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Samsung Galaxy Tab Launch

Article Comments  31  

Sep 16, 2010, 8:36 PM   by Eric M. Zeman

Samsung showed off its Galaxy Tab Android-based tablet at a special event in New York City. Phone Scoop goes hands-on and offers some thoughts on the new device.

Samsung showed off the Galaxy Tab in the U.S. for the first time in New York City. Despite the fact that Samsung used the event to announce its distribution deals with the four major U.S. carriers, it only had the international version on hand. That means the hardware isn't representative of what American consumers can expect and none of the carrier-specific builds were on hand to play with.

The Tab is a comfortable device to hold that really feels more like a giant phone than anything else. It is made of smooth plastics, has a nice weight, but I thought it was a little bit on the thick side.

As Samsung was sure to demonstrate, the Tab will actually fit into the back pocket of your jeans, though I'd be shocked if anyone actually transported it around that way. It will more easily slip into a backpack, purse, satchel, man-purse than the iPad.

Body  

The four typical Android controls are on the front of the Tab in the form of touch-buttons instead of real, physical keys. They were responsive enough to the touch and large enough that finding and using them wasn't a problem.

The right side side of the Tab has the most going on. The power/lock key is there, along with the volume toggle, microSD card port, and microUSB port. Interacting with these controls was no problem.

The bottom houses a proprietary dock connector and stereo speakers. The 3.5mm headset jack is positioned at the top.

In all, the hardware is decent, but it's hard to pass final judgement until we see the actual production versions for each U.S. carrier.

The Android 2.2 user interface appears exactly as it does on Samsung's Galaxy S Android phones. The only discernible difference is the lack of any controls for the phone. Speaking of which, it is worth pointing out that the Tab cannot make voice calls via cellular networks. It is capable of VoIP calls through services such as Skype, but regular cellular calls are out.

The Tab has Samsung's newest version of TouchWiz on board, but again it is the same as the version that appears on the Galaxy S smartphones. The menus, controls, and features all work and act the same.

Interacting with the software really does feel like interacting with a really big Android phone.

Android UI  

On the versions Samsung had on hand, the auto-rotate feature was unavailable, so many of the customized software features that Samsung created for the Tab were unavailable to look at.

Watching movies on it was nice. The combination of the size, weight, and screen resolution made the Tab really comfortable to use for movies. I imagine it would be a better airplane companion than a larger device such as the iPad.

The Tab on hand did have Samsung's MediaHub installed. MediaHub will be a place for users to access and download content such as music, movies and TV. The interface was clean — almost Spartan-like — and was easy to navigate.

The other most noteworthy aspect of the software is the way the Android Market works. Some applications support the screen size and resolution of the Tab, others do not. For those that don't, they will fill the center of the screen, but can't be double-sized to cover the entire screen real estate.

In addition to the four carrier models, Samsung said a Wi-Fi only version will be available. How the carriers subsidize the Tab in conjunction with data plans and data plan pricing, will all play a big role in how the Tab is priced at retail.

In sum, I'd say the Tab is a decent computing device that could perhaps serve as a smartphone alternative for those who still prefer to user feature phones.

About the author, Eric M. Zeman:

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

Comments

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japhy

Sep 20, 2010, 2:55 PM

Hack/firmware update to enable voice?

This is just speculation, but what are the chances that voice could be activated on the tab via either a firmware update or a hack? There was a photo on Engadget a while back showing the Tab with a dialpad app on the screen, so I'd guess there was at least one version of it with a full phone capability.

How much power does firmware hackery have? Any guesses (educated or otherwise)?
It's the international version that has voice.


Short of VOIP, I don't see this thing getting voice in the states
...
justfinethanku

Sep 17, 2010, 10:16 AM

At least it's not a blatent rip-off of something else...

Oh wait...

it is.

But it's all good really, I mean, if companies didn't respond to obvious consumer demand then we'd only have one car company, one TV company, one computer, cell phone, shoe company etc...

I'm going to purchase a Samsung Tab myself, just to see how it stacks up to my iPad in everyday use.

Here's to a fun future of awesome devices, rip-offs or not!!!
How many different ways are there to make a large all touchscreen device?
...
Tomb1312

Sep 20, 2010, 2:14 PM

Dell Streak

The Dell Streak is a better device at the moment. Although it runs 1.6. We will see what this new category developes into.
ConceptVBS

Sep 19, 2010, 2:21 PM

Pics: Fits inside your jeans pocket

ConceptVBS

Sep 19, 2010, 2:20 PM

Newest TouchWiz

Its got pinch to zoom out home screen feature.

Check it out:
http://androidcommunity.com/android-apps-on-the-sams ... »
japhy

Sep 16, 2010, 9:49 PM

NO VOICE CALLING?!?!?!?

😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢

Well, I suppose I should be happy, seeing as I've just been saved the anguish of waiting for this ... device (?), and will be spared the brutal cost of buying one through AT&T when it comes out.

But still.... SOOOooooo close to being the everything device I've been wanting for so long: a mobile word processor, email device, music/media player, phone (I'd use it very infrequently for voice, more SMS for me), and GPS. 4 out of 5, but missing the most important 1 I'd need it to replace.

I suppose I'll have to wait & dream for the iPad 2.0, which will feature voice calling in addition to 3g data....

🙄
I bought the EVO about two months ago because as a large man I was attracted to a large device. When I saw the Samsung Tab I thought oh crap here goes another couple of hundred dollars THEN seeing that it has NO voice... It was like that commercial wh...
(continues)
...
Who would want a 7 inch phone? Good luck putting that in your pocket.
...
bluecoyote

Sep 16, 2010, 10:54 PM

Can't do Skype

There is no Skype client for Android as long as Verizon has a say.
The Verizon Wireless Skype client is not a real Skype VOIP client, it's basically just a fancy interface for SkypeIn/Out. It uses Verizon's voice network, and if you can't place voice calls, you're boned.
...
Since this is available by all 4 major carriers - pick one that does allow Skype (AT&T/T-Mobile/Sprint)
...
iDont Care

Sep 18, 2010, 1:41 AM

No WiMAX?????

FAIL
mikewilson623

Sep 16, 2010, 9:20 PM

It's about time.

As an Apple user I am happy to see some competition for the iPad. This new device is starting what will turn out to be a wake up call for Apple. The iPad is an amazing device but this is a knock on their back door that will ultimately drive the technology upward. I hope this "Tab" comes with anti-virus.
 
 
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