11 ms·
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and new Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on
- ctdonath 16y ago"The models we saw weren't final -- in fact, they didn't even power on" Stopped reading.
- dave1619 16y agoBut June 8 release date. I think they'll pre-release these to folks at Google I/O in May (at least the 8.9" model) and we'll see lots of happy developers.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- ugh 16y agoI think pre-announcing tablets at this point in time is a clever thing to do, it makes sure that nearly every article talking about iPads or tablets in general will mention that comparable products from Samsung are coming very soon.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- georgemcbay 16y agoI disagree. I think pre-announcements have their place, but are only really effective if you're already the dominant player (eg. Microsoft in OSes, especially in 199x and 200x, or Apple in the tablet/PMP space) and you're doing it to disrupt releases of upstarts. If you're going up against the 800 lbs gorilla with a product that is still basically unproven, I think preannouncing months in advance does more harm than good. I'm a big Android booster and self-described "Apple hater" but even I'm growing sick of how all the great new Android tablets have been JUST AROUND THE CORNER for about a year now.
- CountSessine 16y agoUmmm...who cares? There's always something coming out very soon.
- ugh 16y agoThere aren’t that many high profile Android tablets.
- DougBTX 16y agoThat's a good way to get "thinner" out the door in a hurry. Take out the battery?
- JoelSutherland 16y agoAre you suggesting that the final product won't be that thin? This isn't Duke Nukem Forever -- doesn't Samsung have a pretty good reputation for shipping?
- bandushrew 16y agoI think he is suggesting that they dont even exist in a usable form yet. If they did, surely they would have been delivered to the reviewer in a usable form?
- ctdonath 16y agoFollowup: Engadget writes today "Pocket-Lint has heard that the UK won't actually get the new thin version, although we're guessing that could always change in the future. As for the thicker 8.9-inch model pictured above, Samsung was making it quite clear at its booth that it wasn't planning to release that product to the public." http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/25/samsungs-original-galaxy-tab-10-1-renamed-the-tab-10-1v-thicke/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/25/samsungs-original-galaxy-...
- cryptoz 16y ago> The WiFi 10.1 will hit on June 8th -- the 16GB version will cost you $499 and the 32GB $599. Awesome! The Xoom's pricing is hard for many consumers to swallow (personally I can't wait to buy one myself as soon as they come to Canada). But the Tab 10.1 looks like it will be the first awesome Android tablet that's truly competitively priced with the iPad.
- MatthewPhillips 16y agoThe prices are the same, but Xoom just doesn't have a 16gb model.
- initself 16y agoWhy do engagdet.com urls always seem to create 2-4 additional urls in browser, so that clicking back once keeps me on the same page?
- austinB 16y agoMy biggest complaint with the article was just that. I cannot think of a legitimate reason to do this.
- BobSacamano 16y agoIf you look at all the photographs in the gallery relating to the article, you must click back the amount of images you looked at. Plus there is no back-to-article button. Bad navigation, Engadget. Use jQuery, it would make things much easier.
- rhizome 16y agoThey use a ghetto gallery that requires a pageload to change images.
- dave1619 16y agoCompetition just heated up. Slightly thinner and slighter lighter than the iPad 2, and at the same price. Wow! Samsung makes so much of the internals of the iPad 2, I think they might be Apple's biggest hardware competition. Too bad Samsung makes only slim margins on the hardware while Google and Apple make lots more off of the apps and browser.
- timdorr 16y agoThis includes their "TouchWiz" UI customizations, so there's definitely the chance for them to make some money from the software side of things or cross-promote more profitable products. Example: Functionality could be bundled in that pushes content to only Samsung-brand TVs.
- tjarratt 16y agoPlease, let's not give manufacturers any more ideas on how to lock down their functionality to specific hardware.
- nuclear_eclipse 16y agoI was really looking forward to getting the 10.1, but the addition of TouchWiz onto the stock Android makes me very hesitant. I'm hoping it will feature the same unlockable bootloader found on the Nexus One, Nexus S, and Xoom; if so, then I can just reflash it with a stock image if I don't like TouchWiz. I refuse to be at the mercy of Samsung to get updates for my $500 devices...
- austinB 16y agoI'm inclined to say the TouchWiz may not be all that bad, in fact some of the tweaks they made and features added could be quite welcome, but I cannot say I am a fan of Samsung getting into the OS realm even if they are trying to differentiate their tablets from other Android based tbls.
- oconnore 16y agoYou would prefer to be at the mercy of Apple for your updates? Software written for a specific piece of hardware can be a very good thing.
- rbarooah 16y agoApple's track record for updating iOS devices is hugely better than Samsungs.
- nuclear_eclipse 16y agoI would never buy a mobile Apple device for myself. I have a Nexus S, had a Nexus One before that, and won't be buying a tablet until I can compare the Xoom and the Tab 10.1 (or any other wifi competitor) and be sure that whichever I choose, I have the ability to reflash the device with custom firmware.
- jokermatt999 16y agoStock Android update timing tends to be much, much worse than iOS update timing, especially when custom firmware is involved. I say this as someone who borders on being an Android fanboy. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to prefer Android, but guaranteed on-time updating is not one of them, unless you've got a custom ROM. But if you're going to mention custom device images, aren't there similar options for jailbroken iPhones anyway?
- dsuriano 16y agoIn regards to competing with Apple, I feel like a lot of people forget the advantage that Apple's retail stores give them. The Apple retail stores give people an opportunity to use iPads preloaded with software in a nice shopping environment. How will Samsung (and others) reach the average consumer with these new tablets? Will Best Buy just stick them in the middle of 4 other tablets with price tags?
- bryanlarsen 16y agoSounds like an opportunity for Best Buy competitors. There's no reason stores other than Apple can't deliver a nice shopping experience. Not an easy problem, though: people will just browse and evaluate at your store, and then order online. Solution: aggressively charge for shelf space, just like grocery stores do for end cap placement.
- gxs 16y agoI find engadget reviews a bit too quick to praise. While this is actually a problem with most review sites, I notice it an awfully lot with engadget. I'd like for them to actually use the device, load it with data and let data from regular use accumulate, and THEN make an assessment. For example: they gave the HTC evo spectacular reviews. And the phone is actually pretty nice. But after a few thousand text messages, a few apps installed, email, etc., the device is very sluggish - not quite what your led to believe from reading their reviews.
- MatthewPhillips 16y agoStrange that you brought up the Evo, which after almost a year has held up as a top 3 phone for 2010.. I think high praise was deserved, regardless of whether it had a few issues.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- gxs 16y agoInteresting, do you have an Evo that you've used for the past year or are you anointing it top 3 status based on reviews alone? If you actually have one, It would be interesting to know how it's held up after heavy use. Personally, my experience with it, and those of people I know that have it has been less than stellar, though by no means awful.
- jtreminio 16y agoHTC Evo owner here. Bought it on the day it came out. Since then, I've upgrade the battery, and am currently running CyanogenMod 7 (Android 2.3.3). I just purchased a Samsung Epic 4G for my wife 2 months ago ... and comparing stock Evo with stock Epic, Evo blows the Epic away. The battery life also seems to be much better than the Epic's. The Evo is the best phone I've ever owned, and I've owned an iPhone 3GS.
- ChuckMcM 16y agoIts nice to see well funded competition to the iPad. As with most technologies, we can describe the 'killer' product which would cut off the iPad at the knees: * Tegra 3 [1] quad core mobile processor * 2400 x 1800 10.1" screen (300 ppi) with 'real' pixels (which is to say every pixel can be every color) * Combined capacitive touch and wacom equivalent stylus control. * 2 GB low power DDR3 ram, 64GB flash * Wifi, LTE, Bluetooth wireless stacks * Micro SD, Sim, micro hdmi, usb2 (or 3) port * Android OS with FOSS drivers for all peripherals. * $400 / $600 / $800 price points * 10 - 12 hr Battery life If one started shipping that device today, I would bet my 401k that it would outsell the iPad2 by the end of the year. Of course you can't ship it today, nVidia won't commit to a ship date on Tegra3, No one will commit to the 'high def' glass for the LCD (ideally OLED so no backlight to add thickness), Android isn't yet good enough at managing the battery to get that sort of efficiency, and the Wacom equivalent near field stylus interface will need a new driver and API to integrate with the rest of the stack. Which is why Steve Jobs can make an iPad and most people can't. Steve would say (as legend has it) "Don't tell me what you can't do, tell me when you'll have it done or I'll find someone else who can." (and since really there isn't any new physics here, just engineering work, he'd be right) So far none of the players in the field seem to have shown that sort of attitude, which is unfortunate. I'm also on record saying that Android is too heavy weight for this type of thing. I suspect that hiring 150 smart people who were told that after every checkin the total number of lines of code in the android build had to be less than it was prior to their checkin, and that the feature set had to remain the same. Let those folks run for a year and it might get close. [1] http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/02/tegra-roadmap-revealed-next-chip-worlds-first-quadcore-mobile-processor/ http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/02/tegra-roadmap-revealed-next-...
- zrgiu 16y agonoooooo.. Samsung screwed up a perfectly good OS again. Welcome to the tablet compatibility hell.