Samsung names Galaxy Tab launch date
D-Day for pricey 7in Android tablet
Samsung's Galaxy Tab Android tablet will go on sale in Blighty on 1 November, the South Korean giant said today.
However, it didn't say how much the thing will cost. Given that the Tab incorporates a 7in, 600 x 1024 touchscreen, 1GHz ARM based CPU with an on-board PowerVR SGX graphics core, a GPS pick-up, a 3Mp camera, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and HSDPA 3G connectivity, you'd expect that it won't come cheap.
Indeed, Amazon.co.uk, while saying it will sell the Tab for £600 claims the RRP is £800. Ouch.
Fortunately, most online retailers are listing it around the £600 mark.
Samsung re-iterated its plan to sell the Tab not only through retailers but also mobile phone networks, though neither Vodafone nor Three have yet to say what they'll charge for the tablet when bundled with airtime.
Carphone Warehouse and Dixons stores will be selling the Tab too.
Samsung also said the Tab will contain three key apps: Readers Hub, Media Hub and Music Hub - which pull together, respectively, e-book, video and music sales sites. A fourth app, Social Hub, integrates the usual-suspect social networks.
Not all the Hubs will be available in the UK. The Music Hub, powered by 7digital, probably will be, but the Media Hub appears for now to be US-only. ®
COMMENTS
The first real contender
and it fails on the most important issue: price. No sensible person would pay extra for this over the iPad.
Also the iPad has the apps, the android store really doesn't come close in 90% of the fields. And even when it can compare there's few that are better or only available on Android.
Well,
they tried to name it properly, but "Medium Hub" confused punters, who kept asking if they could get a "Large Hub".
Price doesn't matter
You know the fanboys will buy it anyway, no matter how expensive it is. They'll buy any shiny thing that Saint Jobs tells them he invented.
Wait, am I missing something here?
Phone pricing caused this
Well, this is all down to inflated phone prices. If their Galaxy S phone (pretty much the same guts) is currently selling for around £450, they are going to have to sell the Tab for more or their phone punters (and investors) will say "now hang on a minute".
No way will this sell in quantity at this sort of price. Crazy phone prices have come back to bite them in the ass. Silly sods.
HTC and Samsung used to undercut the competition, now they've got a good chunk of the market they've just joined everyone else at the trough.
When will the bubble burst I wonder. This is unsustainable, especially now everyone is in 18month and 2 year contracts.
Fuggedaboudit!!!
When it comes to Android phones vs iPhones we put up with Android's little foibles because they deliver similar functionality at half the price (pretty much). In some areas (particularly the hardware) they have advantages.
This is nowhere close to a competitor for the iPad, particularly on price! And a 3Mp camera??? Meh
