Samsung Makes the Galaxy Tab Official

After last weeks pre-announcement that they plan to announce the Tab, Samsung followed through with their promise and announced the Galaxy Tab at IFA 2010. The Galaxy Tab is a 7 inch tablet running Android 2.2. It’s powered by a 1GHz processor, 4,000mAh battery that’s rated for 7 hours of movie playback, a 3.0 megapixel camera, HSUPA of 5.76 Mbps / HSDPA of 7.2Mbps, and support for a/b/g/n WiFi protocols.

It’s sleek and sexy and looks an awful lot like the Galaxy S series of Smartphones that have been hitting carriers around the world as of late – except for the large 7 inch screen, of course.   CoolSmartphone is reporting that pricing for the 16GB version will be £679.99 – or about $1,000 US. While I really like what the Tab brings to the table, I’m not sure it’s worth a $1,000 – especially when the 16GB iPad with WiFi and 3G support is selling for $629 US. I don’t mind paying more, but there has to be something to justify the extra $400! Vodafone will be offering the Tab starting in October. It will be interesting to see how well it sells at that price point.

The Tab looks very cool, but I’m still partial to the Compaq Airlife 100 from HP. There’s something about having a physical keyboard available when I need it. I wonder if that will be making it’s way to North America anytime soon.

Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S)

A very nice phone with all the bells and whistles but just a little bit uninspiring.

For the last week I have been using the Samsung Vibrant from Bell and am liking it.  I can’t say I love it, but it really is quite nice.

The Samsung Vibrant is part of the Galaxy S line with a design that looks very much like the iPhone.  Certainly, its meant to compete with the iPhone and it does a nice job at doing so.  This is really the part of this phone that is a let-down for me.  I stay away from the iPhone simply because everyone else on the planet seems to have one.  I don’t really want a phone that is a carbon copy.

Don’t tell Mike I stole one of his pictures!!

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Bell’s Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant in Pictures

Late last week Bell released their Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant smartphone. If you’re not familiar with the Vibrant, it’s very much like Samsungs Captivate offered on AT&T but with a slightly different body. Overall, the Vibrant is a thin and light powerhouse of a device. The AMOLED screen is super bright and crisp to look at. When put beside Apple’s new Retina display on the iPhone 4, the Galaxy S screen puts it to shame with brighter, more vivid pictures.

Thanks to the faithful Mobile Jaw reader, and super nice guy, Matt Reeder for letting me spend some quality time with his hot new device. I’ve snapped a number of pictures of the phone for everyone to see. If you click on the image it will open a larger version of the picture. Enjoy!

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The Telus HTC Desire in the Flesh

As Mike reported on Friday, Telus released the HTC Desire. It is their latest Android device, and it is running OS 2.1. It has a 1Ghz processor, with a 3.7″ Super LCD screen. The following video walks you through my thoughts on the first full day of use.

HTC Desire Reviewed at MobilityMinded

“When I unboxed the HTC Desire and first saw the device my thoughts were: “HTC build an iPhone. NICE! I’ve always wanted to see something like this”. As I took the Desire out of the box it appeared that the dimensions of the Desire are getting very close to the iPhone’s dimensions. Since I’ve been using my 3GS for quite some while now, I was getting used to the ‘larger’ design of a phone. After pushing the power button the Android OS comes up pretty quickly, and a easy start-up wizard guides you through the very basics of the Desire. This is especially handy for the not-so-technical users. In fact not only the start-up wizard is user friendly, the whole device is very understandable for non-techies. So the first impressions of the HTC Desire are very well”

Paul Willen over at MobilityMinded has reviewed the HTC Desire. This is HTC’s version of the Nexus One that they produced for Google. The Desire is currently available in Europe and is coming to Canada very soon – thanks to Telus. If you’re interested in this device, you should head over to MobilityMinded and read Paul’s thoughts on the device.

WalMart to Sell Telus HTC Desire for $448

Some interesting news hit the web this morning – WalMart will be selling the Telus HTC Desire for $448.83 with out a contract. And, if you look closely at the screen shot, you will notice that WalMart’s cost for the Desire is $360. It’s nice to know the cost, but I don’t expect anyone at WalMart to be willing to negotiate on the price. If you’re more the contract type, the 3 year contract price is expected to be $79.99.

(Source = mobilesyrup.com)

Dell Getting Ready to Launch Streak in North America

It looks like Dell is getting ready to launch the Android based Streak. According to reports on Slashgear, earlier today the pre-sale ended abruptly and was then reinstated. You can currently sign up for an exclusive pre-sale opportunity on Dell’s website at http://www.dell.com/streak. Dell has also confirmed that the Streak will support AT&T’s 3G network in the US, which means support for Bell, Rogers, and Telus in Canada.

The Streak offers a large 5.0 inch screen with 800×480 resolution, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 2GB internal storage, support for MicroSD cards, 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS, Accelerometer, light and proximity sensor, Digital Compass, and a 1530mAh battery. There’s no word on price as of yet.

The Streak is a nice replacement for my aging HD2. My main concern is that the size of the device will be too much for an everyday use. Although, around the house and for travel, this could be the perfect device. If you’re looking for more information on Dell’s Streak while you’re waiting to place you’re order, check out the review at Slashgear.

Initial Thoughts: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Has anyone made a name-is-longer-than-the-phone joke about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini? Well, joke about the name all you want but this phone is no joke. The X10 Mini is a fantastic little Android phone.

The X10 Mini is a follow on to the Xperia X10 (previous posts here and here) in a very different format. While the X10 is a high-end device with a large 4 inch screen the X10 Mini is…well, mini. The display is 2.6 inches making it easily the smallest Android phone. The size overall is just 83 x 50 x 16 mm (3.3 x 2 x 0.6 inches), and it weighs just 88 grams (3.1 oz).

The X10 Mini is available from Rogers for just $29.99 on contract, or $324.99 outright. Good price!

Shrinking Android down to work on this device took a fair bit of work by Sony Ericsson, which is the reason this is only running on Android 1.6. But Sony has done a very good job of making Android work on such a small device.

[follow link for more impressions and pictures]

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Rogers Adds the X10 Mini to Their Device Line Up

Rogers has launched their latest addition to the Android family of phones – X10 Mini, and the smaller brother to the flagship X10 smartphone form Sony Ericsson. The claim is that the Mini is the smallest phone on the market today. I haven’t played with one personally, so I can’t say if that’s true or not. The pictures make the phone look thick – so it might smallest in terms of height and width, but I don’t think it’s the case in terms of depth.

The Mini features a quad-band GSM radio – 850/900/1800/1900, and a tri-band HSPA radio – 850/1900/2100. Which means you’ll have strong cellular reception and fast data on this small device. Everything else on the Mini has been reduced to follow with the theme of the phone – a 5.0 megapixel camera instead of the 8.1 found on the original X10. Same for the memory, the Mini sports a whopping 128MB compared to the 1GB found on it’s big brother. Keep in mind that the price follows the same trend – the X10 is $549.99 off contract, and the Mini is $374.99. When you add in a 3 year contract, the phone is just $29.99, which is a pretty reasonable price.

Sadly, much like the original X10, this device is also running the older Android 1.6 operating system. Google has released 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 is starting to make it’s way to devices. Sony Ericsson needs to get an update for these devices out the door quickly and get them on a newer version of Android.

Aside from the thickness of the device, it looks like a great little device. I’m interested in seeing how well Sony Ericson was able to take their customizations from the X10 and scale them down to the Mini. We have received a Mini for review and Darren will be sharing his thoughts on the device.

The full press release is available after the break.

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Telus Brings HTC Desire to Canada

Telus and HTC have announced that the much loved Desire will be coming to Canada exclusively on the Telus network. The Desire was originally announced along with the Legend at Mobile World Congress back in February. The Android based phone has been available in the UK for a while now, is commonly referred to as HTC’s version of the Google’s flagship super-phone – the Nexus One.

The press release from Telus fails to offer any information about when the device might be available for purchase, or at what price. Although, I can’t really seem them charging more than the Motorola Milestone ($550 without contract). The full press release can be found after the break along with details on the specifications of the Desire.

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