Smoking Tab
As recently teased, Samsung has launched its first media tablet - the Galaxy Tab - at IFA in Berlin. But we heard it first from Vodafone, which so far looks like it's got exclusivity on the tablet, in Europe at least.
This is reasonably consistent with the anticipated primary usage model for media tablets - consumption of content on the move - and confirmation that the telco channel it integral to that in order to supply 3G connectivity. Augmented reality is also expected by Samsung to be a big deal on this device.
"Vodafone's aim is to offer all customers new and attractive ways to enjoy mobile data, on the move, across a variety of devices," said Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals at Vodafone. "Adding tablets as part of our device range is a natural next step that gives customers an alternative way to enjoy great content and internet services."
DJ Lee of Samsung said: "I am very excited to introduce Samsung Galaxy Tab with Vodafone. With Galaxy Tab, users enjoy full web browsing with flash 10.1 support, reading eBooks, newspapers, or magazines, and watching HD videos on the large enough 7-inch display while on the move. Furthermore, it is still compact enough to carry everywhere."
The Galaxy Tab will be available in October, but there was no mention of pricing. The specs are below and the processor details are interesting. We assume it's a Hummingbird - Samsung's own SoC - and the 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU is consistent with the OMAP 3460 found in Motorola's latest smartphone.
But the big difference is in the graphics; this chip features the more powerful Imagination Technologies SGX540 design, which won't make an appearance in TI's chips until the OMAP 4 series. It will be interesting to see what kind of graphics benefit this confers.
|
Network |
2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE) : 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz 3G (HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA7.2 Mbps) : 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz |
|
OS |
Android 2.2 (Froyo) |
|
Display |
7.0 inch TFT-LCD, WSVGA (1024 x 600) |
|
Processor |
Cortex A8 1.0GHz Application Processor with PowerVR SGX540 |
|
Camera |
3 MP Camera with Auto Focus and LED Flash 1.3MP front camera for Video Telephony |
|
Value-added Features |
Android Market and Samsung Apps for more applications and contents |
|
Readers Hub, Media Hub* , Music Hub*, Social Hub* *Availability will be decided by market preference. |
|
|
Adobe Flash 10.1 player support Full HD video playback, Thinkfree Office, Swype, Hybrid Widget |
|
|
Connectivity |
30 pin connector / micro SD WiFi 802.11n / Bluetooth 3.0 |
|
Memory |
16GB / 32GB internal memory, upto 32GB external memory slot RAM: 512MB |
|
Size |
190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm, 380g |
|
Battery |
4,000mAh (7 hour movie play) |
And here's the Galaxy Tab ad.
UPDATE - 11:30, 2 September 2010 - We've read that Orange and Deutsche Telekom have also got it.
