Samsung Electronics revealed they were already working on a next generation tablet based off the upcoming Honeycomb version of Android (possibly Android 3.5) during a Q&A session today at IFA.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab will launch with FroYo (Android 2.2) and eventually be upgraded to Gingerbread (maybe Android 3.0), but Samsung said Honeycomb was for a different kind of tablet experience.
JK Shin, head of Samsung Mobile Communications, said that his company was working directly with Google on a larger tablet. “Moving forward with Honeycomb, that will be used in the next generation tablet as it is specifically optimized for different type of tablet, and will be used on another product only.”
Shin’s comments are interesting because not much is known about Honeycomb at this point. Many have speculated that Gingerbread would become Android 3.0 and be the first version of Android optimized for the tablet experience.
I still expect we will see Gingerbread in 2010 on a Tegra 2 Android device, but I doubt Samsung will make it available this year on the Galaxy Tab. It is nice to hear them commit to upgrading the Tab, but we all know how long these software updates can take.
Samsung also said there are no immediate plans to release a WiFi-only version of the Galaxy Tab. Their business plan is to work directly with carriers and have them subsidize the price so customers can have a lower entry point of purchase.
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Related PostsSo we've told you a little bit about Millennius, now we can tell you that they have just launched a new look online store. The online store now includes two variations of their Android Smartphone the Apanda A60 (8GB & 16GB) as well as two Android Tablets, the Millennius SmartQ and the Millennius SmartQ 3G. Their specs & prices can be seen in the image above. As for the quality of said items, we're hoping to review all, if not most of them in the coming weeks, stay tuned.
Gallery: Toshiba's Folio 100 with Android and Tegra 2 spied in the IFA wilds
Toshiba's Folio 100 with Android and Tegra 2 spied in the IFA wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsChris Ziegler06896960033741588555083482037599083329441494599308413218585711030407284053886169095560990844213649640119485657681932763506008721996002204660151108243118403914810162951949978758056017214117192345817357156212603800319409481021945666561711659601760681598346401081050980063537550027891774199111576601727111747877140011860295104172403066967316940348177358090510451609066430319335031979053118220724714078691030053544347963321515607440085666377770Samsung Gem for Verizon shows up in Best Buy buyer's guide originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsChris Ziegler1441786893540670307610219456665617116596Today at IFA in Berlin, Samsung Electronics announced the Galaxy Tab which is the company’s first 7-inch Galaxy S Android tablet. The device is scheduled to launch in Europe around mid September, but it’s also headed to the U.S. in the coming months.
Specs of the Galaxy Tab are nearly identical to the Galaxy S smartphones, with the main differences being the display, camera, and battery capacity. The Tab features a 7-inch TFT-LCD display with WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600), 3 MP rear-facing camera paired with a 1.3 MP front-facing camera, and a massive 4,000 mAh battery.
The international version of the Galaxy Tab supports GSM and HSPA networks, but we expect it be customized to work with any U.S. carrier. A CDMA version has already been spied and rumors suggest it could be headed to Verizon. No U.S. versions were announced, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Sprint push a 4G WiMAX model or T-Mobile offer one with HSPA+ support.
We got a brief moment to play around with the international version of the Galaxy Tab and I can easily say it’s the best Android Tablet I have seen yet. The Galaxy Tab offers all the performance we have come to expect from the Galaxy S lineup with the addition of a larger display, which makes this a great device for watching movies, playing games, and reading e-books.
The Galaxy Tab will clearly be marketed as a tablet, but it also includes a microphone so it could be used as a phone. You might look silly holding it up to your face (see my pic below), but it also supports Bluetooth 3.0 so you could pair a wireless headset to the device and make calls while it sits in your pocket.
There have been tons of rumors floating around about other Android tablets, but Samsung is the first to deliver one that is actually certified by Google. This means users can find all the Google apps they know and love, including the Android Market.
One area of concern I have is that Samsung is running Android 2.2 with a non-standard display resolution of 1024 x 600. Samsung told us that most Android applications from the Market should still work, but we need more time to perform additional testing to see how downloaded apps perform.
Developers have been slow to adapt their apps for smaller screens like the QVGA display of the Motorola Charm, and it might be awhile before they take full advantage of the larger display resolution found on the Galaxy Tab.
I also worry that Samsung could quickly be leap-frogged by the competition if we start seeing dual-core tablets running Android 3.0 in Q4. Samsung should be first to market, but it might be a tough sell if consumers know a better device could land around the same time frame. For example, several manufacturers are expected to show off Tegra 2 tablets during the same IFA show.
Overall I think the Galaxy Tab is an excellent Android tablet, but I don’t see it doing anything my current Android phone can’t already do. I would honestly like to have an Android tablet with a 7-10 inch display, but I have no desire for a 2nd device tied to carrier contract. It would be nice if Samsung offered a WiFi-only model of the Galaxy Tab, but their press release really focused on a device with a “constant connection” and it doesn’t sound like one is in the cards right now.
Check out our quick hands-on video below (that was recorded with an Epic 4G) and let us know what you think. Is the Galaxy Tab a device you can’t wait to purchase or would you rather wait and see what comes next? Would you prefer to purchase a subsidized version attached to a 2-year carrier contract or does a WiFi-only model sound more up your alley?
Is the Samsung Galaxy Tab the Android tablet you have been waiting for?
We should get some extended time with the Galaxy Tab later today, so be on the lookout for more coverage. If you have any burning questions, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to get them answered.
Highlights of the Galaxy Tab include:
Update: Youtube hates me and decided not to process my hands-on video. I will attempt to upload it again and see what happens. If all else fails I still have my real camera and will be recording some more videos with the Tab.
Samsung GALAXY Tab Opens a New Chapter in Mobile Industry
A New Smart Media Device, surpasses mobile boundries, allowing you to enjoy more possibilities on the go.
Berlin, Germany, September 2nd, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in mobile technology, today announced the launch of the Samsung GALAXY Tab (Model: GT-P1000). Powered by Android Operating System 2.2, the Samsung GALAXY Tab is the first of the company’s tablet devices, representing a new category of mobile products for Samsung.
The Samsung GALAXY Tab brings together all of Samsung’s leading innovations to provide users with more capabilities while on the move. Consumers are able to experience PC-like web-browsing and enjoy all forms of multimedia content on the perfectly sized 7-inch display, wherever they go. Moreover, users can continuously communicate via e-mail, voice, and video call, SMS/MMS or social network with the optimized user interface.
“Samsung recognizes the tremendous growth potential in this newly created market and we believe that the Samsung GALAXY Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market. There is a new and emerging consumer demand that Samsung can satisfy since mobile is in our DNA. This demand continues to grow and develop as users tap its limitless potential,” said JK Shin, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “The Samsung GALAXY Tab has been designed to enable consumers to maximize their online experience wherever that may be. The Samsung GALAXY Tab is pushing the market in new directions and Samsung believes this is only the beginning of its innovations as pioneers in smart media devices.”
A new concept of mobility for media
As a new category of device, the Samsung GALAXY Tab brings a wealth of experiences. Its striking 7? TFT-LCD display delivers exciting mobile experience for watching films, viewing pictures, e-reading or sharing documents. In design, its light (380 g) build provides perfect portability, with its svelte dimensions making it easy to grip and use. Supporting the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1, the Samsung GALAXY Tab fully supports swift, seamless viewing of every single page of the web.
The ‘Readers Hub,’ Samsung’s unique e-reading application, provides easy access to a vast digital library – from classical literature to the latest bestsellers and reference materials. At the same time, Samsung unveils ‘Media Hub,’ a gateway to a world of films and videos, and ‘Music Hub,’ an application giving access to a wide range of music tunes.
The Samsung GALAXY Tab has made rich communication truly mobile; it presents a level of converged technology that moves beyond mobile or PC to an entirely new category. Users have new powers to consume, create and communicate from wherever they are.
Powerful, always-on communication
With 3G HSPA connectivity, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0, the Samsung GALAXY Tab enhances users’ mobile communication on a whole new level. Video conferencing and push email on the large 7-inch display make communication more smooth and efficient. For voice telephony, the Samsung GALAXY Tab turns out to be a perfect speakerphone on the desk, or a mobile phone on the move via Bluetooth headset.
Powered by a Cortex A8 1 GHz application processor, the Samsung GALAXY Tab is designed to deliver high performance whenever and wherever you are. At the same time, HD video contents are supported by a wide range of multimedia formats (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and more), which maximizes the joy of entertainment.
While the front-facing camera allows face-to-face video telephony over 3G, the rear-facing camera captuers still images and video that you can edit, upload and share, all without any hassle. As online content explodes, the Samsung GALAXY Tab is the best portable solution for every lifestyle that needs a constant connection.
The Samsung GALAXY Tabwill be launched in Europe in mid September, and in other markets including Koera, the US and Asia in coming months.
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Related PostsWhile in Australia, Sony was showing off incremental 3D upgrades to existing TVs, attendees at the IFA trade show in Germany got to see Sony's newest creation: the Google TV.
Dubbed the unwieldy "Sony Internet TV Powered by Google", the TV features what's promised to be true integration between internet content and free-to-air channels.
The TV is due to be released in the next three months, and technology communications manager at Sony Australia Paul Colley told Gizmodo the set is also coming to Australia.
Unfortunately, Colley was unable to confirm pricing or release dates, though Google has previously announced it would be available worldwide in 2011.
Google TV is a collaboration between the search giant, Intel and Sony and appears to be an extension of Sony's existing Bravia Internet Video service.
(Photo credit: Gizmodo)
A new update to the T-Mobile SCOOP site reveals that the G2 will indeed feature an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor. Even though our original leak said the CPU would be clocked at 800 MHz, we had been reporting the speed as 1 GHz after several sites continued to leak specs which showed the faster speed.
The Qualcomm MSM7230 features a similar Scorpion CPU as the Snapdragon, but it contains the much faster Adreno 205 GPU. We knew the MSM7230 was capable of speeds of 800 MHz to 1 GHz, but we wrongly assumed T-Mobile would bump up the speed to 1 GHz.
At the end of the day the newer 800 MHz MSM7230 will likely out-perform the older 1 GHz Snapdragon, but I’m sure we will see a lot of complaints due to earlier speculation. The G2 should be out soon, so let’s wait and see how it performs in our round of benchmarks.
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Related PostsGallery: Philips GoGear Connect hands-on
Continue reading Philips GoGear Connect hands-on
Philips GoGear Connect hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsChris Ziegler1333063174976987587806462639552025498077065753926599977123151531797346207306795109556099084421364964014181327413559500880112757255284235252305858250231806961998016295194997875805600504079728800367954410756551381660532603116327512184004634680057992320796233690403520719333586328303003209333872692039040345392416620537463915310963425700747429You have explored all of your options and you've decided Android is the operating system for you, but now you don't know which of the top-shelf handsets to spend your money on.
We've seen stacks of exciting new smartphones this year, but the two handsets that definitely stand out are the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S. Both phones run Android version 2.1, access the Android Market for app downloads and ship with the full suite of Google apps. So which of these beasts is right for you? Get the fire department standing by, this showdown is going to get hot.
While looking at the leaked G2 pictures from yesterday, our eagle-eyed Chuck Falzone noticed something hiding in plain sight. One of the icons listed on the home screen for the handset shows a shortcut for an app called Quick Keys. Blowing things up a bit, he also found three hard keys on the keyboard which look much like the icon. We're going to Occam's razor approach and figure these are programmable buttons designed to give one-touch access to your favorite or most-used apps. Anyone care to throw another idea at us?
Update: One of our readers, tubaking, let us know in comments on this post that he was able to pull the Quick Keys app from the leaked G2 build and install it on his phone. This let him get a shot of the app's set-up instructions, which he took pictures of and posted on Twitter:
The instructions confirm what we suspected: Quick Keys will let G2 owners "quickly access super useful Google shortcuts and other applications that may take multiple steps to access."
Thanks, tubaking!
What Are the G2 Quick Keys? (UPDATED) originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Here we have your daily does of Fascinate news, the commercial for Samsung showing the Verizon Fascinate has been put up on YouTube by Samsung. As if some of us weren’t already drooling over this phone enough, they had to go ahead and rub it in our faces.
It’s a pretty sweet commercial we think, at least they are not trying to rip off a Droid, or Halo commercial. If you would like to watch the video first hand feel free to below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
[via Samsung Mobile USA]
)So today we have more leaked info from the T-Mobile G2 from HTC that is rumored to be available late September early October. The pricing is showed to be $199 with a 2-year death sentence we are guessing, and $499 full retail we suspect.
The G2 specs rumored, are a newer 1GHz processor, Vanilla Android 2.2, 3.7 inch OLED display, 5 megapixel camera, HSPA+ and much more. So keep your browser set on Android Community to check back for more juicy details as they come across in the very soon future.
[via Androinica]
)Have you wanted a Droid, but not wanted to suck-up and get deep into a 2 year contract? Well it looks like you will have the option to go pre-paid here really soon. The phones that you will be able to get through Verizon include, Droid, Droid 2, Droid Incredible, Devour, Samsung Fascinate, and the Ally.
This could be an outlet for a lot of people that do not have good credit to finally get into the Android smartphone world. Or, even those who are stuck with an i device that are wanting to get into Android. This will be a really nice option, and hopefully other carriers will adopt the pre-paid option soon.
[via Android Does]
)Bloomberg is reporting a short blurb today about Sony Ericsson and their lofty aspirations. According to Chief Executive Officer Bert Nordberg, SE has their sights set on becoming the number one Android phone supplier in the world. Currently, they sit at second with a 17 percent share, whereas the top seat occupies 23 percent. There was no timeline given as to when they plan to accomplish their goal, but we welcome the competition. Any guess as to who number one might be? said at a briefing in Beijing today, without identifying the rival. Nordberg didn’t give a timeframe for achieving the top spot.
Sony Ericsson CEO Gunning for #1 Android Phone Supplier in World originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Just a couple of days ago we saw a leaked internal screen from Verizon showing that the Galaxy Tab would be available through them. Now that we have the FCC filings we are seeing that there will be GSM connectivity options also. The report says that it supports GSM frequencies of 850, 900,1800, 1900 and HSDPA is on board also. It also has dual-band 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi that is capable of speeds up to 150MBPS, which will be very nice.
This has our minds wondering if Samsung might be trying to pull the same kind of strategy as they have with their Galaxy S phones. We are positive the Galaxy Tab would sale a lot better if it were available on the big 4 major carriers in the US. In the mean time we are waiting and waiting for the IFA-2010 announcement to see, what Samsung has in store.
[via Wireless Goodness]
)The new Android powered Motorola Defy will be joining ranks with the Motorola i1 in Motorola’s effort to produce the most rugged Android phones on the planet. The Motorola Defy is impact, dust, water, and scratch resistant and certified to IP67 standards. The exterior shell and Gorilla Glass should do a great job of keeping the 800 MHz OMAP 3610 processor, 1540 mAh battery, 1.25GB onboard memory, and 5MP camera with LED flash safe from harm. The display on the Motorola Defy will measure in at 3.7 inches, offering up a 480 x 854 pixel resolution. Those hoping for the latest and greatest version of Android will have to settle for Android 2.1, though an update to Android 2.2 in currently “being investigated.” The typical Google Apps will be included, as well as Motorola’s latest MotoBLUR 1.5. Motorola plans on launching the Defy in Europe in Q4.
This latest offering from Motorola may not break any speed records or win any beauty contests, but it’s definitely a more viable option than the extremely outdated Motorola i1 which only launched a few months ago. Those who work at more physically intensive jobs or find themselves in the great outdoors a lot more than they do in the city might be a lot more comfortable porting along the Motorola Defy than many of the other Android options currently available.
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Related PostsThink back. You had an mp3 player with an annoying user interface, everything was locked down and you couldn't manage your music the way you wanted. And then you found out about Rockbox, the open source firmware for mp3 players. You hacked it on to yours and had a whole new music player that maybe wasn't as pretty, but sure was under your control. Flash forward: Rockbox is still around--a surprise to me--and, even more surprising, a version for Android is in the works.
Unlike other versions of Rockbox, which replace a device's firmware entirely, the version for Android is a standalone music player app. Though far from finished, you can download working builds of the app so far directly from the site. Once you figure out that different (completely unmarked) regions of the screen have different functions (top/bottom to scroll up/down, the center selects the option you're on, etc.), you'll be able to give it a little whirl.
Certainly unfinished, and certainly not for everybody, but if you're like me, worth a try just for the nostalgia.
via AndroidPolice
Rockbox for Android in Progress originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Today we're introducing a new feature to AndroidGuys called the Android Phone Power Rankings. The idea behind it is simple. We all have our own opinions as to how great we think various Android handsets are, but what do we think as a collective unit? I conducted a blind rating poll for each phone offered by the carriers in the United States. This includes current models, but also retired and unique phones like the Nexus One and G1. In future polls, we'll be including phones from around the world.Keeping certain things in mind, each device was given a "Power" number between one and ten. What factored into the rating?
We were curious to see how things would stack up. Would it be newest phones at the top? Would a certain carrier own the high spots? Would one handset maker score more favorably than others? Well, without further ado, here's the first Android Phone Power Rankings - The top 25 handsets as picked by your AndroidGuys staff. Where does your phone stack up?
Not listed: Samsung Behold II (T-Mobile), Garminfone (T-Mobile)
Did we nail it or not? We'd love to see what you think. Please leave a comment below with your opinions. When you're done, vote in the FAN POLL too! We'll be listing your voices as well. NOTE: Fan votes will be collected and tallied through Sunday, September 5th.
Oh, and we'll be doing this every month!
Introducing the Android Phone Power Rankings! (Cast YOUR Vote) originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Today Acer launched 5 new Android Smartphones to the Aussie Market, those being:
The 'beTouch' series are lower-end Smartphone, 'Liquid' series is mid-range and the Stream being the cream of the crop. We're excited to hear of Acer bringing so many phones so quickly, especially such a large range. More news to come..