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Samsung's Tab S4 Is Both An Android Tablet and a Desktop Computer (arstechnica.com)
Today, Samsung unveiled the successor to the Galaxy Tab S3 from last year. The aptly named Galaxy Tab S4 features a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage (expandable via microSD card) and 13-megapixel f1.9 rear-facing camera. Unlike the Tab S3, it includes Samsung Dex software that lets users connect a Samsung mobile device to a monitor and then use the device as a pseudo-desktop. Ars Technica reports: The first Dex dock came out over a year ago and was designed to be used with Samsung smartphones. Users could plug their device into the dock, connect it to a monitor, pair a keyboard and a mouse, and use the setup as they would a full desktop PC. The system ran a version of Android that Samsung modified to better suit a desktop UI, which included a lock screen and a task bar area with app icons. Dex on the Galaxy Tab S4 works just like this, with a couple of extra features that leverage the power of a tablet. When connected to a monitor, both the big screen and the tablet's screen can be used simultaneously. In a short demo, Samsung showed how the device supports up to 20 open windows at once and how features like split screen and drag-and-drop can be used just as they would on a desktop PC. Users can launch Dex when not connected to a monitor as well, and that produces the same modified Android UI on the tablet's 10.5-inch, 2560 x 1600 Super AMOLED display. When connected to a monitor, both the big screen and the tablet's screen can be used simultaneously. In a short demo, Samsung showed how the device supports up to 20 open windows at once and how features like split screen and drag-and-drop can be used just as they would on a desktop PC. Users can launch Dex when not connected to a monitor as well, and that produces the same modified Android UI on the tablet's 10.5-inch, 2560x1600 Super AMOLED display. The tablet carries a $649 price, but includes all the specs mentioned above, as well as support for signature Samsung features like Air Command, translate, and off-screen memos, and a redesigned S Pen.
lets try this yet again and see how it doesn't work.
duplicated story in summary
We donâ(TM)t need no water let the motherfucker burn
Yeah, this "CPU" won't be giving an Intel i9 nightmares anytime soon.
How many times can we fit "2560 x 1600 resolution" in a summary? Not that I don't admire the res. My first computer ran 128x48 simulated graphics resolution, or something like that? In black and white? So this is pretty cool but, "desktop" it sort've ain't prepared for.
Really, who the blazes cares about some computer wannabe?
This isn't clear from the obvious ad^W^Wpost!
If Linux-GNU would run on it or LineageOS, I would probably buy it. Restricted to Samsung perversion of Android, no sale. Restricted to Samsung spyphones = no sale.
Run GCC and have enough memory to compile its own Android OS. If not it is not a "real" computer.
I applaud Samsung for keeping the high end Android tablet products alive, but at 650USD (which is MSRP for base model), it's basically competing in the laptop territory. Moreover, would you spend this kind of money on a computer whose manufacturer does not guarantee updates after two years? (in fact, the first two years the updates can be also very spotty). Finally, considering the pricing, they could at least ship with with a 2018 SoC, instead of SD835 from 1.5 years ago.
While Android tablets have their niche in computing, most people treat them as a toy or as a media consumption device for streaming video, and such price is simply ridiculous.
Trying to ask iPad Pro level prices for hardware thatâ(TM)s actually slower is going to go well
Have gnu, will travel.
The Galaxy Tab S3 has a 6.6 amp battery, which happens to be the same size as the one in my phone, for a much larger screen. It doesn't last as long as I'd like. I hope the one in this is larger. And having a "laptop-class" machine at this price without a removable battery is unacceptable anyway.
Bruce Perens.
The point being it supports Dex, with a mouse and keyboard support (or using the tablet as a input device), and a drives monitors at the high resolution. And when in Dex mode its a multi window system running Android apps.
But then this is in the summary.
Dear Samsung,
4GB RAM needs to be 8GB, and BIG_HEAP limit on Android needs to be bumped up to 4GB (from 512MB), the icon limit per app needs to be increased from 3 to the full screen again. Desktop things run big apps, and these limits are a big issue with Android.
Also fork Android and address the f-ing shortcomings of that OS. Multiwindows that don't require apps support, don't need the use to divide up screen space, fix the MRU list, fix the rotation lock (should be intentional button press, to turn it portrait or landscape, this is no longer a single app device!),
Fix the lifespan of apps, put a damn 'exit app' feature on the tablet. Don't exit apps that haven't been exited by the user. No more unloading of background apps I want running.
It is not a desktop computer. Simple as that.
...the whole unit turns into a cigarette/BBQ lighter!
tabtop
or a desklet.
It is always depressing to see someone who has absolutely no pride in their job.
This looks like a Psion series 7.
I'd much prefer the true laptop formfactor. i.e. with a real keyboard.
My trusty old Asus Transformer (first model TF101) died last month ( :-( ) , and there simply is no good replacement for it. Yes you can pair a bluetooth keyboard to a tablet, but it's very clunky to set up (need to put the tablet on a stand, can't use it in your lap) and it reduces the battery life to half a day with bluetooth constantly on. The TF101 could (even at the end of it's life) easily last days on a charge because the attached keyboard contained an extra battery.
Here they seem to have made a dock to externalize the only component a tablet can do fine without (a screen). I don't see the point, frankly.
Instead of continuing to create more powerful and expensive tablets or phablets, Samsung needs to actually support 4K on DeX. When you have a bunch of your customers who buy your 4K monitors/TVs, but your docking station doesn't support 4K... um... that's a bit of a contradiction. Samsung really makes me say "WTF?" so often these days...
This is merely a tablet with external peripherals support (monitor, keyboard & mouse).
Given that you could already get external keyboard support, the new stuff is really only support for the monitor and mouse.
I think it's a stretch to say this has "PC" support. The Android OS is a tablet OS, with all that implies about restrictions on screen size, software support and all the rest. It's a tablet that can run a large screen with an OS that won't properly support that large screen. I say that discounting the Samsung demo of multitasking, multiple windows and all the rest. Those will be Samsung extensions that will die without ever getting Google support, app support, and there won't be a follow-on device for the Tab S4 (unless you count a completely different device, possibly with a different vendor, in 10 years, with only a conceptual connection to this Tab S4).
Well, everything is going to be Linux. I mean, Software/Hard ware. Many Windo Admins didn't like what I had to say about the Trending Future.
My next cell phone is going to be a cell phone that can change into a full Linux distro like Samsung Dex.