Samsung Reveals Half-Pint iPad, The Galaxy Tab

Its name suggests it might be a ’70s-era diet soda laced with LSD, but the Galaxy Tab is actually the latest iPad challenger from Samsung — a 7-inch tablet unveiled today at Germany’s version of CES.

Seems Samsung’s stuffed the Android-powered Galaxy Tab (giggle) with enough hardware to make it a worthy challenger: a bright 1024×600 WSVGA screen, a fast processor and 3G (GSM), wifi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity. But it also includes stuff that might make iPad owners envious — like a all the whiz-bang sensors of the iPhone 4 (including the gyroscope), a front-facing and a rear-facing camera, and a micro-SD card slot for memory upgrades.

Samsung says it’ll hit the UK first “in the coming months.” No word on pricing or a Stateside launch.

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[via Engadget]

12 comments »

About the author

When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path — which explains why he's Cult of Mac's technology editor. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others. Hang with him on Twitter.

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Posted in iPad, News |

http://www.metrokids.ca Vincent C MacIntyre
The form factor of this device seems awkward (having never used it), it’s not small enough to operate with one hand and it’s not big enough to effectively use with two hands. Also, when the keyboard is on screen, is there any room left for content?
http://www.subcorpus.net subcorpus
the camera on it is a little sub par …
Jake
The complaints about it being not small enough to operate in one hand, yet not big enough to effectively use with two hands, and the onscreen keyboard occupying space all seem to apply to the iPad as well. The iPad rocks, but it’s not comfortable to hold for a long time. This Tab is half the weight and is small enough to hold in one hand, like it shows in the video. I like that it’s more portable than the iPad. I wish Apple would make something in this size. I just saw a video of someone typing with it and it looked really easy typing with thumbs, whereas the iPad is too difficult to type on; I have to set it down and adjust for glare.
Steven
Ya, Samsung also “announced” that they have a real fast, toggle ready, 512 SSD coming in July. Its now September and that “announcement” has already been forgotten. Are they gonna claim time travel next?
Josh
Wow…I’m impressed. Looks like the tablet market is going to ramp up in the near future. This looks like it will give the iPad a bit of a run, however you know Apple is going to one up them. I love my iPad now…in fact I’m typing on it with this post! I solved the glare issue with a Power Support anti-glare protector…great stuff. However, the front facing camera for video chat/calls would be NICE for the iPad. With FaceTime, it’s a no-brainer.
http://rb-b.blogspot.com/ Rory Parker
Making calls also is good at making you look like a retard.
(its huge)
GERHARD
WOW, lets copy Apple, stuff it with as many items from our parts bin (have to get rid of this inventory somehow) as we can physically manage. So what if it doesn’t do anything really well, It will still give some geeks teary eyes. The rest of us will what things that just work and work well.
Michael
Would be nice if someone else beside Apple would innovate. I am tired of all the copy cats. Will stick with Apple until someone can create something new.
alexis
I think it looks cute…I can’t wait for them to release it…and all the other iPad killers out there…
cuz then there will be more love for the iPad and it’s amazing “just works” implementation…the iPad is going to become even more in demand once people waste their money on this thing and others like it
I can’t wait!!!
http://www.metrokids.ca Vincent C MacIntyre
Jake said,
“The complaints about it being not small enough to operate in one hand, yet not big enough to effectively use with two hands, and the onscreen keyboard occupying space all seem to apply to the iPad as well. The iPad rocks, but it’s not comfortable to hold for a long time. This Tab is half the weight and is small enough to hold in one hand, like it shows in the video. I like that it’s more portable than the iPad. I wish Apple would make something in this size. I just saw a video of someone typing with it and it looked really easy typing with thumbs, whereas the iPad is too difficult to type on; I have to set it down and adjust for glare.”
As an iPad owner I’ll have to disagree. The iPad is great to type on (at least in my experience) and is ideal for two-handed use. If, when you said you cannot hold it with one hand, you mean that you cannot grasp it with one hand then yes. If you simply cannot hold it with a single hand then… yikes. Work out the ol’ fingers, mang. And the onscreen keyboard does take up a bunch of space, but the Tab has the same width (in pixels) but loses 168 pixels in height.
Anyway, time will tell whether or not this thing iPods or Zunes.
imajoebob
Be careful – Tab was the third-best selling soda for a number of years (amazingly).
Timbucktoothed
Hardwarewise…Samsung makes most of the parts for Apple. Nand flash, LCD screens (in addition to LG, Sammy signed 240m contract w/ Apple to supply ISP screens later this year), and A4 chips. So Apple is not better from hardware standpoint. But iOS is better option at this point compare to Android. Given Sammy’s dominant position in chips and displays, Apple would have hard time finding parts OEMs for their stuff (for a while at least). I doubt Sammy will not alienate their biggest customer.