Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tab. That's his name. But in the coming days and weeks the street will know it as the competition of Apple's iPad. And not only because the tablet market is still somewhat short of devices: this Samsung Galaxy Tab is a firm candidate to lower the fumes of the admired device that has inaugurated the fashion of these gadgets.
In Spain, we know that October will be the month for its launch. We have also already mentioned that Vodafone could have it exclusively, at least in the purchase aid formula in exchange for contracting specific rates. However, Samsung has not yet revealed the price of this device, which finally makes it a bit clearer to users what its function is. Let's take an in-depth look at the concept behind the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
What is the Samsung Galaxy Tab for?
The eternal question that gravitates around what is a tablet can be answered with a little more conciseness in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It is a large mobile, and something else. There are few who define the Samsung Galaxy Tab as the older brother of the Samsung Galaxy S, and it is not by chance: its design is really similar, and in terms of performance there is no doubt that the high-end smartphone of the Korean manufacturer has been the indisputable base on which they have built the concept of their tablet.
But what can we do with the Samsung Galaxy Tab ? To begin with, as with any mobile, we can call by phone, make video calls and send SMS or MMS text messages. To make this possible, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is compatible with voice and data packet traffic through GSM networks, operating on the four frequencies that are currently used for the use of this type of service.
In addition, we can use it as a small touch screen computer. Of course, "limited" to the options and possibilities offered by the operating system that it equips: Android 2.2, Froyo. From the Android Market we can customize the functions and applications that we want to use in the Samsung Galaxy Tab, also giving Samsung the option to further enrich the possibilities of the tablet from its Samsung Apps portal.
How could it be less, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is also a powerful multimedia tool. Not only will we be able to listen to music in practically any digital format, but we will also be able to enjoy our movies in high definition quality (if the file we use is encoded with sufficient quality, of course). Very interesting at this point is to note that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is compatible with videos in DivX, that format that became popular for compressing movies in good quality to download them from the Internet. Can you imagine watching a movie on the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tabwhile, for example, you take a trip by train or plane?
It also incorporates Samsung Galaxy Tab one camera of 3.15 megapixel camera with LED flash and recording option video. It would have been interesting if Samsung had stretched a bit more with the resolution of the sensor, although it is always preferable to include a camera with this quality to dispense with that option.
Of course, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a surface on which to consult all kinds of data on the Internet. In addition to being able to access the aforementioned application store on Android, we can also view web pages (including those programmed in Flash), check email accounts, enter our preferred social networks or use instant messaging clients.
And if that were not enough, the Samsung Galaxy Tab also offers a GPS navigator option, using the Google suite (composed of Google Maps and Navigation), in addition to including an e-book reader option.
Design and display
Referring to the above, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a Samsung Galaxy S that has given the lug. Only the back cover differs from what a hyper-vitaminized Samsung Galaxy S would have looked like. However, it is not a bulky gadget: the guys at Samsung have fine-tuned the concept of this tablet, and have given it a size that exceeds that of a smartphone, but makes it more manageable than an iPad-type tablet. In total, dimensions of 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98 millimeters and a weight of 380 grams.
At this size, the Samsung Galaxy Tab packs a seven-inch screen. Of course, it is a multi - touch screen, with a resolution of 600 x 1024 pixels (equivalent to solving a netbook). The strange thing at this point is that we are not facing a Super AMOLED panel, but an LCD.
Connectivity
This is an important point to highlight on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. There are no rants here about multiple versions based on connectivity. As standard, the Samsung Galaxy Tab equips 3G connection via HSDPA, as well as Wi-Fi (prepared for 802.11 a / b / g / n reception systems) and GPS. But there is not the thing.
And it is that, despite the fact that the conceptual basis of a tablet is to lighten the functions and size of a computer, in this case, the Samsung Galaxy Tab has also decided to put in the bag the options typical of a mobile phone. Thus, with the Samsung Galaxy Tab we can call landlines and mobiles, as well as send messages.
Add and follow. In addition, as we have already mentioned, it does not lack GPS, as well as a Bluetooth 3.0 wireless port, with which we can not only develop synchronizations between the Samsung Galaxy Tab and our computer, but also make use of the audio functions of the tablet with an accessory make use of this connection system. Finally, it is also possible to plug in some traditional headphones, since it includes a 3.5 mm minijack connector.
System
In this guild of tablets, the issue of gadget guts has become a very important part. And this despite the fact that it seems that the direction in which those involved are pointing is quite homogeneous. In the case of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, like the Samsung Galaxy S, it installs an ARM A8 Cortex processor with a power of one GHz, which guarantees excellent performance when we ask this device for more war (especially, when it comes to watch movies in high definition).
As if that were not enough, the Samsung Galaxy Tab also installs a four GigaBytes SDRAM memory, a bet as firm as firm will be put in the competition before the data. It also includes four GB of flash memory for third-party application performance. As for the data storage memory, it will be possible to choose between 16 and 32 GB, as well as up to an additional 32 GB using memory cards.
Of course, another of the hooks of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is in its operating system. It is about Android, specifically version 2.2 of the platform, also known as Froyo. With this version, the reconciliation (it seems definitive) between mobile devices and the content generated in Flash language (which is used for web pages with many animations, or interactive games that we can see on the Internet) has been reached.
Multimedia
In addition to the system of dual camera (one main 3.15 megapixel and one for video calls 1.3 megapixel) and media player (compatible with HD videos, remember), the Samsung Galaxy Tab offers other possibilities, Based on environments generated by Samsung especially for this device.
One of these possibilities is called Media Hub. For the moment, it will only be available in the United States, with the aim of gradually exporting to the rest of the world. It is a platform for movies, series and television; a kind of database with which the user can access a large collection of content that can be viewed from the Samsung Galaxy Tab itself. Its music variable is Music Hub. This section integrates access to a library of more than ten million songs in the multimedia player.
Meanwhile, Readers Hub commitment to the same philosophy, but dedicated to literature. At this point, the Samsung Galaxy Tab becomes an eBook from which more than two million works can be read online, as well as newspapers and magazines in many languages.
Autonomy
From Samsung they have not been very generous in data, and have limited themselves to pointing out that the Samsung Galaxy Tab incorporates a 4,000 mAh battery, which could make this tablet shoot with up to seven hours of uninterrupted video playback.
Samsung Galaxy Tab Opinions
IPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab? In the end it all comes down to that question. Logically, it is difficult to give an answer that hits the mark. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is perhaps a rounder product; more finished. It integrates all the functions that one would expect from a "smart" device (or intelligent, as those responsible for Samsung were fond of describing during its public presentation), and at this point the manufacturer has been able to respond more precisely to what is I was waiting for a tablet.
However, the Samsung Galaxy Tab lacks what is perhaps the main asset of the iPad: its brand image. Having an iPad is not having a tablet: it is having an iPad. This point will make whoever wants to have the Apple device, do not cease their intentions to want to get it. However, the undecided who prefer to enter the use of this type of gadget should think very seriously about the possibility of including the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the equation. Of course: as long as the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not reveal a price that exceeds the already abusive rates that are proposed for the available models of the iPad.
And knowing all this, now it is your turn to say what you think about this gadget, for which it would be interesting if you leave a comment below with your opinions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab
Data sheet
| Standard | 850/900/1800/1900
GSM / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA-HSUPA (7.2-5.7 MB / s) |
| Dimensions | 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98 mm
380 grams |
| Memory | 16/32 GB internal memory expandable by microSD cards up to 32 GB |
| screen | 7-inch multi-touch LCD (600 x 1,024 pixels)
16 million colors |
| Camera | Sensor 3.15 megapixel main
sensor secondary 1.3 - megapixel front video recording Geotagging images |
| Multimedia | Playback of music, video and photos
Supported formats: JPEG / MP3 / e-AAC + / WMA / RA / MP4 / H.263 / H.264 / WMV / DivX / XviD JavaMedia Hub support: online library of movies, series and TV Readers Hub: e-book reader Music Hub: multimedia player with online access to music Social Hub: social media integrator |
| Controls and connections | Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system
Menu / Home / Backspace / Search key 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor Integrated GPS Accelerometer HDMI 3.5 mm output for headphones MicroSD card slot Document viewer Wireless: HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n and Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP |
| Autonomy | 4,000 milliamp battery |
Other news about… Android, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Tablets
