galaxytab
Latest
Verizon's 4G LTE line: Samsung and Novatel MiFi, 4G Galaxy Tab, netbooks (hands-on)
The LG Revolution, HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung's SCH-i520 were the obvious stars of Verizon's 4G LTE presser today, but a truckload of lesser devices are sure to delight end users when they ship later in the year. 4G mobile hotspots were on hand from both Novatel Wireless and Samsung (with the former working on both 3G and 4G networks), as were a pair of netbooks from HP and the LTE-enabled (and Hummingbird-powered) Galaxy Tab. The MiFi devices were decidedly thicker than our existing MiFi 2200 (shown left, above), but it's a price we'd be willing to pay for the ability to surf on both of VZW's networks. Gallery's below for those seeking a closer look, and you should expect the whole lot to hit your local VZW store between March and July. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-113097%
Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab sprouts LTE, upgraded camera
We knew that Honeycomb tablets would be a big deal here at CES, but one thing we didn't expect was for Samsung's Android Froyo-based Galaxy Tab to get a little spec bump already just a few short months after release. This one is strictly a Verizon special, stuffing in an LTE modem (while maintaining backward compatibility with Big Red's 3G network), adding another 200MHz to the Hummingbird processor for a grand total of 1.2GHz, and moving the rear camera from 3 megapixels to 5. No word on pricing or a release date -- but this definitely explains the recent price drop, eh?
WiFi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab confirmed for first quarter US launch
It's been a bit of a wait, but Samsung's starting leak some more details on the 3G-free (and contract-free) version of its Galaxy Tab. What you really want, of course, is a concrete date and price -- but you're not going to get it. Instead, we come bearing news that they've at least committed to a first quarter launch in the States (retail partners are yet to be announced, though Best Buy certainly seems like a lock) and that the units will have 16GB of internal storage along with a microSD slot capable of another 32GB. Everything else is a line-for-line spec match with the Tab you're already used to, save for the lack of 3G data when you fall off the warm embrace of a WiFi network. Follow the break for the press release.
Opera for tablets teased on video, bringing first public preview to CES (video)
As if building a top notch browser wasn't hard enough when having to develop for both desktop and mobile, here comes Opera with a third category: tablet-specific browsers. Opera for tablets has just been teased on video, exploiting a Galaxy Tab to show off slippery smooth pinch-to-zoom functionality plus a finger-friendly landing page for all your favorite websites when opening a new window. It's really not much to go on, but the Norwegian company is trying to hold the details until its proper public preview, which will be happening right here at CES very soon. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Verizon cutting Galaxy Tab price to $500, will refund any purchases from last two weeks
New year means a new price for the Verizon-branded Galaxy Tab. Droid-Life has received word from a couple of VZW store employees that the big red network intends to chop a nice $100 chunk off its price for the 7-inch Android tablet. Though this move hasn't yet been made official, the Galaxy Tab should soon be available to buy for $500, without any contractual obligations and plus a $60 movie rental voucher that can be redeemed in Samsung's Media Hub or the preloaded Blockbuster Mobile app. You shouldn't freak out if you've just bought a Tab either, as Verizon's also said to be offering a benevolent refund for the difference in price to buyers of the Samsung slate who happen to have receipts dating from the last 14 days.
Josh talks holiday gadgets on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (video)
Couldn't stay up till 12:37AM? We'll forgive you... in time. Thankfully, the wonders of the internet are enabling you to travel back to catch our own Josh Topolsky's holiday jam party with Late Night's Jimmy Fallon. The duo ran through a gauntlet of gadgets, including B&N's Nook Color, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, D-Link's Boxee Box, Apple's MacBook Air, Dell's Venue Pro and the Gingerbread-equipped Nexus S. Also appearing: teenage jokes, visions of a lunar eclipse, legally / illegally downloaded content and the Nexus X. Yeah, the X. See what we mean in the pair of videos just past the break.
Samsung nabs Tegra 2 for Galaxy Tab 2, Google makes Tegra the Honeycomb reference platform?
It sounds like all of NVIDIA's wrangling and cajoling finally paid off, if a couple of analysts are to be believed -- both say the company's dual-core Tegra 2 chipset is racking up wins in the tablet space. We've seen it seemingly raise the bar for smartphone silicon in the LG Star and tease us in slate after slate, but Citigroup's Glen Yeung says that Samsung has "placed a sizeable order with Nvidia for Tegra 2 chips in the first half of 2011, geared for both tablets and smartphones," and BMO Capital Markets analyst Ambrish Srivastava anticipates the next Galaxy Tab will be one of the devices that use it. If that sounds obvious, remember that Samsung was supposed to be producing a dual-core chip of its own. What could cause companies to embrace Tegra 2, if that's indeed what's happening? Any number of reasons, to be sure, but Glen Yeung also says that Google has made Tegra the reference design for Honeycomb, aka Android 3.0, and so Tegra 2 may sound like a fast track to victory in the budding tablet space. Here's hoping it's a good choice for consumers, too.
Galaxy Tab hits new low on US Cellular: $200 with 5GB data agreement
And the drops, they keep on comin'. Just 48 hours after T-Mobile USA reduced the financial barrier surrounding the Galaxy Tab to just $350 on contract, the suddenly boisterous US Cellular is doing 'em one better. The carrier has just lowered the price of a shiny new 7-inch Tab to just $199.99 on a two-year data agreement, with the only major caveat being that consumers will have to opt for the pricier 5GB / month plan. That'll run you $54.99 per month with pay-as-you-go messaging, or $74.99 per month with an all-you-can-message plan. We still aren't totally hip with a tablet on contract (sans voice capabilities), but those who've warmed won't find a better deal east of the Mississippi. Or west of it, frankly. [Thanks, D]
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Tablets
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. You didn't think we'd let the holiday season go by without an official Engadget Tablet Gift Guide did you? Hey, give us more credit -- we know it's not 2009 anymore! The past year has seen an explosion in the tablet category, and while the iPad may still be the market leader, there's no shortage of Android and Windows 7 alternatives out there that let you surf the web, read books, and watch videos with just a flick of a finger. Sure, more are on the way, and all signs point to Apple updating the iPad in early 2011, but if you've got to have a touchscreen slab before the end of the year, we're here to lend a helping hand. Hit the break for a rundown of the best choices by price category.
T-Mobile drops Samsung Galaxy Tab to $350 on-contract
Been waiting for a carrier to shave a bit off the price of the Galaxy Tab before you took the plunge? Well, you now have your first option to consider -- T-Mobile has just knocked $50 off the on-contract price of the tablet, bringing it own to $349.99 for those willing to sign a two-year term (the off-contract price unfortunately remains unchanged). Incidentally, T-Mobile has also dropped the price of the Samsung Vibrant down to $150, although that's not the first time a Galaxy S device has been discounted. Of course, while T-Mobile is the first to start discounting the Tab, it almost certainly won't be the last. We'll keep you posted on any other changes.
OnLive demos Windows 7 on an iPad and Galaxy Tab, launches cloud computing tablet app
Flash on an iPad? No problem, and neither is QuickTime on a Samsung Galaxy Tab -- assuming you're running both from a virtualized Windows 7 PC using OnLive's new app. OnLive may have originally pitched itself as a streaming games service, but founder Steve Perlman revised his ambitions at the D: Dive into Mobile conference today, showing off a host of Windows 7 programs (including 3D modeling software Maya, above) running on the pair of ARM-based tablets. Like always, OnLive requires a nearby server and fast internet connection to function adequately, and the apps themselves would need touch controls, but Perlman said it's actually easier to deliver apps than games since they're less sensitive to lag. OnLive didn't provide a date when we can expect full cloud functionality, but you can get a sneak peek at a pared-down version right now -- the brand-new OnLive Viewer app, which lets you spectate games in progress (and will eventually let you play them) is now available for iPad.
Combined sales of smartphones and tablets to surpass the humble PC in 18 months, says IDC
Our supply checks say that 10 out of 10 analysts are insanely bullish about tablets -- despite the fact that there are only 2.5 competitive products on the market, and one of them only came out a month ago. So, naturally, it isn't difficult to scrounge up sales predictions that show the tablet rocketing into the stratosphere, cutting into PC market share, while also expanding the market outright to accommodate its post-PC ways. Gartner's guess is 55 million tablets next year, while IDC has a more conservative estimate of 42 million, but both predict a sharp, exponential rise in the following years, and IDC takes it one step further: 18 months from now, combined smartphone and tablet sales will eclipse the PC, it claims, with both categories hovering in the mid-400 million range. Now, that number is mostly smartphones, which isn't an unprecedented shift in and of itself -- the PC took a major hit in popularity in Japan once the kids got ahold of these newfangled phone things -- but overall it represents a shift from the open-ended, flexible, and powerful PC to the narrow, task-specific, app-driven nature of the iOS and Android kind. Or you could spin it the completely opposite way: people need phones, so they buy a nice phone. No PC death knell in that behavior, and the tablet is still a very niche product with some good PR. Either way, we'll be much more impressed with this sort of market battle when it's the tablet (perhaps with a little help from the smartbook or netbook-lite category) going up against the Windows and Mac PC head-on, without smartphones shouldering most of the load.
Samsung sells one million Galaxy Tab units (update: confirmed)
Wondering just how well a tablet would do if picked up and marketed by all four major carriers in America? We're still waiting for the breakdown within our borders, but there's hardly a doubt that the unprecedented carrier arrangement has helped Samsung shatter its estimates on Galaxy Tab sales. Purportedly, the outfit has just passed the one million mark in global sales of the 7-inch Android tablet, but Information Week is quick to point out that Sammy's not clear on whether that's units in the sales channel or units in the hands of consumers. Either way, one million's nothing to scoff at, particularly when you consider that only 600,000 had been sold as of November 22nd. The firm's now hoping to move 1.5 million of 'em by the year's end, and while that's still well short of the estimated seven million iPads that have been sold to date, it's a sales rate that we're sure no one at Samsung is kvetching about. Update: CNET heard from a Samsung representative that the company hasn't officially announced the sales figure here, but hopefully we'll get some clarification soon. It's possible that the PR team simply isn't ready to dish out the number in official fashion yet. We'll keep you posted. Update II: So, it's just what we expected -- the numbers are real, but Samsung wasn't quite ready to come clean with 'em. According to Kim Titus, Director of Public Relations for Samsung Mobile, the company has "sold one million Galaxy Tabs globally." Good on 'em!
55 people think the iPad is more valuable than the Galaxy Tab (updated)
If you read tech news today, expect to see a story making the rounds concerning a "consumer poll" rating the iPad versus the Galaxy Tab. According to the report, an "overwhelming majority" of consumers prefer Apple's tablet over its nearest Android competitor -- a whopping 85 percent of those queried felt the iPad had a higher perceived value than the Tab. Sounds shocking, right? Except there's one small problem. The "survey" (and really, you have to use the term loosely here) consisted of 65 people. Let's just say that again: 65 respondents. That's problem number one. Problem number two is that the survey was conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who is not only using a bizarre and somewhat useless metric like "perceived value" to judge these devices, but is also known for wildly miscalculating sales numbers and expectations for Apple products. In fact, Gene Munster should probably be close to the top of the most wanted list for irresponsible analysts. Some of his famous misses? Take the wildly speculative report that Apple would sell 5.6m iPads in 2010 (a baseless prediction which he quickly reassessed to more reasonable digits... the day after the device's launch), or the prediction that Apple would build its own search engine (so far so good!), and of course, Gene's news that Apple will have an HDTV on the market by 2011. Did we mention the $1,000 AAPL stock price call? No? Okay. So this latest report, in which Gene apparently just polled the families living on his block, seems beyond disingenuous. The margin of error on a group of 65 people is so high that it makes the results of the iPad vs. Galaxy Tab study all but meaningless, and further demonstrates the insidious, dangerous power of some analysts and their fantasy football stock manipulations. The moral of the story? Next time you see the names Gene and Munster in the same sentence, don't just take the news with a grain of salt -- use the whole shaker. Update: Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Murphy (one of the other researchers on this report) got in touch and gave us some background on the sourcing and methodology for finding respondents. In his words: The respondents were chosen randomly on their way in/out of a large national retail chain. After spending time with each device, they were asked which they'd prefer and what a reasonable price for each would be. It's worth noting that that information is found nowhere in the report itself, nor is any other detail provided (type of store, geographic location, age / socioeconomic background, etc.), though this charming section is included: Research Disclosures Piper Jaffray was making a market in the securities of Apple, Inc. at the time this research report was published. Piper Jaffray will buy and sell Apple, Inc. securities on a principal basis.
Editorial: My next iPad won't be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be
It took me a while, but I'm starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven't loved a gadget for a long while. There's something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that's still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn't even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I'm finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple's 10-inch tablet. But I have one "big" problem with the tablet that doesn't look like it'll be solved anytime soon: it's not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over?
WiFi-only Galaxy Tab hits Best Buy for $499.99 only to be delayed by Samsung?
Remember the leaked promo material for the $499.99 WiFi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to Best Buy? Well, SKU 1409447 of the 7-inch Android tablet is being promoted right now in the weekly ads on Best Buy's very own mobile site. Unfortunately, our urge to celebrate is tempered by a sneaky pic of a Best Buy "pullback" (found after the break) noting that the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab is not in fact available due to manufacturer delay. The whole Best Buy listing turns out to be an unhappy comedy of errors showing a non-existent "silver" 3G model on Sprint and wishful "Super AMOLED" display. Ugh.
The Engadget Show - 015: Sprint's Fared Adib, Google TV creator Salahuddin Choudhary, Galaxy Tab, Nook Color, and more!
Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. First up, Josh and Paul sit down with Sprint product chief Fared Adib to talk about the birth of the EVO 4G, what exactly defines "4G," where Sprint sees itself in relation to Verizon and AT&T, and why skinning Android devices might be a necessary evil. Next, Nilay goes hands on with the fully-automated house of the future at the Savant Experience Center in an exclusive new Engadget Show segment, then joins Josh on stage for a in-depth chat with Salahuddin Choudhary, a Google TV product manager who helped create Google TV in his 20-percent time. Then, Paul, Nilay, and Josh discuss all things tablets in a raucous roundtable featuring the iPad, Galaxy Tab, and Nook Color. To round it all out, exileFaker rocks the house with some killer chiptunes music with visuals by HN_i_C. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the video stream after the break or download the show in HD below! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Special guests: Fared Adib, Salahuddin Choudhary Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Danny Madden Music by: exileFaker Visuals by: HN_i_C Savant segment music by: Kris Keyser and exileFaker Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Taped live at The Times Center Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 015 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 015 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 015 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (MP4). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (MP4). [RSS MP4] Add the Engadget Show feed (MP4) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. [HD RSS] Get the Engadget Show delivered automatically in HD. [iPad RSS] Get the Engadget Show in iPad-friendly adaptive format. %Gallery-108045%
Samsung says it's sold 600,000 Galaxy Tabs worldwide
Samsung said it expected to sell a million Galaxy Tabs this year, and it looks like it may not be far off that mark, if it doesn't exceed it -- the company has apparently told The Korea Herald that it's sold 600,000 of the tablets worldwide so far, less than a month after launch. That includes 30,000 units sold in Korea since its November 14th launch there, but Samsung doesn't seem to be dishing out specific numbers for the rest of the world just yet. Of course, as impressive as that is, it may well be all downhill from here once word of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's frown gets around.
Russian president not fond of Galaxy Tab camera, <3s emoticons
Seems that Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, picked up a Galaxy Tab on his recent trip to Samsung's home country of South Korea while seeking investment and trade opportunities. Unfortuntely, he doesn't seem to be much of a fan of the GT-P1000's camera according to a recent tweet made from his certified Twitter account. Apparently, he prefers the quality of his trusty Leica M9 camera spotted in the EXIF of the images he posted from Japan just a few days prior -- the $17,500 Neiman Marcus edition, we presume. Proof once again that it's good to be king Президент. [Thanks, Oleg]
Samsung Galaxy Tab to ship with exclusive MTV content (update)
Looks like Samsung is hoping to tap into some of that magical magic that made Speidi and the Situation household names, and it's doing so by developing an app in partnership with MTV Networks International. Called Touch MTV, it will feature single episodes of various shows including The Hills and Jersey Shore, content from MTV Iggy, and regular updates that are sure to be of great interest to a certain "very lucrative and trend-setting audience." The app will be pre-installed on the Galaxy Tab, alongside games from Gameloft and more. Certainly not a bad idea, bulking up on the entertainment value of the device -- especially since there's at least one other tablet out there with a pretty big share of digital music and video sales. But we have one suggestion: someone, will you please bring back Ed Lover, Dr. Dre, and Fab 5 Freddy? PR after the break. Update: Since the deal was inked with MTV Networks International, it looks like the app's only being bundled with devices shipping in the Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, Holland, Hungary, and Poland for the time being. America, you're safe -- for now.
