Samsung is getting into the tablet game with their own would-be iPad killer, but unlike many other Atom-based netbooks, Samsung has a secret weapon: an A4-like mobile CPU created by (now Apple owned) Intrinsity, the Hummingbird S5PC110.
According to updates posted on Samsung’s South African Twitter feed, the tablet will be called the Galaxy Tab (ugh) and essentially be a larger version of its upcoming Samsung Galaxy smartphone, which runs on the Intrinsity CPU.
The Galaxy Tab will run the latest version of Google’s Android operating system. Smaller than the iPad, the Galaxy Tab will sport a 7-inch TFT touchscreen, and one-up the iPad with the addition of a front-facing camera.
A phone icon is clearly seen in the above shot, which may indicate the Galaxy Tab can make phone calls (although I personally doubt it: there’s little call for that functionality in a tablet). Additonally, if it’s anything like its little brother, the Galaxy Tab should have fantastic codec support and be capable of natively playing MP3, WAV, eAAC+, AC3 and FLAC audio files and MP4, DivX, WMV, H.264 and H.263 video files.
It looks like a wonderful device, but with no price or release date set, the iPad’s still the only tablet worth owning. It’ll be good for everyone if that changes though: strong competition in the emerging tablet market can only make the iPad better for everyone.
[via 9to5Mac]
