Hold on to your touch screens. The first serious competitor to Apple’s iPad has arrived.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch touch-screen tablet computer that runs on Google’s Android operating system. The model with 3G connectivity and Wi-Fi has a staggered release this week, starting at T-Mobile ($399.99 after rebate and contract, $599.99 without contract), at Verizon ($599.99, no contract option) and last of all at Sprint ($399.99 after rebate and contract). All three carriers have different monthly data plans, ranging from $20 a month (1 GB on Verizon) to $60 a month (5 GB on Sprint). AT&T has yet to announce a release date for its version.
After briefly testing the Verizon model, my first impression can be summed up in a sentence: It’s a giant Android smart phone that doesn’t make phone calls.
No, really. The media used to joke about this with the Apple’s iPad (which actually does offer a broader experience than iPhone). But the Galaxy Tab really does have everything in a smart phone except a calling plan. It even has a phone number assigned to it, but that’s only for sending and receiving text messages.
It also offers a front-facing camera and microphone, which give it the capability for video messaging, plus a 3-megapixel camera and video recorder on the back with a flash and the ability to take panorama shots.
Here’s a quick rundown:
_Size: Unlike the iPad, this is much easier to hold in one hand. (The size works well as an eBook reader — a plus if you’ll use it to download books from Amazon’s Kindle app, but not so great for programmers who want to use it to publish electronic versions of magazines, since the smaller screen limits creative page layout options. The Tab is ever-so-slightly thinner than the iPad at 0.47-inches and weighs 0.84…