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LAS VEGAS — Samsung climbed aboard the increasingly crowded 4G train with a trio of 4G LTE-enabled devices Thursday afternoon at CES 2011.

Among the devices are a new version of the Galaxy Tab. Along with 4G connectivity capability, the new tablet will have an upgraded 5-megapixel back facing camera, distinguished from the current models 3 megapixels.

Samsung didn’t announce when the tablet would be available. It will be exclusive to Verizons 4G network in the U.S.

In addition to the new tablet, Samsung also unveiled a new, yet-to-be named smartphone, provisionally called the 4G LTE. Its yet another launch of a mobile device with a massive super AMOLED screen — it measures in at 4.3-inches — debuting only days after the company had first announced its 4.5-inch Infuse smartphone.

Under the hood, the 4G LTE has a 1 GHz single-core processor. Just like the Infuse, the 4G LTE has an 8-megapixel back facing camera, with a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video chat. Both the 4G LTE and the Infuse will run Froyo. Like the tablet, there arent any pricing or availability details being made public yet.

And to round out the announcement, Samsung also introduced its aptly named 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot for Verizons 4G network. The device will work much like other hotspots do, acting as a wireless access point for up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices at once. Its also backward compatible with Verizons 3G network.

See Also:

• Official: Samsung Galaxy Tab $600 on Verizon
• How 7-Inch Android Tablets Can Succeed
• Verizon Mulling Wired Broadband Pricing Tiers For 4G Wireless

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Selling 10 million units of any product in its first 6 months of initial release is nothing to scoff at. In the world of smartphones, it’s certainly a number to notice.

That’s why our eyebrows perked up when we read Samsung’s email this morning, announcing that the company’s Android-based Galaxy S model has sold over 10 million units worldwide since its debut in late June.

It’s an admirable number, although not quite in the same league as Apple, which sold 14.1 million iPhone 4 phones during the third quarter of 2010. And it definitely gives RIM reason to worry: RIM sold 12.1 million phones in the third quarter, down 2.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to Comscore data released in November.

The battle for operating system share has been heated between the big three contenders: Apple’s iOS, Android, and RIM’s Blackberry OS. But Android has seen a surge in attention in 2010. Over 40 percent of customers purchasing smartphones over the last 6 months have chosen Android-based phones, according to a recent report released by Nielsen, beating out the percentage of people who chose Apple, which rests at 26.9 percent.

But in the same Nielsen data, Apple shows its slight (if dwindling) edge in the overall number of phones that are out there. Apple’s iOS has an overall market share of 28.6 percent, edging out Android, which rests at 26.1 percent. RIM’s Blackberry OS comes in only slightly behind Android at 25.8 percent.

There’s been a steady upward trajectory of Android-based phone sales over the past two years. Motorola’s Droid sold an estimated 100,000 units over the weekend of its release in late 2009. It took the Droid 74 days to reach the 1 million mark, according to research firm Flurry Analytics.

But it took Samsung a month less to reach the same point with the Galaxy S; the company said it had sold 1 million in the first 45 days since launch.

See Also:

• Samsung Sells Five Million Galaxy S Phones
• Samsung Ships One Million Galaxy S Phones in 45 Days
• Galaxy S

Photo: aaronage/Flickr

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LAS VEGAS — Samsung is first out of the gate with at CES 2011 with a brand-new, easy-to-use camcorder. Folded down, the simple cylindrical shape of the HMX-Q10 looks a lot like a thermos flask or a flashlight. Open it up and you see just how much Samsung has packed in.

Almost everything is controlled from the 2.75mm touch-screen, which itself features an orientation-detecting design so the picture and therefore the controls is always the right way up, just like a modern smartphone. This also means that left-handers can flip it upside down and still have full control. Samsung calls this a “switch-grip”.

As for pictures, you can shoot up to 1080i and 720p at 60fps, and capture 4.9 megapixel stills. These are all recorded onto an SDHC memory card, for as long as the battery lasts: anywhere between four and 34 hours depending on picture-quality settings.

The HMX-Q10 also comes with all the gimmicks you’d expect on a consumer-grade camera: face-detection, a scene-detection mode for exposure adjustments, and a low price. When the camera goes on sale in February 2011, it will cost just $300.

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At last, somebody, somewhere will sell a credible alternative to the iPad Touch. Ever since September 2007, Apple has had the phone-less pocket computer market to itself. This is about to change, thanks to Samsung’s Galaxy Player, a non-cell version of its super-successful Galaxy S.

Last year, Samsung got a rather crappier Galaxy-branded media player into European stores, but this on is the real deal. It sports a pair of cameras (3.2MP round back, and a VGA webcam up front), Bluetooth, GPS, a microSD card slot, a 1GHz processor and Android 2.2 Froyo.

The screen is four-inches on the diagonal, bigger than the Touch, but with a lower resolution of 800480 (the Touch boasts a 960-by-640 Retina display). The Player is also thicker than the Touch 9.9mm against 7.2mm but this is likely how Samsung manages to fit in a better camera and a removable battery.

Pricing has yet to be revealed, but we know what sizes the player will come in: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. More to come from CES, which is less than two weeks away.

Samsung confirms Galaxy Player, will showcase at CES 2011 [Samsung Hub]

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Samsung’s 7-inch tablet isn’t “dead on arrival” after all. In fact, Samsung has sold over a million of them in less than two months.

Released in mid-October, the Galaxy Tab is the first serious contender to Apple’s iPad. It sports a 7-inch touchscreen and runs a modified version of Google’s Android operating system.

“I can confirm 1M Galaxy Tabs sold globally,” a Samsung spokeswoman said in an e-mail statement.

Holy moley. That’s not too far away from the iPad, which sold 1 million units in just 28 days.And it’s a number that should have Steve Jobs eating his hat after he ruthlessly derided 7-inch tablets during a recent earnings call.

“7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad, Jobs said. “These are among the reasons that the current crop of 7-inch tablets are going to be DOA dead on arrival.

So much for that.

The Galaxy Tab’s hot sales show that the tablet category has plenty of room for competition and growth. 2010 was truly the year the tablet became mainstream after several flops in the past, thanks to the success of the iPad.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet powered by the Android operating system, has made its rounds with gadget reviewers, and consensus says it’s a solid but pricey device.

Reviewers at tech blogs and mainstream publications, including Wired.com, found that the Galaxy Tab offered a pleasing user experience despite some flaws. Many quipped that the Galaxy Tab, priced at $600, is too expensive when pitted against Apple’s larger $500 iPad.

The Galaxy Tab is the first official Android tablet on the market to compete with Apple’s iPad. Samsung has marketed the smaller, pocketable size of the Galaxy Tab as ideal for commuters, while highlighting Adobe Flash as a key feature that the tablet supports, unlike the iPad.

Reviews of the Galaxy Tab were mostly positive, but the most dissenting opinion comes from Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo, who described the Galaxy Tab as a “pocketable trainwreck.” A list of excerpts from reviews of the Galaxy Tab follows.

Christopher Null, Wired.com:

“The Tab ultimately reveals itself not as a competitor to the iPad but as a new class of mobile devices: a minitablet that is designed to go everywhere you do.”

Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal:

“The Tab is attractive, versatile and competitively priced, though monthly cell fees can add up. Its different enough from the iPad, yet good enough, to give consumers a real choice.”

David Pogue, New York Times:

“With the Samsung Galaxy Tab, youre also buying delicious speed and highly refined hardware. Its just a shame that youre buying all that for $600.”

Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo:

“This thing is just a mess. It’s like a tablet drunkenly hooked up with a phone, and then took the fetus swimming in a Superfund cleanup site. The browser is miserable, at least when Flash is enabled. It goes catatonic, scrolling is laggy, and it can get laughably bad.”

Joanna Stern, Engadget:

“It’s the best Android tablet on the market. Now, that’s not saying much given the state of the Android competition, but we can also assuredly say that the Tabis the first true competitor to Apple’s iPad. Its crisp display, compact form factor, touch-friendly software and dual cameras undoubtedly have what it takes to win over the average tablet seeker.”

Melissa Perenson, PCWorld:

“The Samsung Galaxy Tab lives up to its promise as the most credible Android tablet to date. Though it isn’t perfect, it is a strong first-gen device. It isn’t for everyone: The high cost without a monthly contract ($600) underscores that. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to get a mobile broadband data device, the Galaxy Tab’s potential as a mobile hotspot makes it more attractive than some of its competitors.”

Chris Davies, SlashGear:

“Its 7-inch display may offer only half the usable area of the iPad, but the high resolution and responsive, accurate capacitive touchscreen add up to a user experience thats significantly better than a regular smartphone for browsing, multimedia and thanks in no small part to Samsungs custom apps messaging.”

Donald Bell, CNET:

With the Galaxy Tab, Samsung has created a true peer of the iPad–an uncompromising product that stakes out new territory in terms of both design and features.

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Windows Phone 7 turns out to be perfectly capable of tethering your data signal to a laptop via USB cable, a feature it was though to lack. To access the secret tethering mode, you’ll need to do some diagnostic voodoo, but its pretty straightforward stuff: more like inputting a video-game cheat code than actual hacking.

First, you need to get into the handset’s diagnostic mode. Right now the instructions are only available for Samsung WP7 phones. To do this, dial ##634# and hit the call button, followed by *#7284#. This will give you the above menu, which lets you toggle between the default Zune sync, a diagnostic utility and, yes, a tethered modem.

Back at the computer, use these settings to let it talk to the new modem:

number: *99***1#
user name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
password: CINGULAR1

Neat, free and fun. What more could you ask for? We’re sure that hacking other, non-Samsung handsets will be possible, too, as soon as somebody works out the proper codes.

According to David K of Mobile Digest, you can connect and disconnect just by plugging or yanking the USB cord. And because WP7 allows Wi-Fi syncing, you don’t even need to change this new tethering setting back – just leave it as it is. I don’t have a Samsung Windows Phone 7 phone to test this on, so let us know how things go in the comments.

Windows Phone 7 Tethers! You Can Do it NOW! Heres How [Mobile Digest]

Samsung Omnia 7 ha il tethering USB! [HD Blog.IT]

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Some tablets and smartphones ship with an AMOLED display. Newer ones are shipping with a “Super AMOLED” display. What so super about it, and what does all this alphabet soup even mean?

The short version is that a Super AMOLED touchscreen display integrates touch sensors with the glass surface panel, eliminating at least one layer of glass and with it, a layer of air. That’s what makes Super AMOLED super. Only Samsung makes it.

Super AMOLED schematic from Samsung

I said “at least one layer of glass” because AMOLED itself eliminates at least one layer in a display. The current Galaxy Tab, for example, uses a TFT-LCD (Thin-Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) screen. Until very recently, TFT-LCD has been the state of the art in thin color displays and is still the only cost-effective option in the vast majority of displays larger than a smartphone screen.

TFT-LCD has approximately four layers: a backlight, a TFT color filter, a touch sensor panel, and an outer glass screen. AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) eliminates the separate backlight. Apple’s iPhone 4, among others, uses a Samsung-made AMOLED display.

AMOLED, however, is known for having problems with glare and readability in direct sunlight, even relative to average LCD screens. By minimizing the number of reflective surfaces and power necessary to achieve vivid color, Super AMOLED was designed in part to address this.

Samsung introduced Super AMOLED to commercial devices this year with the Samsung Wave, which ran their own Bada OS. The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy series of smartphones made the displays popular, and it’s since appeared on Samsung’s Windows Phone 7 handsets as well.

There are other advanced color technologies in the market, all of them super, and all of them extra-expensive: Super LCD recently joined Super IPS and Advanced Super View. But only Super AMOLED has really captured the popular imagination.

A 7-inch Android tablet with an AMOLED display would probably be a serious advance over its current LCD screen. But if it’s “just” AMOLED, something about it would just seem… less than super.

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Since its former ally Sony has shifted its emphasis on net-connected devices to archrival Google, it only makes sense for Yahoo! to expand its partnership with the other high-volume TV makers, Samsung and Toshiba, and go for the globe.

Yahoo! and Samsung announced that they would bring Connected TV to 26 countries in Europe and 39 countries worldwide. In September, Yahoo! made a similar announcement with Toshiba, touting its new availability on Toshiba HDTVs in North America. Yahoo! TV is also available on sets made by Sony, Vizio, and LG.

Yahoo! offers a much more modest integration of the web with television than Google TV. Instead of fullscreen apps, it mostly widgets for popular services like Pandora, Twitter, TV Guide, and news and weather services, although it also offers internet TV through services like YouTube and Amazon video on demand.

The main draw might be Yahoo!’s own services, including Flickr, News, Weather, Finance and popular social games like Y! Fantasy Football.

“We don’t think people want the whole Web browser experience crammed in a TV,” Yahoo!’s Russ Schafer told the AFP. “It is a best-of-the-Web, not all-of-the-Web.”

Because Yahoo! TV takes a less radical approach than Google or Apple TV in delivering web content through the television set, it’s faced less pushback from networks and other content makers. This makes for less frustation, but also fewer features and less long-term upside.

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Across the pond, lucky Europeans are waking up to the opportunity to buy Samsung’s overpriced Galaxy Tab. The Android 2.2 3G tablet is on sale today, and can be had on the 3 network at a confusion of different prices.

These tariffs come from Carphone Warehouse, as good a place as any to choose for pricing as it sells phones from all carriers. On a monthly plan, the cheapest handset price is 99 (159) if you you sign up for two years at 40 ($64) per month. That gets you 5GB of bandwidth, which isn’t bad.

If you pay the full whack of 500 ($800) you can opt for a 10-per-month ($16) contract-free data-plan. It rolls along like any other plan, automatically renewing itself until canceled, and gives you 1GB of bandwidth to use.

Finally, the raw, no-nothing handset price is $529, or $850. That, if you’re counting, is $21 more than the most expensive iPad, with 64GB storage. To be fair, this compares the rather expensive Pound Sterling prices back to the iPad in dollars, but even in Blighty the Tab costs the same as the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad.

If anything, this head-to-head pricing will really show us if the bigger Tab can be as popular as its multi-million-selling little brother, the Galaxy Tab S. We hope so. The Tab is the first real rival to the iPad we have seen yet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab product page [Carphone Warehouse]

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If you didn’t get your fill of the Google Nexus phone, there may be a second chance. Google may have tapped Samsung to create the Nexus Two, a new smartphone that could debut early next month, according to a report on an Android news site.

Samsung will announce the Nexus Two on November 8, claims Androidandme.com. The phone is likely to ship with the upcoming Android ‘Gingerbread’ version of the operating system, and would be the first device to do so, says the site.

Whether the rumors around Nexus Two are true or not, one thing is clear. There is a press event for that date and Samsung does plan to introduce a new Android device then. “We’re not commenting on the rumors and speculation,” says a Google spokesperson.

Despite the problems with its Nexus One experiment, Google has said in the past it isn’t averse to introducing more Nexus brand devices.

Google launched the Nexus One, a phone designed by HTC, in January. The Nexus One was initially available only on T-Mobiles network. But instead of being sold through T-Mobile stores, the search giant said it would sell Nexus Ones through its web site and handle customer support itself.

That strategy didnt resonate with consumers. Nexus Ones online store failed to catch on. Potential customers couldn’t get their hands on a device to try before they buy and Google was flooded with complaints related to customer support. Finally, in July, Google decided to stop selling Nexus Ones.

If the latest rumors pan out, then it seems that Google is ready to dive into the smartphone market. And this time it would have, hopefully, learnt from its mistakes.

It will be interesting to see what Google and Samsung do differently. Already, Google’s choice of Samsung stands out because the search giant has had a very close relationship with HTC -one of the biggest cheerleaders and manufacturers of Android phones.

The launch of the Nexus Two phone may also mean more information about the Gingerbread version of the Android OS, which is reported to have made significant improvements in the user interface and multimedia capability. A software developer’s kit or SDK for the OS could also be out around the same time.

Photo: Nexus One

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It’s the year of the tablets as electronics makers rush to get one of the hottest gadgets of the year into the hands of users. Acer is the latest to announce it will launch a new line of tablets.

The devices will be introduced in New York on November 23 and will be priced ranging from $300 to $700, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

Acer tablets will join a crowded and extremely competitive market. Since the launch of the Apple iPad in April, most major electronics makers have announced their own devices to take on the iPad. So far, Apple has sold more than 4.3 million iPads.

In June, Dell launched a 5-inch tablet called Streak, while Samsung recently debuted a 7-inch device called the Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s tablet Playbook is expected to hit stores next year.

Separately, T-Mobile has said it will offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab for $400 (after a rebate) and with a two-year service agreement.It is similar to Sprint’s pricing for the device. Verizon has said it will sell the Galaxy Tab for $600 without a contract.

Acer might try to ink a similar deal but it will have to do more in terms of product features to stand out. Acer hasn’t said if the new tablets will be based on Windows or Android OS.

But one thing’s likely–Acer is going to find it hard to see the same kind of success in the tablet market that it has with netbooks.

Photo: Acer Aspire in slate form (arabani/Flickr)

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, one of the first tablets to contend with the iPad, is getting multiple price tags.

Samsung on Monday confirmed that Sprint will sell the 7-inch Galaxy Tab for $400 with a two-year contract. Incidentally, a leaked Best Buy brochure hints that the retailer will sell a Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab for $500.And last week, Verizon said it would offer a contract-free version of the Galaxy Tab for $600. The Galaxy Tab goes on sale mid-November.

At first glance, these prices seem competitive with Apple’s iPad, but they’re not that impressive.Sprint’s pricing for the Galaxy Tab is a raw deal: It will cost you $400, but you’ll pay at least an additional $720 over the two-year contract. (Apple’s 3G iPad is contract-free, so you can activate cellular data whenever you need to use it, and opt out when you don’t.)

Verizon’s $600, contract-free Galaxy Tab and Best Buy’s $500 Wi-Fi appear to match the pricing of the iPad. (The iPad costs$500 for its Wi-Fi only model, and the 3G model starts at $630 without a contract.) However,the iPad has a bigger screen and more apps.

The pricing of the Galaxy Tab only proves Steve Jobs’ point. Apple’s CEO said in an earnings call last week that other manufacturers were having difficulty producing tablets at a competitive price with the iPad.

Jobs also pronounced 7-inch tablets “dead on arrival,” arguing that their screen size was too small for a good touchscreen software experience. However, that’s up for debate; we’ll have to wait to see the consensus when the Galaxy Tab finally ships in November.

Photo courtesy of Samsung

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This week’s Gadget Lab podcast is packed with brand new, shiny goodies. Apple released new notebooks, and Microsoft launched its first phones running Windows Phone 7.

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Released Wednesday, Apple’s new MacBook Air now comes in two different flavors with 11- or 13-inch screens. We have an 11-inch Aur here in the lab, and we wonder how to justify paying $1,000 for one of these when you can pay $300 for a netbook or $500 for an iPad.

As for Microsoft, Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to create a phone powered by Windows Phone 7. I reviewed the Samsung Focus, and I’m a big fan of the OS, despite some flaws and features it’s still missing.

Wrapping up the podcast on a sadder note, Wired.com’s Priya Ganapati discusses the future of the Symbian foundation, responsible for the OS behind most Nokia phones, whose president recently resigned.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #92

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Samsung has announced the price of its iPad rival, the Galaxy Tab. It will cost $600 and come contract-free on Verizon’s 3G network. A data plan is optional and will cost $20 per month for 1GB, and the tablet will be available to buy on November 11th.

It’s an interesting price, coming in at just $30 shy of the cheapest iPad 3G, but with a screen just half the size. You do get a couple of cameras, though – 3MP back and 1.3MP front – as well as the latest Android OS 2.2 Froyo running on Cortex A8 a 1GHz CPU.

I can’t guess how this will go. Samsung has, after all, sold five million of its Galaxy S phones in just three months, and many people will surely appreciate the pocket-ability of the smaller form-factor. On the other hand, the iPad can now be had on Verizon for around the same price, although you do have to use the MiFi hotspot to get Verizon 3G.

One thing is certain. The Galaxy Tab is the first really viable alternative to the iPad, and it will show us if the non-nerd public is willing to buy tablets in general like they do cellphones, or if they are only interested in Apple’s, as happened with its dominant iPad market. We’ll see soon enough.

Verizon Wireless Puts Samsung Galaxy Tab in Stores in November [Samsung]

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Samsung’s Galaxy S Android phone is officially a runaway success. It has sold five million units since its launch at the end of June, just over three months ago, proving that a single Android phone is capable of iPhone-like sales figures. The Galaxy S joins Motorola’s Droid as one of the fastest-selling Android handsets.

The Galaxy S, soon to be joined by the Galaxy Tab tablet, has a huge four-inch AMOLED screen, a 5MP camera and the ability to quickly drain the battery and bring the browser to its knees by running Adobe’s Flash plugin.

The numbers break down like this: Of five million units, two million were sold in the US, one million in Samsung’s home country Korea and the rest in other world markets, including China, where the handset went on sale in September. The announcement was made by Samsung at another launch event in Tokyo, Japan, where the Galaxy S will go on sale in late November, running Android 2.2 Froyo.

Samsung unleashes a GALAXY of opportunities in Japan [Korea Newswire via ]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

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Apple may be selling millions of iPads today but in a few years Android tablets are likely to surpass the iPad in market share, says a Wall Street analyst.

The Google designed Android operating system will be the iPad’s primary competition and newer releases of the OS coupled with choice of devices for consumers could help put Android tablets ahead of the iPad, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray told Business Insider.

“As in the smartphone market currently, we believe Google’s Android OS will power the stiffest competition to Apple’s iPad,” Munster wrote in a research note to his clients. “Long term, we believe Android could surpass the iPad in tablet market share due to devices from numerous manufacturers.”

The prediction is surprising because Munster is a long-time Apple watcher and in recent years has been extremely bullish about Apple’s prospects.

At least, in the smartphones category Android is surging. More than 20 Android smartphones are available in the U.S. today. Android is now the most popular OS among people who bought a smartphone in the past six months, according to August data from The Nielsen Company. Blackberry RIM and Apple iOS are in a statistical dead heat for second place among those bought a smartphone recently.

Munster says the tablets category might see something similar. Apple launched its iPad in April and since then has sold more than three million devices. But competitors are taking on the iPad. Samsung plans to make its 7-inch Android tablet called Galaxy Tab available through all the major wireless carriers in the U.S. Dell has already released a 5-inch Android tablet called Streak and says it will introduce a 7-inch model early next year. Meanwhile, smaller companies such as ELocity have also introduced a Android tablet.

The release of Android 3.0 ‘Gingerbread’ version could accelerate the development of Android-based tablets says Munster. Android 3.0 is expected to support 1280 x 768 resolution for displays, the same as that on the iPad. That will make it easier for device makers to take the Android OS and port it on to larger displays–something LG has already indicated it will do. Last week, LG said it will hold off on creating tablets till Android 3.0 is launched–later this year or early next year.

For now, though, Apple has little to worry about. Next year, Android will make up just 26 percent of the tablet market compared to the iPad at 57 percent, says Munster.

Photo: (laihiu/Flickr)

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At the Windows Phone 7 event, Microsoft and AT&T have demo units of the three WP7 phones that will be available stateside next month. I had a few minutes to play with each of them; here are my first impressions.
More Windows Phone 7coverage on Gadget Lab:
A Humbled Microsoft Prepares to Boot Up Windows Phone 7
Microsoft Blends Zune Media, Xbox Live Into New Phone OS
Microsoft's Mobile Strategy Takes Aim at Apple, Google
Microsoft Tells Windows Phone 7’s App Story

LG Quantum: This is the slide-out phone with the QWERTY keyboard. It’s similar to a Blackberry phone’s layout, with two buttons on the left for “shift” and “function” (which for the most part you use to type in numbers). The hardware keyboard works very well, but I found using it in that mode a little confusing. Some apps move from portrait to landscape without a hitch. But the WP7 home screen, Marketplace and a few others don’t. In time, you could get over this guessing game; maybe users with more experience with slide-out landscapes know how to do this without a snap. The keyboard also made the phone quite thick, particularly compared to the touchscreen-only models on display.

Samsung Focus: This was by far my favorite of the three phones. It has a 4″ touchscreen with beautiful color fidelity. The three hardware buttons don’t depress, but each provide a little buzz of tactile feedback. I even found using the software keyboard and switching from portrait to landscape much easier on the Focus than on the other two phones. That extra half-inch really does make a difference — and the image quality shows off just how graceful the WP7 OS is.

HTC Surround: This was the most difficult phone to put through a full trial, simply because there weren’t games or movies available to play readily. I wasn’t able to listen to its much-touted Dolby Digital Surround speakers either. But otherwise, its interface was very similar to Samsung’s, although again with a much smaller and dimmer screen. Its three hardware buttons also had a similar tacticle feedback buzz, which the LG Quantum didn’t have.

Overall: It’s a very beautiful OS, and I think some people will find its working clean and intuitive right away. It may seem like an odd thing to get fixated on, but the landscape/portrait thing really stands out. There were plenty of times where text information trailed off the screen without wrapping in portrait mode, but you couldn’t turn it into landscape in order to see it; you had to swipe over to the next screen. Some of the applications, like QWERTY typing and gaming, seem built for landscape, but the primary navigation mode of WP7 is definitely portrait.

It’s probably somewhere in between the iPhone and Android in terms of customization possibility. There are more options than iPhone (including plenty of easy accessibility and mulitlingual options), and they’re a little easier to find. But I thought, for instance, I might be able to change the font, which is everywhere. No dice — at least on these floor models.

I loved the Focus (iPhone/iPad users will probably find it the closest to their experience and preferences), thought the keyboard on the Quantum was very well-made (and existing slide-out users again might find it even more appealing), and was and remain intrigued by the micro-sized media experience the Surround offers. It’s an extremely solid lineup of phones; at $199.99 each, users dead-set on WP7 will just have to decide which hardware and use experience they like the best.

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Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Window 7 Phone launches today at 9AM in New York, New York. Fortunately for us, “today” starts earlier over in Europe, and Samsung Russian has already outed the Omnia 7 aka. “the first smartphone based on the Samsung Windows Phone 7″, and it looks sweet.

We’re very excited about Microsoft’s new phone OS here at Gadget Lab, and the success of all these phones will be down to the operating system. One thing’s sure: the hardware certainly won’t be letting anyone down: The Omnia 7 runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm processor (the same QSD8250 model found in the Google Nexus One), sports a 4-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED display, a 5MP autofocus camera which can also shoot 720p video in H.264 and WMV formats (among a couple others) and A-GPS for navigation.

The battery will power the handset for six-hours of talk time and 13-days standby (3G) – video-playback time is absent. There’s also an FM radio, and maps and search are powered, unsurprisingly, by Microsoft’s Bing.

So far, so what, right? This is a good set of specs, for sure, but hardly different from any other smartphone. The secret sauce comes with the Windows 7, which integrates social features and gives you constant updates from your Twitter and Facebook, as well as syncing all your online content and contacts and syncing music and movie syncing at home over Wi-Fi.

If Microsoft has managed not to mess this up, and has built something as good as the preview I saw back in February at the Mobile World Congress, then Win Phone 7 could be very hot indeed. On the other hand, Microsoft has called this OS “Windows””, when it doesn’t actually use and windows, so it’s still possible that moronic, inter-departmental corporate bickering has ruined things already. Full specs press release below in case they get pulled in the next few hours.

Omnia 7 – the first smartphone based on the Samsung Windows Phone 7 [Samsung Russia]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Samsung Omnia 7, smartphone Winows Phone 7
Network HSUPA 5.76 MB / sec. / HSDPA 7,2 Mb / sec. (900 / 1 900 / 2 100 MHz)
EDGE / GPRS (850 / 900 / 1 800 / 1 900MHz)
Dimensions 122,40 x64, 20×10, 99mm
Weight 138gramm
Display 4,0 “SUPER AMOLED, WVGA (800×480)
Operating System Windows Phone OS 7
Processor Qualcomm QSD8250 1GHz
Battery Standard: Li-ion, a 500mA / h
Talk time: 2G / 520 minutes, 3G / 370 minutes
Standby Time: 2G / 390 hours, 3G / 330 hours
Communications BlueTooth 01.02, USB 2.0, WiFi b / G / n
Memory 8GB
Luggage 5MP, autofocus
Video HD-quality recording (720p) @ 25fps
H.264, H.263, MPEG4, WMV
Music MP3 / AAC / AAC + / eAAC + / WMA / AMR-NB / AMR-WB / MIDI
FM-radio with RDS
Ext. Features Metro UI, A-GPS, Bing Map, Bing Search

Moscow, October 11, 2010 – The company Samsung Electronics, a leader in mobile phones, winner of numerous awards for innovation, announces the release of the smartphone Samsung Omnia 7 (model GT-I8700).

This smartphone is the first in Eurasia, the mobile device on Windows 7. Samsung Omnia is equipped with seven 4-inch SUPER AMOLED-display with touch controls, a processor with a clock speed of 1GHz, 5-megapixel camera. The smartphone will offer customers various razlecheniya with pre platforms: Gaming Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE and Zune for music and video.

DK Tyre (JK Shin), President and Head of Mobile Communications of Samsung said: Samsung Omnia 7 – this is our first smartphone based on Windows Phone 7. We are confident that consumers will celebrate its performance, design, and ample opportunities for entertainment. ”

4-inch SUPER AMOLED-display smartphone allows you to work with high-quality images even in bright daylight. The new model has a high speed data transmission. For example, a music file 4 MB downloaded in just 4.4 seconds and upload the video of 40 MB is up to 56 seconds. Thanks to clear the work of the speaker and microphone sensitivity of the conference will take place without any interference. Users will surely appreciate the design of the device, the elegant minimalism of the body and chrome surfaces.

With the new smartphone Samsung Omnia 7 customers will have access to popular entertainment services like Xbox LIVE and Zune . Gamers will benefit from an extensive library of games and content service Xbox LIVE, and the music lovers and film fans are passionate about the millions of videos and music service Zune. Omnia 7 automatically synchronizes all content from your computer via Wi-Fi connection. High-quality 5-megapixel camera with LED-flash helps capture interesting moments.

Samsung Omnia 7 Ways to be a convenient mobile assistant in everyday life. Intuitive dynamic interface of the operating system Windows Phone 7 is simple and convenient, and information hubs Windows Phone Hubs help to organize all the information and tasks. Customizable home screen feature advanced the concept of “information tiles”. Instead of boring icons “information tiles” display constantly updated information from the network news and weather, the status of friends in social networks, scheduled meetings and much more.

Another useful feature of the new smartphone – advanced tools for working with social services. Users can literally on the move to share photos, leave comments on pages of friends, or just chat. And all this – at the touch of a button.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Despite the announcement of its first Android tablet last month, Samsung has been coy about the most awaited information of the device: pricing.

Now a leak suggests the Galaxy Tab will be priced at $400 with a two-year contract on Sprint and $600 without a contract. The device could be available starting November 14 in the U.S., according to The Boy Genius Report site.

Samsung has said that the Galaxy Tab will be available on all the four major wireless service providers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. The tablets include 3G and WiFi connectivity.

The pricing, if correct, will put the Galaxy Tab in an interesting position against the Apple iPad. A 16 GB version of the iPad costs $500 but a 3G data plan from AT&T is available on month-to-month and without a long-term contract.

The Galaxy Tab will be the first major Android tablet to hit the market. The device runs Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and has a 7-inch LCD display with a 1024 x 600 resolution. At 0.8 pounds, the device weighs just about half as much as the iPad. It also supports Adobes Flash Player 10.1 so it can display web pages that run Flash something the iPad cant.

Samsung has said most apps in the Android Market will work on the Galaxy Tab. But already big news publishers such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today are reportedly planning Android apps optimized for the Galaxy Tab.

Photo: Samsung Galaxy Tab

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

When Research in Motion introduced its tablet, the PlayBook, on Monday, it was diving into a market already dominated by Apple’s iPad.

But there’s other competition too, either already on the market or soon to be: The 5-inch Dell Streak, which is available now; and Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab, which isn’t.

Since the iPad started shipping in April, Apple has sold more than 3 million devices. In June, Dell introduced the Streak, a device billed as a tablet but priced like a phone. Samsung hopes to bring its tablet, the Galaxy Tab to market in time for the holiday season shopping.

RIM announced its latest device, the 7-inch PlayBook at its developer conference Monday.

The PlayBook won’t be available till early next year. But it’s not too soon to see how its promised specs stack up with the main competitors it will face when it comes out.

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.table ul#label_row{background:#666;color:#FFF;}

• Tablet
• Apple iPad
• BlackBerry PlayBook
• Samsung Galaxy Tab
• Dell Streak

• Display
• 9.7 inches, 1024 x 768 pixels
• 7 inches, 1024 x 600 pixels
• 7 inches, 1024 x 600 pixels
• 5 inches, 800 x 480 pixels

• Processor
• Apple A4 1 GHz
• 1 GHz dual-core
• 1 GHz ‘Hummingbird’
• Snapdragon QSD280 1 GHz

• Weight
• 1.5 lbs
• 0.9 lbs
• 0.8 lbs
• 0.48 lbs

• Dimensions (H x W x D)
• 9.5″ x 7.4″ x 0.5″
• 5.1″ x 7.6″ x 0.4″
• 7.5 ” x 4.7 ” x 0.4″
• 6″ x 3.1 ” x 0.4″

• Storage/Camera
• 16GB, 32GB, 64GB; no camera
• 16 GB, 32 GB; 5 MP rear camera, 3 MP front camera, video recording
• 16 GB, 32 GB; 3 MP rear camera, 1.3 MP front camera, video recording
• 16 GB microSD card; MP rear camera, VGA front camera, video recording

• Operating System
• Apple iOS
• QNX
• Android 2.2
• Android 1.6

• Connectivity
• Wi-Fi + AT&T 3G (no contract) + Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi + Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi + 3G (on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi + AT&T 3G (on contract) + Bluetooth

• Internet
• No Flash Support
• Supports Flash 10.1
• Supports Flash 10.1
• No Flash Support (Flash software updates could come later)

• Battery
• 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
• N/A
• 4,000 mAh rated for 7 hours of movie play
• 1,530mAh battery, rated for up to 9.8hrs talk time

• Price
• $500-$700 (for Wi-Fi only). $630 – $830 for Wi-Fi + 3G
• N/A
• N/A
• $560 with no contract, $300 with a two-year contract

• Availability
• Shipping since April
• End of the year
• Early 2011
• Shipping since August

• Apps
• iPad + iPhone apps through Apple app store
• New app store will be launched by RIM
• Android Market Apps
• Android Market Apps

*battery life as specified by the manufacturer

Photo: BlackBerry PlayBook/Research In Motion

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Image via Apple/iTunes

Today, Apple updated its iOS Remote application to version 2.0. The free Remote app is now optimized for the iPad’s larger display and supports streaming from shared libraries over wireless networks with computers running iTunes and the new Apple TV using AirPlay.

Earlier this week at CEDIA 2010, Sony showed off AV Receiver Remote, a similar (and similarly free) iOS universal remote application for its wide range of media appliances. While Apple’s Remote application allows you to control profiles for speaker volume, Sony’s allows you to do that, control room lighting, and stream internet, satellite, or broadcast radio. Christopher MacManus was able to record a hands-on for Sony Insider:

Just as Apple’s remote application leverages its strength in high-end computers and media players, Sony’s app leverages its strength in home theater appliances. Apple can send a movie to your television, but it didn’t make your television (or the receiver your TV might be connected to).

Last week at IFA 2010, Samsung used its new Galaxy Tab to demonstrate its Home Watcher app for Android, which leverages the Korean tech maker’s even more ubiquitous position in home appliances:

As Vivian Kim observes, writing for Apartment Therapy Unpluggd, Samsung’s “washers and dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, ranges, and home entertainment devices” can allow them to position their phones and tablets not as Apple imitators, but as genuine home automation solutions. You’ve never had a remote control for your refrigerator before — maybe you didn’t even know you wanted one. But once it’s within the realm not just of the possible — it always has been, for high-end early-adopters — but reasonably attainable for Samsung’s global middle-class consumer base, something has changed.

How much will we want to do with a single remote when that remote is not an infrared box wrapped around two AA batteries, but a powerful computer with an intuitive interface? In different ways, that’s the future towards which Apple, Sony, and Samsung are all pointing.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

A stream of new Android smartphones have helped the Google designed operating system gain market share while rivals such as Apple and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion lost points, according to the latest mobile subscriber report from analytics company comScore.

Among smartphone platforms, Android OS grew to 17 percent share between May and July from 12 percent at the end of April. During the same period, RIM and Apple lost about 1.3 percent share.

The good news for RIM, though, is that it continues to lead among smartphone platforms with 39.9 percent market share, while Apple is firmly in the second place with 23.8 percent share. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile accounted for 11.8 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.9 percent.

Androids growth has been powered by a slew of new handsets that have launched in the last few months. HTC’s EVO 4G debuted on Sprint in June. A few weeks later, Motorola introduced its second generation Droid and Droid X on the Verizon Wireless network. Meanwhile, Samsung launched its Galaxy S range of smartphones. Last month, Samsung said it has shipped more than one million Galaxy S phones in 45 days since the devices hit retail stores in mid-July.

More than 20 Android phones are available in the U.S. currently.

Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow, says comScore.

Among all mobile handset manufacturers–including both smartphones and feature phones–Samsung ranked at the the top with 23.1 percent market share in the U.S. At the end of July, 234 million Americans used mobile devices. Of these, 53.4 million people have smartphones, up 11 percent from the end of April, says comScore.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Samsung is milking the launch of its 7-inch tablet called the Galaxy Tab by trickling out a little bit of news about it every other week. After announcing the Galaxy Tab’s launch in Europe earlier this month, Samsung held a press conference Thursday to say the device will be available in the U.S in the next few weeks.

The Galaxy Tab will be available on all the four major wireless service providers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. There’s still no word on pricing or exact shipping date for the Galaxy Tab. The devices, which support 3G and WiFi, will arrive in time for the holiday shopping season, says Samsung. A Wi-Fi only version of the tablet will be available in the future.

The Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and has a LCD display with a 1024 x 600 resolution. At 0.8 pounds, the device weighs just about half as much as the iPad. It also supports Adobes Flash Player 10.1 so it can display web pages that run Flash something the iPad cant. The Galaxy Tab will run many Android Market apps in full screen and those that are not scalable will be framed and centered on the screen at 800 x 400 resolution.

Another feature that U.S. customers of Galaxy Tab will get is the Media Hub, a mobile widget that will allow users to download and rent movies.

The Galaxy Tab will come with three accessories: a $100 keyboard dock, a $50 desktop dock, which will double as a charger, and a $100 car and GPS dock.

Photo: Samsung

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Samsung’s new NX100 is a cut-down version of its mirrorless NX10, coming on a like a compact camera to the NX10’s slimline SLR design. Like its older brother, the new camera has an APS-C-sized, 14.6 megapixel sensor and shoots 720p video. What it lacks is the bigger camera’s electronic viewfinder (although Samsung will sell you an add-on which slots into the hotshoe). But that’s not the point. The real news is in the lenses, which use something called “i-Function” to make the camera easier to use.

I-Function puts buttons on the lens itself. Hit the switch and you can then cycle through settings like white-balance, ISO, shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation, controlling them by turning the focus ring on the lens. Yes, it has taken years of research and innovation (the word “innovative” is used six times in the press release) to finally put an aperture ring back on the lens, just where it had sat since time began.

Samsung is also changing the descriptions of its lenses. Now you can buy a “landscape lens” or a “portrait lens”, and these i-Function lenses will tell the camera what they are so the camera can configure its own settings. This is called lens-priority mode, and compatible lenses will have little icons on them to let you know just what they are. I really like the on-lens control idea, but the auto-settings business seems a little gimmicky, and maybe even pointless on a camera clearly aimed at an enthusiast, not a point-and-shooter.

There will be accessories, too. Joining the viewfinder will be a GPS unit, and there are two lenses at launch, a 20-50mm 3.5-5.6 zoom and a 20mm 2.8 pancake lens. Other NX lenses will work, too, but you don’t get the fancy new features.

Pricing and availability are yet to be revealed. Given that an NX10 can be had in a zoom kit for $700, my guess is that the street price will be $500 to $600. The camera will come in black and (as seen in the gallery below) brown.

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NX product page [Samsung: Not yet listing NX100]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews