Samsung intros 'skinnier than iPad 2' tablets Samsung's newly introduced 8.9in Galaxy Tab tablet is a massive, unbelievable 0.5mm thinner than the iPad 2. Yes, the new Apple tablet is 8.9mm thick, while the as-yet-unreleased Samsung rival is 8.4mm front to back. Credit where it's due: Samsung deserves praise for for shaving off less than a millimetre of thickness to make …
Nice and the kind of competition us consumers like. But 2 questions have to be asked.
1) How does android compare to apples IOS
2) What will be the resell value in a years time.
Personaly I think that with regards to the first question that the `openess` of android will make it more viable for people that can already use a computer to a reasonable degree. As for the second question I feel that in years time the iPad2 will hold more value at resell on ebay and the likes than the Android and this will be due to mostly two factors. One being that at the most thee will only be the iPad 3 to replace it unlike Andoid tablets that due to it's strength of openess also become's a weakness due to a unknown number of competiting models that will arise in the year. Also Apple products due to varoious factors have tend to hold there value more so than less reglated technology. Ok your mostly paying for the name but isn't that how fashion items sell. WIth that what applies best - technology deprecieation cycles of fashion cycles when it comes to Apple products.
I look forward to the hands-hands on review.
As for the thickness, whilst that is nice it is the weigh in a tablet that I find more important. I would also argue that how far it can be dropped and how it reacts to said drops being another area that often gets overlooked in reviews. But for understandable reasons (Not like Apple alor unbiased reporters that kind or level of reviewing).
As it stands I see the year paying out in general with a mix of consumers buying apples/androids dependant upon what store they walked into. Geek types mostly getting androids. Art types getting Apples and those who own blackberry's realy liking the playbook.
Me I'd like a tablet t be able to plug into my pc and be used as another screen ala USB, that is one feature I havn't seen and from my persepctive would add value/extra use to the device.
But remember no tablet will suit all - EVER, if that was going to be the case everybody would be driving the same car already for years and years. In technology, once you get the power you need it fall's down to the same area of fashionitism when it comes to selection.
not via USB but quick google found this for Windows: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/displaylink/id411678720?mt=8 . For Macs there is Air Display (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-display/id368158927?mt=8) and probably others.
Haven’t tried these as don’t have an iPad but seem useful…
...since I tend to use my gadgets to death, or pass them down to one of the kids. I suspect they'd be drooling over either form of tablet from arrival, the teen daughter (fashion-conscious and shallow) would KILL for an iPad, while the teen son (solder-burnt geek) would wet himself over the Android...
I want a Super AMOLED screen now damn it!!
I'm so impetulant :P
Impressively looking products! I have been tempted by iPad 1 prices recently, though the idea of being forced to install iTunes to my PC to keep my tablet up to date makes me queasy.
No doubt if an AMOLED screen does debut that some apple aficionados (see I'm being nice) will complain that AMOLED is too bright and too colourful and vibrant to give accurate colour rendering.
Yes, really. It's just a result of the different ways the two technologies work. OLED screens tend to have a slightly blue cast to them whereas the iPhone's screen has a slight yellow cast - probably due to the manufacturing process rather than the LED technology it uses.
In practice, when you use one or the other for any period of time your eyes (or rather your brain's colour perception) adjust and you don't notice - just like you hardly notice the intense yellow cast on everything when you sit in a room lit by normal tungsten lights, but when you stick them side by side you can see the difference immediately.
This might be the first tablet which is actually competitive with the iPad. Decent specs, svelt form factor, good price, and an OS designed for tablets (though reviews suggest honeycomb could use a point release to smooth things out).
I do feel sorry for the chumps who bought the original Galaxy Tab. You know that thing will never see an update.
However, it is not needed. I still love my Galaxy Tab, and will continue to do so after it is superceded, whether or not I decide to replace it. Such is life in the world of gadgets, I knew exactly what the likely lifespan was when I bought it.
In fact, as per one of the previous posts, I will probably retire it down to one of my children, and replace it, although I think I will probably stick with the 7" form factor if something nice is released in that size. I'm liking the look of the 8.9" Samsung, though, that might be enough to sway me to one of the larger screen sizes.
Now, how about you go away and patronise someone else whilst the adults talk?
GJC
I used to be very much anti tablets in general.. What is it for... why bother when you have a laptop etc..
But I'm gradually coming round to the idea.. a net book is all very well, but its more than I need when I just want to check a website quickly while sat on the sofa, or just have something to watch movies on a train journey (plus the battery sucks in this case) I could use my phone but the screen is very small..
If price can be got down to around the £250 mark then I may well give one a whirl.. Almost certainly not ipad though, I don't want to be locked in to apple
"some apple aficionados (see I'm being nice) will complain that AMOLED is too bright and too colourful and vibrant to give accurate colour rendering."
Bright?! While you can say many things about AMOLEDs, current ones are certainly not _bright_; lower light emission than all but the worst LCDs.
If it gets discounted to around the £300 as much as it doesn't matter, then at that kind of price I'll certainly get one. I was just about to replace my netbook but this has made me pause and think......
Mind you, samsung aren't exactly known for their firmware updates are they? so that may be the fly in the ointment.
No way I'm going to ever buy an ipad because
a) It just sings "I'm a twat and a sheep with more money than sense"
b) It just encourages steve jobs to keep acting like a twat and claiming everything is his and that he's brilliant (he's not btw).
c) I'd have to use that stupid stupid itunes with an interface so stupid a room full of monkeys who'd had their brains removed couldn't have invented anything that bad.
Mines the one with £300 in the pocket burning a hole.....
My own mock-up Dream-Pad is even thinner, weighs virtually nothing, runs at an incredible speed, for days, and will cost about £5. It can fold up to fit in your pocket. It will be open to anyone who can write Apps for it. Obviously it is made of cardboard, and the OS is all in my imagination, inspired by various TV series about aliens, but is just as operational as the Samsungs in the pictures.
This may be my last message, cos I'll be put away in a home fairly soon.
The screen sizes seem pointlessly similar to me. I was hoping that the 8.9 would be basically the same as the 10.1, but with a sensible 4:3 aspect ration rather than a pointless 16:9 or 16:10 aspect.
I also worry that all these Honeycomb tablets seem to focus on being used in landscape mode. This is really not the way to use a tablet (having said that, using 16:9 in portrait is like reading a website on a scroll).
Anyway, this Sammy looks like the first credible Android hardware. Now, if Google could just sort out the rough edges on Honeycomb before the June/July launch of the devices, Sammy may have a winner.
Motorola must be shitting themselves though...
... that's a mistake.
As tablets gain better penetration into mainstream markets, so businesses will find more and more use for them, take the example of the POS system reported here on El' Reg this week. One of the biggest advantages of the original 7" Tab is that it fits perfectly into the inside pocket of a suit jacket. 8.9" and 10.1" ain't going to do that, and will become yet another gadget left lying around on the desk/table/side, or in the car.
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