The ultra-hot Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Android tablet that’s going to give the iPad some headaches, is landing at both Rogers and Bell. And why not? The seven-inch tablet computer with a 1024—600 display Super LCD capacitive touchscreen has already been picked up by all four major US carriers, so why not share the love around in Canada, too? Doug Groves of rgb filter got to check the Tab out and give his impressions.
There isn’t an official launch date at either Canadian mobile service, but rumors are talking late November. Is that soon enough? And here’s a an even more mumbled rumor: there may be a new sharing plan set up between your smartphone’s existing data plan and your Galaxy Tab. Not clear if that means letting it use your phone as a mobile hotspot or moving the SIM card over to the tablet. Since the tab has that VGA front-facing camera, it would be awesome to have video chat anywhere, even away from a WiFi point.
One of the first things Groves noted was the difference between the Tab back between North American and European versions. The former has a “carbon fibre black” rather than the white back the Tab sports on the Continent. (See photo at right.) He also felt that despite the iPad’s bigger size (9.7 inch screen), the Tab’s 16:9 display ratio used more of its (smaller) screen, making the size issue less of a factor than he expected.
Also Samsung is including a dedicated e-reader of magazines, newspapers and books, the last powered by Kobo. No media to verify the e-reader does its job, though, but certain apps that play nice with Google’s guidelines work just fine on the larger tablet display. Angry Birds were up close and personal at the high-resolution. Its Hummingbird processor is running at 1 GHz, so it can keep up.
And don’t forget: Android Market is on this tablet! Most of the other can’t make that claim, and that’s why they’re holding out for the next OS release.
Here’s some hands-on video, again courtesy of rgb filter (8.5 minutes).
Source & back image:rgb filter