So the Galaxy Tab from Samsung has finally gets to see the light of day at Berlin, while on the other end of the Atlantic in New York we get a clearer picture of the 7 inch tablet. There Samsung came clean about its carrier plans for the Galaxy Tab, and there is something for each of the four major telecom players in the US; Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will be carrying what many believe is the first serious competitor of the iPad. However, that’s no surprises as all of that has already leaked to the outside world. The announcement from Samsung just added the official touch.
Coming to the tablet, the Galaxy Tab will be shipping out with all the basic specs. There will be GPS, an HDMI out port, a 3.5mm audio jack as well as a USB port. The 7-inch screen having a 1,024 x 600 Wide Super VGA (WSVGA) resolution is capacitive in nature. There will also be the front and rear facing cameras through which users will be able to make the best use of the Galaxy Tab’s voice calling feature. The service will be provided by Qik, though it will be limited to the Wi-Fi only model as of now. Samsung also announced there will be a Wi-Fi only model next in the offing. Sensors integrated in the Galaxy Tab include a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a light sensor, as well as a geomagnetic sensor.
The ARM Cortex A8 processor with a clock speed of 1GHz forms the core of the Galaxy Tab and is coupled to a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processor to take care of multimedia files. It does not disappoint as the tablet can go along doing its job in the most stress free manner. Being Flash compliant also has its advantage as the tablet can browse the Internet in all its glory with no inhibiting factors playing spoilsport.
The software side of the Galaxy Tab is as impressive as the hardware, though it’s the same TouchWiz 3.0 User Interface on top of the Android 2.2 Froyo that you are utilizing while interacting with the tablet. The TouchWiz 3.0 User Interface was first seen on the Galaxy S range of smartphones and it’s no wonder the software is as impressive on the Galaxy Pad as in the smartphone, seeing as the former can be considered as a bigger version of the Galaxy S smartphone.
However, for the Galaxy Tab, the software does incorporate some changes. Users in the US won’t get to enjoy the Reader or Music Hubs in entirety (more on the Reader or Music Hubs later). This apart, the software will also be tweaked for some carrier specific requirements, which means a Galaxy Pad on AT&T might be a bit different from one on Sprint, though everything will be the same from a hardware point of view.
As for the Media Hub that was until recently been shown as ‘coming soon,’ it has arrived and promises to transform the Samsung tablet into a full blast entertainment device. The Media Hub will be the one place that will act as the source of all media requirements for the Galaxy Tab tablet as well as its smaller smartphone sibling and will ensure the easy availability of high quality audio and video content at all times. To have streaming media in these new age mobile devices is of paramount importance and it’s definitely a positive move on part of Samsung to dedicate considerable resource in the setting up of the Media Hub. And as per initial estimates, it’s turning out to be a rich and quality source of entertainment on the go.
What’s more, the Media Hub can also be used on five devices. Users will be able to rent or buy movies, tv shows, and so on and watch them across five devices that are compatible with Media Hub. What this essentially means is that a media file can be transferred from one device to another if both the devices concerned are on the same account. Also, the content can be viewed even if the downloading process is still in use, as the content can be streamed almost immediately after it begins to download. And for the Media Hub to become a reality, Samsung has entered into a partnership with NBC, Warner, Universal Studios, Paramount and MTV Networks to bring in the best audio and video content for the Galaxy devices.
Now the thing that is perhaps uppermost in everybody’s mind is whether the Galaxy Pad will be able to match up to the iPad. Well for that, we will have to wait for a few weeks more.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.