Category Android

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Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to all four major US carriers

Sep 18, ’10 10:18 AM

Officially unveiled at IFA at the beginning of the month, it was only a matter of time before Samsung gave us details on the US launch of its Android-based iPad competitor the Galaxy Tab. At a press conference in New York City on Thursday, Samsung revealed just how seriously it wants to be a player in the tablet market, announcing that it would release a version of the Galaxy Tab on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the coming months. It performed a similar feat with its Galaxy S line of Android smartphones, bringing slightly modified versions to each of America’s four largest mobile service providers within the course of a few months.

The Galaxy Tab is a 7″ 1024 x 600 TFT LCD capacitive display running Android 2.2 (Froyo) overlaid with a TouchWiz skin and has a 1GHz Hummingbird SoC under the hood. Each carrier will get the same hardware minus the cellular radio inside, although there will be several software tweaks to differentiate each version. The Galaxy Tab will support Adobe Flash Player 10.1 out of the box and includes Samsung’s Social Hub application designed to keep users connected. Launching alongside the device will be a new service dubbed Media Hub — Samsung’s attempt at an iTunes rival — that will serve as a competitively priced content portal for movies and TV shows. Media Hub will also allow up to five enabled devices to share purchased content.

No price has been announced for any US version of the Galaxy Tab. Unlocked versions around the world seem to be selling for around $1000, though carrier subsidies should take a hefty chunk off that price tag here in the States. Even still, it would require an additional contract and monthly fee to own a Galaxy Tab unless carriers announce some sort of phone/tablet package deal. You can also forget about using the Galaxy Tab as a phone since all US versions will have their cellular voice capabilities blocked. And for those on Sprint, there’s no WiMAX radio in yours and Qik will only run over WiFi.

It should be noted that a WiFi-only version of the Galaxy Tab is also planned to launch stateside for those averse to signing another contract. However, it remains to be seen whether Samsung can price it competitively enough to stave off would-be iPad owners this holiday season.

Samsung’s official press release is available after the break.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab officially outed at IFA, September release, price TBA

Sep 6, ’10 9:27 PM

With the holidays fast approaching — and its tablet already making some teasing appearances online –  it was only a matter of time before Samsung officially introduced its first direct competitor to Apple’s iPad. On Thursday, before its press conference at IFA 2010, Samsung went public with the Galaxy Tab.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will run Android 2.2, aka Froyo, with a TouchWiz 3.0 overlay on a 7″ Super TFT capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA). The Tab will be powered by Samsung’s own 1GHz Hummingbird SoC that it introduced in its Galaxy S line of phones — an ARM Cortex A8 chip very similar to Apple’s A4. It will boast a PowerVR SGX540 GPU for graphics applications.

As far as connectivity, the Galaxy Tab that was revealed will have quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band 3G. Although not officially announced, expect a CDMA version to debut on Verizon before the year is out. The Tab will also sport 5GHz dual-band 802.11n WiFi, A-GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0. Additional features include a 3.5mm headphone jack, an integrated speaker, a 3 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video equipped with an LED flash, and a VGA webcam on the front for video calls. The Galaxy tab will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of built-in flash memory with a microSD slot allowing for up to 32GB of additional storage.

Unlike the iPad, the Galaxy Tab will be able to make voice calls, although it lacks a dedicated earpiece. The Tab will also be capable of playing full 1080p HD video as well as Adobe Flash content. Along with Flash Player 10.1, Swype, Google Navigation, and ThinkFree are a few more killer apps preloaded onto the device. The 4000mAh battery should be capable of 7 hours of video watching or 1000 minutes of talk time.

Samsung plans to launch the tablet some time in September — first in Europe, then Korea, the US, and Asia in the following months. There has been no official word on pricing, although don’t be surprised to see the Galaxy Tab commanding a price tag of over $1000 overseas completely unlocked. Here in the States, I would expect the price to be between $300 to $500 after carrier subsidies to be competitive with Apple’s iPad. It will be interesting to see how the Galaxy Tab will fare with consumers if it requires them to sign another contract. Having said that, it certainly seems like a distinct, viable alternative to the iPad that should attract a loyal following.

Continue on to see Samsung’s Galaxy Tab YouTube commercial and to read their official press release.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab spotted in FCC filing sporting GSM, 5GHz WiFi

Sep 1, ’10 12:46 AM

Could the Samsung Galaxy Tab be coming to AT&T as well? It’s a distinct possibility now that a version of the device has been unearthed in an FCC filing under the name “SHW-M180S”. This version of Samsung’s slate boasts HSDPA connectivity and a quad-band GSM radio that includes an AT&T-friendly 1900MHz radio frequency. An even juicier tidbit is revealed in the paperwork: dual-band 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi that should allow for greater building penetration as well as speeds in excess of 100Mbps. At this rate, we may see a version of the Galaxy Tab launch on every major carrier before the year is through.

Sources: FCC, Global Certification Forum via Engadget

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Samsung Galaxy Tab headed to Verizon

Aug 31, ’10 6:42 AM

With tablets becoming a hot item again with the introduction of Apple’s iPad earlier this year, it is no wonder that Verizon would like to cash in on one of its own during this holiday season. Boy Genius Report has found evidence by way of a screenshot of Verizon’s internal systems that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab — the big brother to the Galaxy S series of smartphones — is indeed coming to Big Red.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has made several teasing appearances online, will have a 7″ screen that runs Android 2.2 on a processor that is reportedly clocked at 1.3 GHz. There has been no definitive information on the resolution of the Galaxy Tab’s screen or whether it will feature Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology. Also no word on whether this is a Verizon exclusive.

The Galaxy Tab will most likely be Verizon’s inaugural tablet offering followed closely by a 10″ Motorola tablet running Android 3.0, aka Gingerbread, and perhaps an HTC tablet running Google’s Chrome OS. Both are rumored to have dual-core Snapdragon processors that will most likely be clocked around 1.5 – 2.0 GHz.

Source: BGR via Android Community, SlashGear

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Fennec alpha comes to Android 2.x, Nokia N900

Aug 28, ’10 12:19 PM

Fennec — the codename for Mozilla’s mobile version of Firefox — has just been released in alpha form for Android 2.x phones and the Nokia N900. Fennec is “the first mobile browser to offer add-ons and is built on the same technology that powers desktop Firefox.” Fennec Alpha includes Firefox Sync which allows the user to seamlessly switch from desktop to mobile and back while providing full access to all history, bookmarks, settings, and tabs throughout.

The new build focuses on performance enhancements, most noticeably in the introduction of two new features dubbed Electrolysis and Layers. Electrolysis allows the browser to run in a separate process from the actual rendering of the web affording users a snappy experience even when processor intensive content is loading. Layers sets the groundwork for future versions of Fennec to perform graphic intensive actions like scrolling, panning, and zooming optimally. Click the link for video of Fennec in action or to download a copy to test for yourself.

Source: The Mozilla Blog via Engadget

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Galaxy S unlock code stored in phone

Aug 24, ’10 4:35 AM

File this under all sorts of cool. It seems that the unlock code for Samsung’s Galaxy S is stored in a .BAK file on the phone itself. The code can be extracted with a hex editor and then entered into the phone during SIM installation. No rooting required.

Sources: Engadget, XDA Developers

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How is Flash Player 10.1 for Android?

Aug 20, ’10 2:57 AM

Avram Piltch of Laptop Mag:

After spending time playing with Flash Player 10.1 on the new Droid 2, the first Android 2.2 phone to come with the player pre-installed, I’m sad to admit that Steve Jobs was right. Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.

Sources: Laptop Mag, Daring Fireball, SlashGear

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Adobe Flash Player 10.1 available for Nexus One

Aug 16, ’10 10:29 PM

It is somewhat anticlimactic for how long we have been waiting to see an official Flash build in all its glory on mobile devices, but Adobe has just released a stable version of its Flash Player that is available for download on the Android Marketplace for Google’s Nexus One. Presumably, all Android phones running Froyo will be able to grab the final version soon, as well. So, has the wait for the ‘real Web’ been worth it N1 owners, or is Flash overrated for mobile?

Sources: Android Central, Engadget

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