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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 |
Hardware
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has had a complicated inception. Samsung first outed the slate at Mobile World Congress in February, running NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual-core processor with a 10.2-inch 1280 x 800 display, 8-megapixel rear camera and 10.9mm thick chassis. At the time Samsung was talking about a March release, which has obviously since slipped; that’s because, in the meantime, Apple announced its iPad 2.
The second-gen Apple tablet was significantly thinner than its predecessor, at 8.8mm, and sent Samsung scurrying back into its labs to rework their rival to better compete. The end result – along with its smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9 sibling – arrived at CTIA 2011 in March, a waifish 8.6mm that bested the iPad 2′s bulk by a scant 0.2mm. In the process it lost some megapixels, taking the camera down to 3-megapixels though still with autofocus and flash. The original tablet was rebadged the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V, a Vodafone Europe exclusive.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition still keeps the 1GHz dual-core processor, a choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, WiFi a/b/g/n (dual-band), Bluetooth 2.1 and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Initially there will be WiFi-only models, with 3G versions arriving later in the year. It also has the excellent display of its siblings, with bright colors, strong contrast and great viewing angles.
Unlike the aluminum iPad 2, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses all plastic in its construction. The regular model will be dark grey, unlike the white of the Limited Edition, though both measure in at 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm and 595g. That makes it slightly longer and slightly narrower than the Apple slate, as well as 5g lighter. More importantly, perhaps, it’s thinner and lighter than the XOOM (13mm/730g), G-Slate (12.8mm/630g) and Eee Pad Transformer (13mm/680g). Despite the plastic build it’s reasonably solid and flex-free, and the Gorilla Glass front leaves us fairly confident it could survive being tossed into a bag without a case to coddle it.
Ports include a dock connector on the bottom edge – which will support 1080p HD with the right adapter, unfortunately absent – along with a 3.5mm headphone jack, though no dedicated HDMI or even USB. That leaves owners relying on whatever adapters Samsung offers for hooking up a wired keyboard and mouse, or using Bluetooth peripherals. Stereo speakers are on either side, rather than on the bottom edge as in the 10.1V. Physical controls are limited to power/lock and the volume rocker on the top edge. A microphone is on the bottom.
Software
We’ve already thoroughly reviewed Android Honeycomb, Google’s tablet-centric OS, finding it a platform with plenty of promise though its fair share of rough edges. What sets this special edition Galaxy Tab 10.1 aside is that it comes without Samsung’s TouchWiz UI adaptations. The eventual commercial release in June will see the Honeycomb interface tweaked with various widgets and other components.
That given, we’ll have to wait until retail units are available to find out exactly how well Samsung’s customizations play out. From what we’ve seen already on various Galaxy Tab prototypes, it looks to strike a solid balance between usability enhancement and still leaving Honeycomb roughly intact. There are Live Panels, with weather, calendar and other content, a Mini Apps Tray for quick launching favorite apps, and the Social Hub app – pulling in Twitter, Facebook and other social networking content – familiar from the Samsung Galaxy S II. Finally there are the Reader, Media and Music Hubs, Samsung’s download stores for digital content.
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