Feno Notebook Concept Features Unique Folding Design

We’ve seen a good deal of design concepts that incorporate some sort of folding method to create a hybrid device and improve portability such as with the LG Tryptych folding smartphone/tablet concept. And despite tablet and smartphone combos being the rage right now, the Feno concept designed by Niels Van Hoof goes back to tackling the good old notebook. His foldable notebook design features a unique folding method that makes the portable size just slightly wider than the diameter of a DVD.

The Feno design concept is very Apple-esque in its clean and sleek aluminum look, although its renderings are showing a Windows desktop. But what makes it unique is that the concept involves folding into thirds, with the screen being folded in half right through the center. Van Hoof imagines utilizing flexible OLED display technology to allow the screen to be wrapped around the body of the notebook. A unique hinge with a curved cavity lets the screen bend without creasing.
The keyboard area is shortened by removing the typical trackpad and replacing it with a small portable mouse that can be inserted into the side of the notebook. Van Hoof claims that the shortened keyboard depth also allows folks to type without having to rest their wrists on a flat surface, thus making for better ergonomics.
Hopefully, when flexible OLED displays become standard, we wont have to deal with the annoying split-screen effect of the Kyocera Echo and the Sony S2.

Samsung UN55D8000 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D LED Smart TV

Ever since CES back in January, we’ve been hearing that 2011 will be “the year of 3D.” Happily, Samsung isn’t focusing entirely on the third-dimension with its new D8000 Series HDTVs: the 55-inch UN55D8000 also promises superlative 2D performance and Smart TV functionality including network streaming, all wrapped up in a wafer-thin bezel. Still, with a list price of $3,599.99, the D8000 will have to deliver in spades to justify the cost. Check out how this 3D behemoth copes in the full SlashGear review.

Hardware

At 55-inches, the UN55D8000 isn’t exactly going to blend into the background unless you live in an aircraft hanger. Still, Samsung has done some solid work producing one of the more attractively minimal designs we’ve seen to-date. The brushed stainless steel bezel is a scant 0.2-inches thick, and the splay-legged “Quad Stand” looks like melted metal that has poured from under the screen. The panel section itself is a mere 1.2-inches thick, though you should probably arrange for some help to position it as, at 41 lbs with the stand attached, it’s not exactly lightweight.

Of course, what’s really important is the LCD panel itself, a huge slab of 1080p Full HD capable LCD TFT with a 240Hz refreshes rate, 3D support, and Samsung’s Micro Dimming Plus technology. The latter is a compromise between traditional edge-lit displays and true local-dimming backlighting (where different sections of the backlight array can be turned on or off independently behind different areas of the screen), using LED lighting along the sides which can, Samsung claims, be more localized than normal. That allows for the Cinema Black feature, which automatically spots any letter-box bars and dims the backlighting behind them, so as to make them less obvious.
There’s also LED Motion Plus and Auto Motion Plus, which combine together to phase the backlighting in horizontal bars that parallel the LCD refresh scanning. In fact, the D8000′s menus are full of options to tweak the picture, including Shadow Detail – which decreases the global dimming to improve black levels in low-light areas – and various 3D-related settings to reduce ghosting and cross-talk.
Connectivity includes four HDMI inputs, three USB ports, component and composite inputs, a D-sub PC input, 3.5mm audio input, optical digital output and a 3.5mm headphone socket. Networking is catered for with both ethernet and integrated WiFi. There’s obviously an ATSC/Clear QAM tuner, too. Because of the skinniness of the set, Samsung hasn’t had room to fit side-mounted inputs, so plugging in USB drives or camcorders is a little more tedious than it could be.

Samsung throws two pairs of its new 2011 series SSG-3100GB active-shutter 3D glasses into the box which shift the battery from the hinge sections to the tips of the arms for better balance (additional glasses are $49.99).

More interesting is the remote control, a double-sided affair that has regular controls on one side and a QWERTY keypad on the other. There’s even a tiny, single-line monochrome display so that you can type without needing to look up at the D8000. If you have other Samsung A/V kit (and assuming it’s fairly recent) you can use the company’s Anynet+ technology to control everything HDMI linked with that one, single remote.

Software

It may seem strange to have a software section for a TV, but as a smart TV the D8000 does plenty more than just show you what your TiVo is playing. Samsung has opted for its own, in-house Smart Hub system – rather than, say, Google TV – which has seen a fair few iterative updates since it first debuted a few years back. Now, Smart Hub includes Samsung Apps, with more than 200 paid and free apps to download direct to the TV; Your Video, which can make VOD recommendations based on your viewing history; Search, which uses the QWERTY remote to search Google, Facebook, YouTube, Samsung Apps and other sources; and a Web Browser for full internet access.

There’s also AllShare DLNA streaming support, just as we’ve seen on Samsung’s recent Galaxy range of tablets and smartphones, and Skype support with the optional Smart TV CY-STC1100 camera. That promises 720p HD 30fps video chat, though it was not included with our review system. If you have a Galaxy device, Samsung offers a remote control app in its own download store, which turns the phone or slate into a replacement remote control complete with QWERTY text input (that takes advantage of Android’s voice recognition and text auto-correction, too). An imminent update will add the ability to stream video from the D8000 to the Galaxy device; right now, you can use AllShare to browse content stored on the Galaxy from the TV.
Samsung Smart Hub can be pretty confusing at first glance, with a screen full of icons. Up top is the search bar along with Samsung Apps and recommended titles, while underneath is a side-scrolling menu of links to Favorites, channels, the program guide, videos/photos/music, AllShare, the browser, Twitter and more. It’s reasonably intuitive to control, though it would’ve been useful to have a motion-sensing remote like some LG TVs offer.
Performance is reasonably swift, though there can be lag when you search or access network features. The included remote is generally faster than using a Galaxy tablet – sometimes we hit the back button twice, thinking it hadn’t been recognized the first time, only to be thrown out of the menu we were using – though on the plus side you do get a trackpad-style control on the slate for the browser mouse pointer. Sites render pretty much as you’d expect from a computer.
Content can be streamed from Netflix, Blockbuster, Hulu Plus and other sources – assuming you have the right subscriptions – while there’s Pandora streaming music too. The DLNA worked well, as long as it liked the formats our content was encoded in; hooking up a USB drive direct gave broader compatibility. Samsung also includes copies of Megamind 3D, Shrek 3D, Shrek 2 3D, Shrek the Third 3D and Shrek Forever After 3D, all on Blu-ray, as part of its 3D starter kit.

Performance

With a list price of $3,600, you’d expect the D8000 to put in a good showing when it comes to picture quality. Happily the Samsung doesn’t disappoint. 2D content is crisp, clean and beautiful, with inky blacks and vivid, well-saturated colors. Although Samsung’s various processing settings tempt playing with the video, we found most of the time things looked better when left relatively untampered. The quality of your source media makes a big difference too; standard definition content could end up looking over-processed with plenty of artifacts after Motion Plus had done its best to keep things smooth. There’s some blurring with the very fastest of sports, but less than we’ve seen on many other LCD TVs.
3D, meanwhile, is eye-opening in its clarity. With Samsung’s new lightweight glasses the images pop and there’s little blurring to be seen. Samsung gives easy access to the depth perception settings with the 3D Viewpoint option in the main menu, though there’s still a little crosstalk evident. Color can sometimes get lost in the 3D process, but not so on the D8000, and brightness was still strong despite the active-shutter technology. This is some of the best 3D TV we’ve seen, and Samsung’s lightweight glasses certainly help for longer-term comfort in extended viewing.
Audio is catered for with two 15W speakers that are mounted at the lower back of the D8000. Unsurprisingly – given the size constraints – they’re not exactly going to blow the Samsung off its stand, though they’re fair for general TV playback. Frankly, however, buying a high-end 3D TV like the D8000 and not hooking it up to a decent A/V system – preferably with surround sound – would be a crime.

Wrap-Up

There’s no doubting that $3,500 is a lot to pay for a TV. Samsung has at least attempted to sweeten the deal as much as possible by making the UN55D8000 more than just a dumb screen. The Smart Hub functionality is genuinely useful in places, and while we can’t really see ourselves Tweeting from our TV, the YouTube and other streaming service access works well. The integration with Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets is also clever, and when the updated app arrives with streaming support from the D8000 that will be particularly useful.
Even so, we couldn’t recommend the D8000 if it didn’t deliver on picture quality, and thankfully the Samsung is one of the best screens around today. Neither 2D or 3D mode feels like an afterthought, and even if you’re not convinced by the third-dimension today, you’re getting a brilliant 2D 1080p set for your money. Take into account that the D8000′s street price is near $650 under list, and that’s a whole lot of high-performance pixels for what seems like an increasingly competitive figure. If your wallet can accommodate it, the Samsung UN55D8000 is unlikely to disappoint.

Apple ties up 60% of touch panel supplies for 2011 iPad 2 tip insiders

Apple has reportedly snagged nearly 60-percent of the global touch panel supply, leaving rival companies struggling to secure the hardware needed for their own touchscreen products. According to DigiTimes‘ supply chain sources, Apple’s target of 40m iPad shipments in 2011 has led to massive orders, forcing tier-one rivals like Samsung, HP and Acer to look to smaller suppliers in order to fulfil their own demand.

While general supplies of touch systems are strong, it’s the glass capacitive touch panels that tablets like the iPad use which are causing a bottleneck. Low manufacturing yields have been blamed, with smartphone-style thin-film capacitive touch not providing the same slick glass feel on tablet-scale devices. Previous rumors have suggested that Apple invested around $3.9bn in displays for its products; it could well be possible that touch panel supply is part of that.

AMD Wireless TV takes on Intel WiDi [Video]

AMD is joining with software partner Vivu to go head to head against Intel’s WiDi streaming video. The new solution, dubbed is AMD Wireless TV and will stream wirelessly from virtually any AMD Fusion powered PC to an HDTV with no additional hardware required. First shown as a demo at CES, AMD Wireless TV can stream 720p HD video and users can adjust video quality for any situation, be it a movie at home, or wanting to wirelessly project a presentation at a meeting.

Basic specs are as follows: any AMD Fusion-powered computer using 802.11n Wi-Fi, Adobe Flash Player, and ViVu’s prototype software using its MXTP technology. But what’s really cool is the range of devices that AMD is streaming to from just a simple notebook. In the demo video below, we see them streaming to an HDTV flat panel display and a pair of tablets with no additional hardware. The solution also was selected by Digital Trends as one of the best gadgets at CES. Look for AMD and Vivu to have it out later this year.

AMD and ViVu Showcase Wireless HD Content Streaming Solution Powered by AMD Fusion APUs
SUNNYVALE, Calif. —2/16/2011
AMD (NYSE: AMD) and ViVu recently demonstrated for the first time a next-generation, high-definition (HD) content streaming solution powered by AMD technology. The demonstration, which first took place at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), featured 720p HD video streaming wirelessly from an AMD-powered notebook PC to a flat panel display and two tablet devices all at once without any additional hardware. The demonstrated technology is based on standards-compliant 802.11n wireless technology, the Adobe Flash Player and a prototype software solution from ViVu, a leader in desktop videoconferencing solutions.
“Consumers want to stream from their PCs onto their TVs but don’t want to pay a huge premium to do so, nor do they want to choose between a growing number of conflicting ways to do it,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group. “ViVu turns virtually any AMD Fusion powered-PC into a potential low latency streaming device, and most of the current generation of smart TVs into receivers of this content without adding any additional hardware cost. As a result, ViVu successfully addresses both the need to stream a user’s media to their smart TV and the requirement that it also be inexpensive and easy.”
With settings that can be easily adjusted for a number of different devices (TVs, tablets, projectors) and content formats, including videos, presentations and documents, the ViVu solution is ideally suited to harness the power of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) and AMD discrete GPUs for a variety of applications from home entertainment and gaming, to enterprise video collaboration and remote presentations.
“Leading-edge video applications, such as those developed by ViVu, are exactly the type of immersive experiences we designed AMD Fusion APUs to enable,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “Until now, streaming of HD telepresence-quality video was not possible without additional cables or hardware. We received an overwhelmingly positive response to our collaboration with ViVu at CES, and look forward to seeing this solution in market to the clear benefit of consumers and businesses alike in the near future.”
“At ViVu, we fully realize the future of the computing market is becoming more visual and engaging, and delivering HD quality video to virtually any device from virtually anywhere is an incredibly important part of that,” said Sudha Valluru, chief executive officer and founder, ViVu. “To meet the needs of this booming market, sophisticated hardware and software are required, which makes AMD the ideal technology partner for us. AMD Fusion APUs combine the best of CPU and GPU technology, and working together we are helping to deliver completely new and exciting experiences.”
The ViVu wireless HD video streaming solution is expected to be available later in 2011.
Resources
* Technology Demo Video
* ViVu press release on next-generation interactive video applications
* ViVu blog on showcasing telepresence-like video on laptops at CES
* Digital Trends Best Gadgets at CES
* AMD Fusion blog
* Follow AMD on Twitter @AMD_Unprocessed
About AMD
AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its ground-breaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). AMD’s graphics and computing technologies power a variety of devices including PCs, game consoles and the powerful computers that drive the Internet and businesses. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners

Samsung HMX-Q10 HD camcorder auto-flips its touchscreen

Samsung has outed its latest digital camcorder, the HMX-Q10, a Full HD model featuring the company’s “Switch Grip” which uses an accelerometer to flip the screen display depending on which way up you’re shooting. The Samsung HMX-Q10 supports 1080/60i HD or 720p HD, along with 4.9-megapixel stills.


Physical controls are limited to a record button and zoom ring; everything else is handled by the 2.7-inch touchscreen. There’s optical image stabilization, Smart Auto scene selection and Record Pause, for pausing continuous filming of a single clip.
A few manual settings round things out, including white balance, exposure and backlighting, as well as a few others, though this is really more a point-and-shoot. The Samsung HMX-Q10 will drop in February 2011, priced at $299.
Press Release:

Samsung Innovation Makes Capturing Video Easier Than Ever with the Practical and Affordable Full HD HMX-Q10 Camcorder
Samsung innovation creates simple and intuitive controls for effortless recording
CES, Las Vegas – January 3, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the launch of the latest model in its camcorder portfolio, the HMX-Q10. The HMX-Q10 has been designed to highlight Samsung’s full HD camcorder technology with a BSI CMOS sensor, and makes recording movies easier than ever before, using ground-breaking technology and smart features such as its innovative Switch Grip technology. As a new addition to the Samsung line-up for 2011, the HMX-Q10’s Easy Operation and Smart Access user interface (UI) makes Samsung’s innovations in video capture more accessible than ever, allowing everyone to record excellent quality video.
Samsung has created the HMX-Q10 to be a compact, practical and easy-to-use full HD camcorder that combines the best in Samsung innovation with incredibly simple functions, all available at an affordable price. The HMX-Q10 combines the world’s first Switch Grip with Easy Operation via an LCD screen. The Switch Grip means that no matter how the camcorder is held, the G-magnetic sensor inside the HMX-Q10 recognizes the angle and turns the LCD display so it’s easy to see, and controls recording easily from any angle. Easy Operation means that users can control detailed processes, turn the camcorder on and off and operate the playback function easily through the LCD screen, so controlling the device is intuitive and fuss-free, and viewing footage is as easy as capturing it. The HMX-Q10 also features a prominently placed record button that makes capturing video extremely simple, and straightforward. The slim and durable body also means that the HMX-Q10 is compact and light enough to be taken anywhere, and the product is so versatile it can also double as a 4.9 Megapixel (MP) still photo camera.
The HMX-Q10 sets the tone for the Samsung 2011 camcorder range, and raises the bar for affordable and easy-to-use camcorders built on the latest cutting-edge technology. The camcorder is the product of years of Samsung expertise in digital imaging, and is based on detailed customer insight research, revealing that simplicity and affordability are a key priority for an increasing number of camcorder users.
“The launch of the HMX-Q10 is particularly important for us as it is one of the best demonstrations of Samsung’s continuing innovation, providing high performing features and design in a model that makes the best camcorder experience available to all our customers,” said Mr. Hyunho Chung, Executive Vice President and Head of the Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics. “For example, we have developed the world’s first Switch Grip technology so that the HMX-Q10 adapts to the consumer’s lifestyle and setting – not the other way around. In addition, Easy Operation via the LCD and Smart Access UI takes the confusion out of recording, so that you can instantly record brilliant movies from the very first time you pick up the camcorder without the need for an instruction manual.”
The world’s first Switch Grip (either-handed grip)
As a brand-new addition to the Samsung camcorder portfolio, the HMX-Q10 is built around the needs of the consumer who wants to capture their movies without fuss or complication. Samsung has developed the world’s first Switch Grip technology, which ensures that when filming, the LCD screen adapts to how the camcorder body is being held. Whether you are left- or right-handed, shooting in difficult positions or combining recording film with other activities, you can always maintain perfect control over your video. The body of the HMX-Q10 has also been streamlined and made more compact so it can easily be carried anywhere.
Intuitive Easy Operation for ease of use
The HMX-Q10 includes a brand new Easy Operation and Smart Access UI that makes using the camcorder easier to use than ever before. Featuring an intuitive and clearly visible record button, the HMX-Q10 offers the best and most convenient operating system on the market, as it eliminates the need to have many separate buttons and keys to control the camcorder. Easy Operation via the 2.7” wide LCD screen allows the user to perform a variety of functions, including a pause function allowing you to stop and work out the best angle for your recording experience, the ability to turn the camcorder on and off, and playback mode so users can immediately review their footage. The camcorder’s intuitive Smart Access UI feature grants users the opportunity to operate the camcorder’s advanced functions and manage detailed processes with ease.
The best in high-quality video
The Samsung HMX-Q10 is based on quality components and functions to help consumers capture brilliant, clear videos in astonishing quality, effortlessly and regardless of the situation. The HMX-Q10 captures video in 1920×1080/60i full HD, and includes an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) Duo system to compensate for hand-shaking better than ever before, creating a stable, clear video every time – even when walking or moving around. The HMX-Q10’s features also include a 5MP BSI CMOS sensor, which records with twice the sensitivity of normal CMOS sensors, dramatically reducing noise and distortion while also enhancing recording quality in low-light conditions, so great quality video can be captured in any situation.
The HMX-Q10 also features an upgraded version of Samsung’s Smart Auto scene recognition technology, which analyzes key elements of the composition of the footage such as brightness, motion, color and subject and then selects the most appropriate settings to produce the best results possible. For the HMX-Q10, Samsung Record Pause technology has also been introduced, allowing the user to take brief pauses in filming before re-starting, so they don’t need to merge files when finished. This allows for easier editing and makes the HMX-Q10 perfect for filming at sports events or parties. In addition to great movie functions, the HMX-Q10 can also capture 4.9MP still photos, giving users the ability to capture brilliant snapshots without the need to carry a camera. With the intuitive LCD touch screen, powered by the new Smart Access UI, users can record and review their videos easily and enjoyably.
Users can also choose to adopt more manual control. With the HMX-Q10’s Easy Manual Mode setting, users can access and calibrate the entire breadth of easy-to-use manual features (White Balance, Exposure Values, Backlighting, Self Timer, and C.Nite) through the intuitive interface. The new Art Film function also means that video can be captured in more creative ways, using special effects such as Time Lapse and Black & White, making video recording fun and easy.

Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type Review

Having looked at several models from Nokia’s Symbian^3 smartphone range over the past few months – including the range-topping Nokia N8 – today it’s the turn of more basic fare from the company. The Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type may have a touchscreen but it also keeps a numeric keypad, albeit one with an unusual layout, for those for whom T9 has yet to be eclipsed by on-screen keyboards. Is Nokia still the king of budget cellphones? Check out our full review after the cut.

Hardware

The X3-02′s hardware is unmistakably Nokia in origin, but even having come from the slender C7 its compact dimensions are a pleasant surprise. Measuring in at 106.2 x 48.4 x 9.6 mm and weighing a mere 78g, the chassis is plastic – with a brushed metal battery cover – but feels sturdy and high quality. It’s still unusual to see a candybar phone with both a touchscreen and physical keypad, but Nokia squeeze in both: the X3-02 gives you a 2.4-inch QVGA display and a well-sized, nicely-clicky keypad.
Both have some compromises, to accommodate the X3-02′s size and relatively low £159 ($247) SIM-free price. The touchscreen uses a restive panel, though it’s a decent example of the technology; you don’t get multitouch gestures, but neither do you get lag or an overly squeeze feel to the display. Meanwhile the keypad has an unusual 4 x 4 layout, with the star, zero and hash keys shifted to the side of the 1-9 buttons rather than underneath them. Dedicated call-end, messaging, media and call buttons run along the top row; we’d prefer them down the side instead and a more regular layout, but our fingers did eventually get used to the change.

Inside, there are quadband GSM and quadband WCDMA modems (850/900/1900/2100) along with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an FM radio; you also get a microUSB port and a separate Nokia charging port. Disappointingly absent is GPS, which means one of Nokia’s key advantages, Ovi Maps with free turn-by-turn navigation, isn’t available. Internal storage is a mere 50MB but you can use up to 16GB microSD cards. That’s handy, considering the X3-02 has a 5-megapixel camera.

Software

Unlike the N8, C7 and C6-01, the X3-02 uses Nokia’s ageing S40 OS. That puts it resolutely in the feature-phone category, rather than smartphone, but it’s actually a solid platform for those with less ambitious expectations from their mobile device. The combination of touchscreen and physical keypad works well, with decent-sized on-screen icons and text. The only real stumbling block is scrolling, which tends to be more jumpy as a result of the touchscreen technology, but it’s a minor issue.

The S40 homescreen supports widgets, shortcuts and themes, though the flexibility isn’t as broad as with Symbian^3. Think more customizable launcher than anything else. Preloaded apps include the usual Nokia Messaging Service 3.0, which offers POP/IMAP compatibilty along with Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Ovi Mail, with up to ten simultaneous accounts supported. There’s also Ovi Chat, the Ovi Store for downloads – though these are general Java applets and lack the complexity of what you’d find in, say, the Apple App Store or Android Market – and the Opera Mini browser.
The internet experience on a 2.4-inch QVGA display is nothing to write home about, and heavy webpages generally brought the X3-02 to a standstill (or at least a timeout warning). Opera’s rendering system does its best to strip out most of the complexity to suit the Nokia’s capabilities, but if you’re planning on doing much in the way of mobile web browsing then you should probably look to a smartphone not a feature-phone.

Camera, Phone and Battery

5-megapixels is impressive stuff for a feature-phone, though we’ve been spoilt by Nokia’s optics over recent years. While the X3-02 produces decent stills with a fair amount of detail and nice color balance, video is limited to 30fps QVGA resolution or just 15fps VGA resolution; that’s likely a shortcoming of the handset’s processor rather than the camera unit itself.

Phone performance is strong, with clear audio to both parties, and we had no problems using a Bluetooth headset either. Nokia claim up to 300 minutes talktime or 430 hours standby; in practice, even with several calls and some messaging, the X3-02 lasted multiple days between charges.

Wrap-Up

With the focus on mid- to high-end smartphones, it’s easy to forget that there’s a considerable market for capable, well-designed feature-phones. The X3-02 isn’t perfect in that respect – we’re not keen on Nokia’s tendency over the years to tinker with their keyboard layouts – but the numeric keypad isn’t as outlandish as some we’ve seen from the Finns, and the tactile buttons go a long way to making up for it. The touchscreen may not be capacitive but it does the job, and S40 lacks the finesse and ambition of a smartphone platform but should satisfy most mainstream users.
At £159 SIM-free and unlocked, or around £89 ($138) on pre-pay, it’s also reasonably affordable. Entry-level smartphones like the Android-powered Orange San Francisco offer strong competition at around the £99 ($154) pre-pay mark, but at the expense of the camera performance and battery life. If your focus is on calls, pecking out SMS/MMS messages, snapping photos and going the distance between recharges, the X3-02 will likely fit the bill. Still, cheap Android devices provide a tempting step-up onto the smartphone ladder.

Nokia X7-00 leaks: S^3, quad-speakers and 8MP camera [Video]

Video and images seemingly showing Nokia’s unannounced X7-00 smartphone has emerged, with the touchscreen Symbian^3 handset playing Need For Speed Shift as well as navigating though the usual Nokia menus. The leak, from the Czech Modryzub forums [registration required], tips the Nokia X7 as having a polished metal body, 360 x 640 display and an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash.

Video after the cut [Fixed]

The display size is unspecified, but it looks to match the Nokia E7 at 4-inches. Onboard memory is 450MB with 245MB of RAM, and there’s a microUSB port and fixed battery. The X7-00 has four speakers, one at each corner, and is reportedly “very loud”.
There’s also a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top edge, and a new, angular casing design. No word on release date or pricing at this stage.
Update: Looks like the video has been made private and the forum post taken down.
Update 2: MobileBulgaria grabbed a copy – thanks Ben!

Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab proved to be the product of IFA 2010, and has seldom left the headlines since its Berlin debut. Seven inches of Android slate, it promises to be the open alternative to Apple’s iPad and the poster-child for Google’s OS done right on a bigger display. It’s also prompted some significant criticism, with even Steve Jobs weighing in on how suitable the Tab’s screen and OS are to tablet use. Plenty to live up to, then, not least the price tag; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.


Hardware
If the iPad is a digital clipboard, then the Galaxy Tab is a digital paperback. At 7.48 x 4.74 x 0.47 inches it’s almost identical – though thicker – than Amazon’s third-gen Kindle. The chassis is all plastic, unlike Apple’s proclivity toward aluminum and glass, keeping the weight down to 0.8 pounds, but feels solid and creak-free; that’s helped by the non-user-accessible battery, since as with the iPad the Galaxy Tab is a sealed unit. The back panel is smooth white plastic (some US versions will be black) while the front is black; both are reasonably slippery, which makes slotting the Tab into a pocket or bag straightforward, but does mean you need to keep a tight grip to avoid dropping it. An average-sized hand shouldn’t have problems holding it in portrait orientation, while the roughly half-inch bezel around the display is just enough width for your thumb to lie against without accidentally triggering the touchscreen.

Hardware controls are limited to the right-hand edge, with a power/standby button and a volume rocker near the top. Below them there are two easily-opened doors, for the microSD card and – on the GSM models – for the SIM card. The former is hot-swappable, but the latter triggered a reboot when we attempted to swap the SIM with the Tab switched on. On the top edge there’s a 3.5mm headset socket, while a small microphone is on the left-hand side. On the bottom is the proprietary dock/sync port, flanked by stereo speakers.
Samsung Galaxy Tab unboxing & demo:
The display is a 7-inch panel running at 1024 x 600 resolution, higher than any Android smartphone on the market and besting several other similarly-scaled Android tablets which have generally stuck to WVGA. It’s not one of Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens, sadly, but it’s still almost indecently bright at its maximum setting and the viewing angles are broad. The capacitive touchscreen, meanwhile, is responsive, as are the four backlit touch-sensitive buttons running underneath the display: menu, home, back and search.
Above the screen there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera – intended for video calls – and a brightness sensor for automatically adjusting the backlighting; we found the Galaxy Tab defaulted to a slightly dimmer level than we’d prefer, though we suppose that helps with the battery life. Samsung offers far more control over the panel than you’d get on an Android phone: as well as manually adjusting the brightness, which can also be done with a slider in the drop-down notifications menu, there are separate options for white and black color density, color saturation and animation, as well as a power saving mode which claims to automatically adjust the LCD backlighting according to what’s on-screen at any one time.
On the back is a 3-megapixel autofocus camera with an LED flash, meaning the Galaxy Tab has two cameras versus the iPad’s zero. This can snap both stills and 720 x 480 resolution video (though not 720p HD, unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S family of smartphones). Storage is either microSD or the Tab’s internal memory: there’s 2GB of ROM (for installing apps) and 16GB of user memory (of which 12.66GB is available; Samsung will also be offering a 32GB SKU).

Keeping the Galaxy Tab ticking is Samsung’s own 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex-A8 processor, paired with PowerVR SGX540 graphics and 512MB of RAM. Connectivity consists of WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and – on this European version – a triband UMTS/HSPA (900/1900/2100) modem (along with quadband GSM/EDGE). There’s also A-GPS, a gyroscope and a digital compass. The Galaxy Tab launching in Europe will support voice calls and 3G video calls, whereas the North American models will be limited to data and SMS/MMS messaging.
There are few omissions, to be fair, but we would’ve liked to have seen at least one notification LED – for new message, battery and other status indications – and a regular USB port rather than Samsung’s PDMI-based dock connector. There’s also no USB On-The-Go support for plugging in peripherals, though we were able to pair and successfully use a Bluetooth keyboard for text entry.
Software
Rather than, like other manufacturers, wait for Google’s tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Gingerbread release, Samsung has opted to use Android 2.2 Froyo and make some customizations to suit the tablet form-factor. It makes for a generally familiar experience, if you’d spent any time with an Android smartphone, but Samsung’s tweaked apps do make a significant difference.
The homescreen and main menu are TouchWiz 3.0 inspired, with a default five desktop panes (you can have a maximum of nine) which can be filled with widgets and moved between with a finger-swipe (since there’s no D-pad or optical joystick). A pinch-zoom gesture shows thumbnails of all screens for speedier navigation. At the bottom of each pane is a three-button shortcut bar, with two user-definable shortcuts (browser and email, by default) and the Applications button in the middle. Unlike on Android phones, each pane supports a 5 x 5 grid of icons and widgets (4 x 4 is the norm); as well as the usual widgets, shortcuts and folders, Samsung has added a few new clocks (including examples with weather or calendar integrated), social updates with the Feeds and Updates widget, and – most usefully – a Program Manager widget.

The number of currently active apps is shown, together with a colored bar to indicate memory status; tapping the widget opens a custom Task Manager, from which individual apps can be force-closed or uninstalled. There are also RAM and storage meters, offering a quick insight into what’s monopolizing system resources. You can also access the Task Manager from anywhere in the system by holding down the Home button, bringing up an app-switcher that also shows the eight most-recent programs. As well as the brightness control in the pull-down notification bar, there are buttons to control WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, put the Tab into silent mode, and lock the screen orientation.
As on Android phones, Google Maps Navigation is present with turn-by-turn voice and text directions. The Tab’s screen is larger than most standalone PNDs, which makes for easy use while mobile, and the integrated digital compass can be used during Street View to pan the display according to what’s physically around you.
We’ll deal with Samsung’s main custom apps separately, but there are several other titles loaded that bear mention. Memo and Digital Frame apps do what you’d expect, as does the World Clock app, and there’s a copy of ThinkFree Office for editing documents. The Daily Briefing app – and its companion homescreen widget – shows upcoming calendar entries together with weather, news and stock headlines, while the Feeds and Updates app does the same thing for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter updates, as well as allowing you to change your own status and comment/reply to other people.
Samsung Apps is another carry-over from the company’s smartphone line, though right now it’s ridiculously sparse in its selection. In fact, there are a mere three apps on offer: a QWERTY touchscreen remote app, for use with Samsung’s network-connected TVs, blinkx Beat for viewing online videos, and N-TV, which streams German news. Happily there’s also Android Market access, more on which later.
Finally there are ereading apps, of which the Galaxy Tab has two. First is the simply-titled eBook, a basic digital bookshelf which allows you to import your own EPUB titles; The Marvelous Land of Oz was preloaded on our European unit. More comprehensive is the Reader Hub, which will offer access to Kobo’s ebook store, PressDisplay’s news and Zinio’s digital magazines. At present, only Kobo functionality is active, with a range of free and paid titles on offer; you’ll need to register an account with the service to access either. Of course, there’s also Barnes & Noble’s NOOK app and Amazon’s Kindle app available in the Android Market, so if you’ve already bought ebooks from other services it’s possible to read them on the Galaxy Tab as well. Whichever app you choose, the high-resolution display and strong backlighting make for a good ereader experience both indoors and in daylight.
Messaging & Calendar
All versions of the Galaxy Tab support SMS/MMS messaging, though you may need a messaging plan to send and receive texts from the North American models. The messaging app itself has a speech-bubble interface for threaded conversations, including various font sizes for the messages themselves.

As for text entry, Samsung has loaded its own QWERTY keyboard with portrait and landscape orientation support, together with the Swype keyboard that allows you to drag your finger between letters to form words, rather than tapping them individually. Swype works well, but Samsung’s keyboard benefits from various dynamic layouts: .com and prominent @ buttons in email or browser address views, for instance. It also supports auto-completion, spelling correction, next word prediction and double-tapping the space bar to automatically append a period. In general it all works very well, though we turned the default haptic feedback off as the Galaxy Tab’s vibration motor makes a noticeable buzzing sound.
Text selection and navigation, meanwhile, is via a small arrow that pops up underneath the words, along with a select button that allows you to drag the ends of the highlight and then cut/copy it, look it up in Google, Google translate, Wikipedia or a dictionary, or share it in the usual Android way. We found the touchscreen to be accurate and easy to use in selecting precise blocks of text, while even the portrait keyboard layout is broad enough to allow for two-thumb typing.
Samsung’s three key custom apps are their email client, the calendar and the address book. The latter splits the screen in two, with an alphabetical list of contacts on the left and a preview pane on the right; there are two tabs in the preview, the first showing all that contact’s details, the second a recent history of calls and messages sent and received. Facebook friends can be imported, and contacts can be grouped or individual favorites picked out.
As for the email app, that’s reminiscent of Apple’s client on the iPad. In portrait orientation you can flip between a full inbox list and individual messages, while in landscape there are two (width adjustable) columns for inbox and preview. Messages can be viewed individually or grouped into conversations; the only thing missing is the ability to select multiple emails at once for mass-deletion.

Regular POP and IMAP accounts can be added, along with corporate Exchange accounts supporting contacts and calendar sync too. The regular Android Gmail client is present too, though by using Google Sync we were able to get push support for our Gmail through Samsung’s own app. It’s possible to view each account inbox separately, or combined into one universal inbox, with each message color-coded to indicate where it comes from. All in all, it’s a great email experience, surpassing the regular Android mail app and proving you don’t need an iPad-sized display to neatly triage your inbox.
Finally, the calendar app, which looks much like a Filofax. Again, both portrait and landscape orientations are supported, with day, week, month and list views. The Galaxy Tab automatically pulled in our Facebook and multiple Google Calendar schedules, color coding them accordingly, with Facebook invites also showing a thumbnail of the user’s profile picture. Again, it’s considerably better than the regular Android calendar, and makes great use of the screen space on offer.
Browser
With a screen roughly half the size of an iPad’s display, you’d imagine the Galaxy Tab’s browsing experience would be underwhelming in comparison to the Apple slate. Still, Samsung has a few aces to play, not least Flash Player 10.1 support meaning it’s possible to view streaming video and animations, and play games, all while within the browser. Underneath it’s the same, capable Webkit engine we’re used to, with pinch-zooming and tap-to-zoom (with automatic text reflow); you can open eight windows at a time, with a thumbnail browser to manage them.
Our voice-enabled European Tab has an extra toolbar button – a phone symbol – which jumps you straight to the dialler screen, though that’s obviously missing on the North American versions. Overall, we had no problems viewing complex webpages on the Tab; the pinch-zooming is smooth and screen rotation – which works in all four directions – is fast. Best of all, despite having only 7-inches to play with, the 1024 x 600 resolution means you can still read text even at a low level of zoom.

Flash is a contentious topic these days, but we still feel we’d rather have the choice to use it or not, rather than being outright told we can’t. The Tab will throw up a warning message if video content has not been optimized for mobile viewing, though we still found that most clips would still play (albeit with a few dropped frames along the way). Games, meanwhile, were in part dependent on the UI their designers had anticipated, but that proved the only shortcoming. We also tried Flash-heavy site FlashEarth.com and had no issues panning the map, zooming and generally exploring.
Our main complaint about the browser is the absence of User Agent ID control, which leaves many sites defaulting to their mobile version rather than the desktop site which the Tab is quite capable of handling. Usually, though, there’s an option to switch to the full version on a per-site basis; another alternative is to use the third-party Dolphin browser, available through the Android Market.
Android Market
While Android as a platform is broadly available for manufacturers to use, Google has been stricter with access to its Android Market download store. Simply by having official Market support, the Galaxy Tab differentiates itself from a sea of rival Android slates branded and otherwise. Google now claims over 100,000 titles on offer – with a roughly 50/50 split between free and paid – so that’s a significant benefit.
Matters are complicated by the Galaxy Tab’s larger-than-average screen resolution and titles designed for WVGA displays at most, a problem faced by the iPad when it first launched. As Apple did, Samsung’s approach is to enlarge apps to suit the display, and in general it works well. Twitter app Seesmic, digital note-taking app Evernote, popular game Angry Birds, Amazon’s Kindle app, Facebook, Skype and Spotify all “zoomed” to suit the larger display, with no noticeable artefacts or jagged edges. Some apps will have more issues, and then – as on the iPad – simply run in their native resolution in the center of the Tab’s screen.

There’s a difference, though, between an app running and an app running well. The 1GHz CPU is certainly capable of keeping the Tab multitasking nicely, but – as we’ve seen with the custom Samsung calendar, mail and contacts apps – the difference between software designed for a smartphone and software intended for a bigger screen is primarily one of how best to use the pixels on offer. The iPad has a time advantage in tablet-centric third party software, but we’re expecting Android platform developers will soon be looking to making their apps more appropriate for tablet-scale devices, if they aren’t already.
Camera
Samsung has given the Galaxy Tab two cameras, a primary 3-megapixel autofocus unit on the back, paired with an LED flash, and a 1.3-megapixel camera above the slate’s display, intended for video calls. The camera app itself is pretty standard fare, with buttons for shooting mode, scenes, flash on/off/auto, exposure and settings running down the left side of the display, and a camera/camcorder mode toggle, shutter release button and gallery shortcut on the right side. Icons along the top of the display show image/video resolution, GPS status (if the optional geotagging is switched on), number of shots left, where they’re being stored (to the Tab’s internal memory or to microSD) and battery status.

For photography, five shooting modes are on offer (single, continuous, panorama, smile shot and self-shot, the latter flipping to the front-facing camera) and five scene modes (portrait, landscape, night, sports and off). From the settings menu it’s possible to change white balance (auto, daylight, cloudy, incandescent and fluorescent), effects (normal, negative, black & white and sepia), ISO (auto, 100, 200 and 400) and image quality (normal, fine and superfine). The main camera can shoot up to 2048 x 1536 stills.
As for video, there are unsurprisingly fewer options, with a choice of limiting recording length to suit MMS messages, no scenes, manual control over the LED flash (which works as a camera light), and exposure. There are also the same white balance and effects options as for images, and a toggle for audio recording. The main camera can shoot up to 720 x 480 30fps footage; it’s not possible to flip to the front-facing lens and record video from the secondary camera, at least with the Tab’s regular app.
Image quality is unsurprisingly less impressive than, say, the output from Samsung’s recent line of Android smartphones, which generally get 5-megapixel sensors. The primary shortcoming is detail, with color balance and exposure generally good. As with all LED flash units, there’s a relatively narrow sweet-spot outside of which subjects are either overblown or hopelessly under-illuminated. There’s also no touch-focus support, and we couldn’t get as close to subjects for macro shots as we would’ve liked. Video, meanwhile, lacks the detail of 720p content, but the reasonable 30fps rate means there’s not too much blur in fast moving subjects. Still, the Tab isn’t going to replace a point-and-shoot camcorder.
Samsung Galaxy Tab video sample:
Plug the Galaxy Tab into a PC or Mac and you can browse its content as you would a regular external drive; you have to set it to Mass Storage mode first, however, as it defaults to working with Samsung’s own Kies app (PC-only) out of the box. Alternatively you can set the Tab to save recorded content to microSD, and use the memory card in a standalone card reader.
Multimedia
Samsung’s excellent LCD panel comes into its own with multimedia playback, and while it lacks the superlative blacks and zinging colors of a Super AMOLED screen, it’s still among the better LCDs we’ve used. The company has modified the standard music and video apps, again to suit the larger screen, and they’re generally good.
If you’re a PC user, you can rely on Kies to manage the media content on the Tab; alternatively it’s straightforward to drag files over in Mass Storage mode. Alternatively, our European Galaxy Tab has a music download store preloaded, courtesy of 7digital, which offers primarily DRM-free MP3 files, though you can also download Amazon’s MP3 store from the Android market. The slate re-indexes content when disconnected, which took only seconds. The music app can show songs by title, playlist, album, artist and genre by default (composer and year are optional, and you can hide any category you don’t use), and supports album art if present; tapping the search button allows you to quickly dig through all tracks. A long-press on any one track gives options for adding it to favorites, sharing it in the usual Android manner, deleting it or setting it as the voice call, video call or specific-caller ringtone, or as the default alarm tone.

Playback buttons appear in the track browser when a track is selected, or you can stick with the regular now-playing screen that shows huge album art, control buttons, volume, optional track info, shuffle and repeat mode. Swiping across the screen skips tracks. There are various equaliser modes and sound enhancements, but no option to automatically download missing album art. If you leave the music app during playback, a shortcut is automatically added to the drop-down notification menu (complete with the name of the currently playing track).
Audio quality is strong, both from the regular headphones socket and, surprisingly, the Tab’s stereo speakers. These fall short in left and right channel separation, given their close proximity, but manage to sound reasonably full-bodied despite their small size.
As for video, it shows content by individual title, those recorded with the Galaxy Tab’s own camera, and sorted into folders, useful if you’ve a collection of individual TV episodes. MP4, WMV, DivX, Xvid, H.263 and H.264 files are supported, at up to 1080p resolution, though there’s no on-device way to purchase content on the European model. The North American versions of the Tab will have access to movie and TV rentals and purchases through Samsung’s Media Hub app. Video quality is excellent, with broad viewing angles and bright colors; all we missed was a kick-stand on the back to prop the Tab up during playback, though its relatively light weight (in comparison to the iPad) meant holding it was less of a chore.
Alternatively, there are a number of external output options on offer. Samsung’s AllShare app is preloaded, making DLNA wireless streaming over WiFi straightforward; it’s bi-directional as well, so as well as sending content from the Galaxy Tab to your WiFi-enabled TV or set-top box, you can access photos, music and video stored on a network server or shared PC and play them on the tablet. Samsung also offer a number of accessories for directly hooking up a TV; there’s a composite TV Out cable (which doesn’t support HD resolutions) and a more comprehensive Multimedia Desk Dock with HDMI, a 3.5mm speaker output for audio playback, and a power connector to recharge the Tab. Unfortunately neither was available in time for this review.
The YouTube app for Android is preloaded and works well, though updating to the newer version in the Android Market had even better results. Playback at maximum resolution is smooth and clear.
Phone & Video Calls
The phone abilities of the Galaxy Tab obviously depend on which regional variant you have. North American versions on Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and others lack voice call functionality, and are limited to data and SMS/MMS messaging; in contrast, the European Galaxy Tab can be used as a regular phone, albeit with a caveat or two.
The dialler is just another tab in the Contacts app, and shows a shortcut list of any numbers you’ve set as favorites as well as the usual numeric keypad. Since 3G video calls are supported there are actually two dial buttons, the regular voice call key and a video call key. If you’ve installed a third-party VoIP app – such as Skype or Google Voice – Android will offer you the usual choice of calling routes when you hit dial.

Samsung has obviously decided that holding the Galaxy Tab to your face is unlikely to be the way users want to make calls, and so there’s only a speakerphone option, no regular earpiece. As with music it’s loud and full-bodied. Alternatively, you can plug in the (bundled) stereo headset for more privacy, or pair a Bluetooth headset; we had no problems using either option. If you don’t already have a Bluetooth headset, Samsung have an unusual Bluetooth stylus which not only works with the Galaxy Tab’s capacitive touchscreen but also works as a phone handset with an earpiece and microphone. It supports Bluetooth multipoint, too, meaning you can have two simultaneous connections at one time: your Tab, for instance, and another cellphone or laptop.
Unfortunately, it’s not currently possible to make full use of the front-facing camera for app-based video calls. Qik apparently intend to have an updated version of their app with support for video calls ready for the debut of the T-Mobile USA Galaxy Tab; the current version only offers real-time video streaming. Meanwhile we were able to initiate a Fring video call between the Galaxy Tab and a Galaxy S, but the in-call UI was mangled on the Tab and it wouldn’t send video.
Skype, meanwhile, worked for VoIP calls but there’s still no Android video support. In short, until Qik release their app (and Fring update theirs) video calls on the Galaxy Tab lack the simplicity of FaceTime, support for which is expected to be added to the second-gen iPad predicted for 2011.
As with other Android 2.2 devices, it’s possible to turn the Galaxy Tab into a 3G hotspot, sharing the slate’s cellular data connection with up to five WiFi-connected devices (such as netbooks and notebooks). There’s also USB tethering support. US carriers will likely charge extra for this functionality, though with our unlocked European Tab we were able to turn on the capability with a regular SIM.
Battery & Portability
The non-accessible battery in the Galaxy Tab is a 4,000mAh unit good, Samsung claim, for up to seven hours of solid video playback. According to Android’s native battery meters, the display is unsurprisingly the greediest element of the slate; hence, we’re assuming, the relatively low default auto-brightness. With a mixture of use – media playback, browsing, push email turned on, some camera use and both 3G and WiFi enabled – the Tab was still claiming around 50-percent battery left at the end of the day; standby, meanwhile, is on the frugal side too. It won’t last as long as an iPad, which has a significantly larger battery, but then the Tab is half the size overall, too.

Like with the iPad, Samsung supply a heavy duty AC adapter with the Galaxy Tab, rated at 10W rather than a regular 5W PSU you’d normally see with a cellphone. That does mean charging the Tab from a regular USB adapter or port takes longer than from the supplied adapter.
In terms of size, the paperback-scale Galaxy Tab will fit into the front pocket of our (non-hipster-tight) jeans with the top corner still visible. It’s also narrow enough to fit into the inside pocket of an average jacket. Handbags or small messenger bags will have no trouble accommodating it whatsoever. The non-voice-enabled North American versions fall somewhere in-between phone and tablet, however, seeing as most people will still want to carry a cellphone of some sort. Nonetheless, the Samsung is definitely more portable than the iPad.
Accessories
Samsung has a range of official accessories for the Galaxy Tab, a side-effect being that you don’t get much in the box with the slate itself: a power adapter, USB sync cable, stereo headset and some printed documentation. We’d like to have seen a case or pouch of some sort, at the least.
There are three official cases – a slip case and a leather Filofax-style wallet, together with a “Diary Carry Case” that also props the Tab up at an angle, like the iPad’s folio case – as well as screen protectors, in addition to a keyboard dock with full QWERTY, a power port and 3.5mm headphones socket. There’ll also be a vehicle dock, for using the Galaxy Tab as a PND.
Wrap-Up
Listen to Steve Jobs and you’d automatically discount the Galaxy Tab as simply too small for a tablet; the Apple CEO is convinced 9.7-inches is the optimal size for a usable slate. Our time with the Tab suggests otherwise. Its 7-inch display may offer only half the usable area of the iPad, but the high resolution and responsive, accurate capacitive touchscreen add up to a user experience that’s significantly better than a regular smartphone for browsing, multimedia and – thanks in no small part to Samsung’s custom apps – messaging.
You also get more flexible hardware, with two cameras, voice-call support in the European Tab, HDMI connectivity with an optional dock, and a form-factor that’s more portable, without a significant impact on usability or battery life. The value of Samsung’s own apps can’t be understated, however; they’re what lift Android 2.2 on the Galaxy Tab from being an oversized phone to a proper tablet. Right now, third-party titles don’t have that same polish, but given Google, carriers and OEMs alike are looking to bigger screens we imagine developers will be up to speed with them sooner rather than later.

Price, then, may be the most contentious aspect of the Galaxy Tab, and early hopes that Samsung would significantly undercut the iPad have been disappointed. In the UK, various vendors are offering the Tab at around £530; there’s little in the way of subsidies right now, with most carriers instead pushing contract-free month to month data plans instead. In the US, Sprint and T-Mobile will offer the Tab at $400 with a new, two-year data plan, while Verizon is asking $600 with no minimum agreement; AT&T is yet to confirm pricing. A WiFi-only version, the GT-P1010, is also on the way, and though official pricing is yet to be confirmed, it’s expected to cost around $500.
It’s certainly not cheap, then, and on paper other Android slates look far more competitive; however, they also lack the Galaxy Tab’s various refinements. Samsung has confirmed that multiple Tab variants are in the pipeline, with larger and smaller displays and some with higher resolution cameras: this first model is merely the leading edge of a significant push into the slate market. Their investment in software customization will act as a significant differentiator when it comes to usability, just like having official Android Market access adds to the Galaxy Tab’s appeal.
There’ll be plenty of people left unconvinced by the first Galaxy Tab, but Samsung seems willing to pick off different user groups with different models along the way. If the iPad’s iTunes dependence, the controlled nature of the iOS ecosystem and the Apple slate’s sheer size have put you off, Android’s relative openness and the Tab’s relative scale are highly appealing. Perhaps most telling, with both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab on the table, we found ourselves reaching for the Samsung for quickly checking email and browsing. That might change once iOS 4.2 is released for the iPad – early reports are certainly glowing – but for now the Apple behemoth has some serious competition.