to buy it (is it just from carriers?).
You can't even find a Galaxy Tab page on Samsung's website -- they link to one, but it's 404.
However, specs collected from the announcement, press releases and coverage:
Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Flash 10.1 (Web video looked good and smooth)
1Ghz Hummingbird CPU (Samsung, ARM Cortex A8)
PowerVR SGX 540 video
512 MB RAM
Internal storage unclear; some reports say 16 GB or 32GB
microSD card slot, supporting 32GB additional storage
7" TFT LCD screen, 1024 x 600 resolution
Capacitive touchscreen
Quad-band GSM/EDGE, triple-band HSUPA/HSDPA, voice and data connectivity
Dual SIM cards (not sure why?)
802.11 b/g/n wifi
Bluetooth 3.0
13 ounces
7 hour battery life under continuous movie playback
Front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video calling
Back facing 3 megapixel autofocusing camera for HD video and still photography with flash
HDMI video output port
USB (will trickle charge, but not rapid charge)
Proprietary 30-pin connector for charging and connectivity to dock
3.5 audio jack; internal stereo speakers
Accelerometer, magnetometer, proximity sensor
Full external keyboard, optional
Automotive dash mount for GPS functionality with Google Maps enhanced for the 7-inch display; presumably this suggests it has a GPS chip, although I have not found anything that says so
Will share media to DLNA devices on the same network; should interop with MythTV and XMBC
Will be offered by AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile; pricing and dates to be announced by the carriers
E-reader software (Kindle, PressDisplay, Zinio, etc.)
Thinkfree Office software
Media Hub (cloud-based purchase and rental of video and audio programming) with sharing across your compatible Samsung devices
Interestingly, "legacy" Android apps designed for smaller screens are shown at a correct size, framed rather than stretched. A bunch of apps optimized for the 7-inch display were shown.
According to Engadget they removed the telephony app from the US version of this (it's still in the European version):
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/16/samsung-galaxy-tab-loses-voice-capabilities-in-the-us/
That's pretty much a dealkiller for me, and gives Samsung an uphill climb if they expect to compete with the iPad, which has a good low end price, an OS designed for a tablet, and an established ecosystem.
"Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"
No they mean this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-Device-Cortex-Android/dp/B0042D75TU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1284729976&sr=8-10