Samsung Takes on the iPad with 7-inch Galaxy Tab

September 2, 2010 By Geoff Duncan

Samsung's Galaxy Tab features a 7-inch display, Android 2.2, a 1 GHz Cortex processor, Bluetooth 3.0, and two cameras. Can it take on the Apple iPad?

At this week’s IFA trade show in Berlin, South Korean electronics giant Samsung took the wraps off the Galaxy Tab, its first entry into the consumer tablet market. With the Galaxy Tab, Samsung hopes to extend the success of its Galaxy S line of smartphones to the tablet arena, offering a powerful Android-based device with features designed to take on—and maybe even beat—the Apple iPad. And Samsung plans to launch the device in Europe this month, with launches in the United States, Asia, and Korea following in “coming months.”

“Samsung recognizes the tremendous growth potential in this newly created market and we believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market,” said Samsung Electronics head of mobile communications J.K. Shin, in a statement. “The Samsung GALAXY Tab has been designed to enable consumers to maximize their online experience wherever that may be.”

The Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch tablet device with a 1,024 by 600-pixel display, running Android 2.2 “Froyo” and Adobe Flash Player 10.1—and the Galaxy Tab will also be DivX-certified, along with being able to handle a wide range of video formats like XviD, MPEG54, H.263, H.264, and more. Under the hood, the Galaxy Tab features a 1 GHz Cortex processor—not the same as the Hummingbird processor in the Galaxy S phones—along with 512 MB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, plus a 3 megapixel front-facing camera along with a 1.3 megapixel user-facing camera for video chat—those last two points are big wins over the iPad, which doesn’t offer any camera at all. The Galaxy Tab packs 32 GB of flash storage and a microSD slot for up to 32 GB of additional removable storage.

The Galaxy Tab also features 3G connectivity: initial specs tout quad-band GDSM/EDGE and tri-band 900/1900/2100 7.2Mbps HSDPA. Early reports on the Galaxy Tab had the device coming to Verizon Wireless in the U.S. which—if true—would indicate Samsung is willing to put different 3G gear in the device for the carrier. The HSDPA specs also omit a band used by AT&T in the U.S., so the device might bear different 3G specs if it were to debut on AT&T.

Of course, as an Android device, the Galaxy Tab will be able to tap into the Android market for applications and games. The Galaxy Tab features a gyroscope and accelerometer for gaming.

Samsung has not announced pricing or any carrier partners for the device in the U.S. or in other markets.

Showing 9 comments

sankari at 1:00am 12th July 2011 Yours content is good, i ve gone through some other website that give more information about samsung galaxy tab, www.computertroubletips.com/2011/06/samsung-galax...
zing at 5:11pm 2nd September 2010 Apple will leapfrog this imitation by the time it reaches the US market.
1. nick at 5:53pm 21st October 2010 apple will bankrupt for us market. I think galaxy tab is way better than stupid ipad.
Jmore at 3:01pm 2nd September 2010 I'm sorry I think its nuts that I had to watch a comercial before I was able to watch the comercial for the tab. I HAD TO WATCH A COMERCIAL, TO WATCH A COMERCIAL. I think thats going too far
carterjay at 2:08pm 2nd September 2010 No 720P res? Kind of a mistake there...
ioman at 1:13pm 2nd September 2010 Looks awesome, definitely the anti-ipad with Android being the OS. It has everything the iPad should have had featurewise. It's a little thicker than I would have linked though. And I really question the app store and how good apps will look on something with a screen this big.
Chad at 12:22pm 2nd September 2010 Im already in line!!
Paul at 12:10pm 2nd September 2010 looks great!
Josh Youngha Park at 11:32am 2nd September 2010 When the iPad first came out i wanted a tablet device but opted to wait for the inevitable android competitors. so far the galaxy tab is looking AMAZING! day one buy for me.