Friday, September 3, 2010

South Korean tech companies play Moses; unveil two tablets

The other day we had KT's offering, and today we officially have one from Samsung.

From PC Magazine:
Can Samsung take on Apple in the tablet space? It sure thinks it can. Its new tablet has Google's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and a number of specs that compare to the Apple iPad.

First, the display. It is a seven-inch TFT-LCD screen with 1024 x 600 pixels. The iPad's display is 9.7 inches, and has 1024 x 768 pixels. It's possible that the smaller size paired with a similar pixel count could make the Tab's display look better than the iPad's. I can't say for sure without seeing them side-by-side.

The Tab has a Cortex A8 1GHz processor. The iPad also has an A4 1GHz processor. I am surprised that Samsung isn't using the same home-grown Hummingbird 1GHz processor that it is using in its Galaxy line of Android phones.

The Samsung Tab also has 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 (that's a biggie), and full quad-band GDSM/EDGE and tri-band 900/1900/2100 7.2Mbps HSDPA. Missing is the 850Mhz band that AT&T uses in conjunction with the 1900MHz band. Does that mean it won't work properly in the U.S.? Samsung hasn't made that clear, though it did say that the device will launch in the U.S. later this year.
PC Magazine had some more information last month. I gotta say that "Tab" is a kind of uninspired name. I think they were trying to do an anagram of sorts (in Han•gǔl) involving pad.

I, of course, will get neither of these, but not because I'm an Apple fanboy. As I stated in the KT tablet post, once you've gone retina you'll never go back, and that means I won't get an iPad unless they upgrade to a retina display. Even this MacBook Pro screen annoys me.

3 comments:

  1. Woah...this is just so cool. Major props to Samsung (again!). But again, it always boils down to the apps...if Samsung can just partner up with more software companies to do apps, then they would step all over Apple. But Apple always has that advantage. Also, if they can substantially reduce the price tag from Apple's back-breaking $700 minimum, they have a shot. I liked that mapfinder app on the Samsung...good use of the lens on the back.

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  2. Minimum $700? The 16GB wi-fi only model is $499. For around $700 you're getting either 64GB with wi-fi only, or 32GB plus 3G (and 16GB plus 3G is just above $600). [Prices here.]

    I think the release of Samsung's product along with one or two other tablets could be the critical mass needed for other companies to make apps for that platform. Well, not really sure how it works on that side of the universe, but I'm assuming that there's an "if you build it, they will come" synergy at work.

    But like I said, I'm not interested in a tablet until Apple comes out with a retina display for one. I've been ruined.

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  3. Kush,

    Both the tablet and the iPhone 4 have the same technology LCD screen the "IPS" LCD screen. So... the tablet as the "retinal" display.

    Btw... the retinal screen is really more of a marketing gimmick.

    ReplyDelete

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