IFA 2010: Samsung Galaxy Tab reporting for duty

Apparently one of the major attractions at this IFA 2010, the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet has been revealed in a little more detail at its official presentation.

The news had already filtered through, but now we know a bit more on the market impact of the Samsung connected tablet. Introduced like a star at the Samsung press conference, we also now have more detail on the spec of the Galaxy Tab.

A connected touch tablet weighing just 380 g with a 7-inch TFT capacitive screen with 1024 x 600 pixel definition; Froyo 2.2 is indeed the version of Android chosen, with, therefore, Flash 10.1 support for web browsing.



The processor is clocked at 1 GHz - it's a Cortex A8, with a Power VR SG-X540 for the graphics part. Two versions will be available as of the end of October, a 16 GB model and a 32 GB model. Note that there's a micro-SD slot with a maximum capacity of 32 GB, as well as an A-GPS receiver. The Galaxy Tab also has a 3 megapixel photo sensor (video at 720x480 pixels at 30 fps) and a 1.3 megapixel webcam for front-on video conferencing. There's a 4000 mAh battery.

Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, 3G+ and Bluetooth 3.0. In addition to the Android Market and its 50 000 available applications, there's also access to a Samsung apps store, which is slowly picking up. Finally, Samsung has, as expected, equipped its tablet with a few "hubs": Music Hub, Readers Hub, Social Hub and Media Hub. At these hubs you'll find e-books (Samsung says that over 2 million books and thousands of papers will be available on launch), music, social networking sites and a video player. The Samsung video player is Full HD compatible and supports DivX, Xvid, MPEG4, WMV, H.263 and H.264.

Numerous accessories will also be marketed, including covers, book style cover, cigarette lighter charger, composite out, HDMI dock, dock supporting a keyboard...

In many ways, the Galaxy Tab is a giant, boosted Galaxy S, like the iPad retroactively echoing the iPhone 4. Except that here, Samsung seems to be spreading itself wide so as to secure itself a nice little market share.

We will return to its handling in the days to come, with more information (strategy, our thoughts on the product) and input from the Samsung teams.

Pricing

Pricing has yet to be confirmed though some rumours put it in the region of £655 for the UK market. Operators will ultimately determine how much it costs however and if you sign up for a deal it could come down to under £200.

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