Samsung’s recently announced 7-inch Android tablet, The Galaxy Tab, will be arriving on not one, not two, not three, but all four of the big U.S. carriers in the "coming months."The Tab will pop up on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. The 7-inch tablet will be priced competitively with Apple’s competing, red-hot iPad. Precise pricing and availability details for the Tab, the European version of which was officially unveiled earlier this month at the IFA consumer tech show in Berlin.
The specifications for the North American model of the Tab are pretty much the same as they are overseas - that is, we’re talking a 13-ounce, 0.47-inch thick tablet with a 7-inch "enhanced" TFT-LCD display (not Super AMOLED, as with Samsung’s Galaxy S Android smartphones) running on Android 2.2 "Froyo," complete with Flash support.
While Android 2.2 doesn’t support tablets, the Galaxy Tab does come with the Android Market installed, with some custom-designed apps (such as email, contacts, and the calendar) scaling to fit the Tab’s display and even switching to two-column mode when the tablet is held horizontally. Standard Android apps will appear in an 800-by-400 window on the Tab’s 1024-by-600 display.
The Galaxy Tab will also come with a pair of cameras: one in back with a 3-megapixel sensor (including an LED flash and auto-focus), and a 1.3MP lens in front, good for video chat over Wi-Fi with apps such as Qik and Fring.
In addition to Wi-Fi, the Tab will support cellular 3G data networks, given that the tablet will soon be offered by the four largest U.S. wireless carriers. Like the iPad, though, the Tab will only support wireless data and won’t do voice calls.
Another big part of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab announcement is the debut of the Media Hub, Samsung’s take on streaming media for its Galaxy phones and the Tab itself. At launch, the Media Hub will offer about 1,000 TV shows and movies from the likes of MTV Networks, NBC Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers. Shows and movies will be available for purchase and rent.
Other features on the Tab include a built-in microphone, GPS, an accelerometer, DLNA media sharing, 16GB of internal storage plus up to 32GB of additional memory through the microSD slot, and a 4,000 mAh battery. Under the hood lies Samsung’s custom 1GHz A8 Cortex processor.
A trio of accessories will also be available, including a full-size and heavy keyboard dock ($100), a desktop dock with an HDMI video output ($50), and a car kit with a bracket that attaches to the dashboard or windshield ($100).
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