Update: As predicted, the Galaxy Tab has already sold out from Woot. Some interesting stats:

During the sale, Woot sold one Galaxy Tab every 27 seconds. The first one sold after only 1 minute and 42 seconds of the deal being available. Total number of units sold was 1755.

———————————————–

Our favorite deal-a-day site, Woot.com, has a great deal on the tablet that’s been topping our popularity charts for months on end: the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

This particular version is a 16GB WiFi+3G model which doesn’t appear to be well priced on the surface until you realize that you don’t have to sign up for service with your purchase from Woot. A new Galaxy Tab from Sprint without the contract would run you $429. Woot is offering the device (refurbished) for $259 without the contract.

Just in case you aren’t familiar with the well respected tablet, here are the important bits:

• Android 2.2 (customized for a tablet experience by Samsung)
• Samsung C110 Hummingbird CPU @ 1GHz
• 512MB of RAM
• 7” capacitive touchscreen @ 1024×600
• 16GB pre-installed MicroSD card
• WiFi & Bluetooth 3.0
• CDMA 1900/800 EVDO Rev A (Sprint)

Chippy has a wickedly detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab should you desire to consult an expert about a potential purchase:

https://www.umpcportal.com/2010/10/28/samsung-galaxy-tab-full-review-part-1-overview-hardware-screen-keyboard/

This is Woot we’re talking about here — they only offer one deal per day. After 12:59am EST, this deal will be gone (and will likely sellout even before), have at it!

Last night I took the plunge and dumped the official 2.3.3 Gingerbread upgrade on my Galaxy Tab via the ‘side-loading’ method based on an copy of the firmware being rolled out in Europe (but not available here in Germany yet.) I used simple instructions from The Galaxy Tab Forum (Hat Tip XDA Developers) and flashed the firmware along with a full factory reset and spent about 4 hours late last night testing, restoring my apps and listening to music.

The music wasn’t just for fun. Previous builds of the Galaxy Tab were never that good at being an MP3 player due to stuttering under load. I’m please to report that this problem has gone. I had 8 programs running to the point where even text input was failing but the audio kept-on playing.

So what else is new?

If you’re happy with your Tab right now I don’t recommend going the side-loading route to get Gingerbread. It’s easy but risky and for what you’re getting it’s not worth the risk. I’m not saying the upgrade is underwhelming, I’m just saying that the upgrade isn’t a huge one in terms of instantly noticeable changes. A new, lighter font, greets you and as you swipe down the notification area and then across home screens you’ll notice that it is super smooth but that’s pretty much it for obvious changes.

The text select method has changed slightly (in-line with the new 2.3 text selection tool I beleive) but Samsung already had that on 2.2. They were also ahead of the curve on audio enhancements and a few other 2.3 features.

There’s a few videos below showing part of the upgrade and a review of the upgrade below. Here are my notes so far.  I should note that if you’re into ‘rooting’ your Galaxy Tab,  please double-check that this upgrade doesn’t lock the bootloader.

• Smoother transitions in some areas. Noticeable in notifications area and browser scrolling.
• New sketch note app
• SIP/VOIP support removed from Gingerbread (at least I can’t find it!)
• Pulse app included
• No new themes or backgrounds (a feature of Gingerbread)
• Better battery usage section possibly not working properly. (screen, WiFi usage doesn’t appear to be correct)
• No WiFi dropouts (i experienced this on a previous EU stock firmware)
• No truly noticeable web speed improvements. Some checkerboarding when scrolling quickly while page is loading.
• Modified indicator icons in top home-screens bar
• New text selection tool (as per standard android 2.3 i believe)
• Audio playback now stable under load. No stutter
• One user interface crash/reboot experienced after playing Need For Speed.
• Browser download manager

Overall the Tab has been stable and reliable. I’m looking forward to apps that take advantage of the new touch responsiveness APIs. (The browser does appear to be one of those apps.)

The Galaxy Tab 8.9, obviously the one with the 8.9 inch screen as opposed to the 10 inch, has appeared in a hands-on video from Germany, courtesy of NewGadgets.de. It’s met one of Samsung’s key requirements too: It’s thinner than the iPad 2.

We’re looking forward to seeing what customizations Samsung includes with Honeycomb as the adjustments Android 2.2 on the Galaxy Tab 7″ were actually very well done. You can already see from the video that the Android buttons at the bottom left of the screen have been adjusted to be more visually intuitive which indicates that Samsung is heading in the right direction in this front.

Interestingly without much press or fanfare here in Australia, Vodaphone are now selling the Galaxy 10 inch 10.1V [product page] model for $729 AU ($777 USD). I haven’t been able to test one as not all stores have stock and the ones that do don’t seem to have many.

You’d think that creating a WiFi-only of one of the most popular 7 inch tablets would be as easy as not installing the components that make cellular communication possible, but it looks like Samsung may have made some more significant changes to their WiFi-only Galaxy Tab which appears to be using an older CPU and a slower GPU.

Perhaps as cost-saving measure, the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab is using a “1GHz A8 Cortex processor inch according to the official product page inch, while the 3G equipped version of the Galaxy Tab is using a “C110, 1GHz, Cortex A8 Hummingbird inch processor.

Both devices are using 1GHz A8 CPUs, but the 3G equipped version of the Galaxy Tab uses the PowerVR SGX 540 GPU while the WiFi only version is using the previous generation.

Folks over at the XDAdevelopers Forum have confirmed that the WiFi-only tab is using the PowerVR SGX 530 GPU instead of the SGX540. The PowerVR SGX 530 GPU corresponds to an OMAP 3630 CPU as seen in the Archos 70 tablet.

We haven’t had out hands on the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab to find out how this change impacts performance, but here’s a tidbit from a user on the XDA forum:

• “I need only wifi so I bought wifi version. However I found the performance is not good. I see noticeable lag when pulling down the notification bar. I go and check out 3G version. It’s lot better. inch

Let’s also not forget that Samsung is planning on bumping the Galaxy Tab’s CPU to 1.2GHz (in addition to some other specs) when they release the 4G version on Verizon, so it seems that this single product is actually turning out to be three different products.

We’ve reached out to Samsung for an official comment and will update when we hear from the company.

Thanks to the tipster slim_thumb who sent this in!

Update: Looks like the GPU isn’t the only thing that Samsung has downgraded for the WiFi-only version. According to the official product page, the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab is using Bluetooth 2.1 instead of 3.0 as on the 3G equipped version. This could be a clerical error on the site, a software restriction, or truly downgraded Bluetooth module. We’re still waiting to hear back from Samsung.

If you’re in the market for a 7 inch slate, Samsung’s 7 inch Galaxy Tab is the undeniable leader in this area… but it’s definitely not the only device you should consider. Take, for instance, Enspet’s Identity Tab e201. This 7 inch device is nearly spec-for-spec identical to Samsung’s Tab, less a lower screen resolution, but it actually performs just as well and even beats the Galaxy Tab on some benchmarks. Have a look at the two in a head-to-head video below:

We’ve just put the Samsung TX100 specs in the database along with an expected launch price of $699. It’s been confirmed today though that the Pc7 series / TX100 is going to come in, with a 1.5Ghz Oaktrail / GMA 600 processing engine, 32Gb ssd, 2Gb of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium for $649.

http://www.netbooknews.com/24590/samsung-series-7-hybrid-tablet-up-for-pre-order-at-amazon/

Those of you thinking about $299 netbooks might be a little shocked at the price but remember the TX100 is aimed at flexibility and portability with a good battery life. Windows 7 may not excite you either but its productive, plus, there are two more operating systems on the horizon that should sit well with the Oaktrail platform. Meego is still in progress and should be well optimized in terms of power efficiency but more exciting to the masses is the possibility of an official Intel Honeycomb build. It is being worked on for Oaktrail, Moorestown and Medfield although neither Intel or Samsung have mentioned anything about it. They should because I’m sure there are people put there interested in the advantages of a 2-way virtualised OS build.

The CPU could be a little weak compared to dual-core Atom Netbooks but if it has a fast SSD, it should help along with the 2x boost in GPU power over previous Menlow devices.

The TX100 is an important device for Intel. Samsung have done great work with mobile Intel devices in the past, lets hope they also do a good job with this one.

Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab

With the launch of Verizon’s first 4G (LTE) smartphone, the HTC Thunderbolt, just behind us I thought it’d be a good time to lay down an overview of Verizon’s initial 4G device lineup. If you’re planning on jumping into the 4G action, listen up: these are the devices that you’ll be seeing right down the road.

At Verizon’s CES 2011 keynote, the company announced a goal to launch 10 4G devices by mid-year (which is now being refined to “summer”). Of those 10 devices, four are smartphones and two are tablets.

Availability:

All of the devices listed in this article will be available by this summer, according to Verizon.

As for 4G coverage, Verizon is continuing to roll out coverage to more regions. Take a look at the following map to see if your area is already 4G enabled, or marked as coming in 2011 (be sure to read the map legend!)

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/pdf/VZW_4G_LTE_Coverage_Map.pdf

We saw the launch of the first of Verizon’s four upcoming 4G phones with the HTC Thunderbolt just a few days ago:

HTC Thunderbolt

The sleek looking HTC Thunderbolt is already in the hands of consumers, and we’ve seen some incredible 4G speed tests so far – speeds that easily outperform my home broadband connection (and probably yours too!). Check out this video from GottabeMobile.com of the Thunderbolt benchmarking 24.30Mbps download and 16.60Mbps upload:

.

This is no doubt very impressive, but be forewarned: Verizon does not anticipate that customers will see these speeds once the 4G waves become saturated with users. Verizon has been claiming from the beginning of their LTE campaign that users should expect 5-12Mbps download and 2-5Mbps upload.

They are getting great press thanks to the ridiculous speed that the Thunderbolt achieves and even though the speed will reduce as 4G devices become more widespread, they are going to benefit greatly because the idea that “Verizon’s 4G is fast” is going to stick around in the heads of the general public much more easily than specific figures. When customers pick up a 4G phone, even after the speeds have come down to 5-12Mbps, they’ll likely still be impressed with the speed if they are coming from 3G.

Specs:

The HTC Thunderbolt isn’t just a data speed-demon, it’s also a top-of-the-line smartphone packed with some impressive hardware:

• Android 2.2 with HTC Sense interface (unfortunately not 2.3!)
• Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon CPU @ 1GHz (Qualcomm MDM9600 chipset with LTE support)
• 768MB of RAM
• 8GB of built-in memory + 32GB pre-installed Micro-SD card
• 4.3” capacitive touchscreen @ 800×480
• 8MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and autofocus, 1.3MP front-facing camera
• WiFi b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS, FM radio

It’s also got a sweet kickstand – a hallmark of several HTC devices:

I’m disappointed that it isn’t using running Android 2.3, but it seems like almost every upcoming device has this in common with the Thunderbolt. If we’re lucky, we’ll see an update to 2.3 down the road.

What it doesn’t have in common with most other smartphones on the market today is that the front-facing camera is 1.3MP instead of 0.3MP, this should offer a nice boost in video-calling quality (especially over 4G where the bandwidth is there for higher quality video).

Reviews:

If you’re looking for some quality info about the Thunderbolt, check out these reviews:

• http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/htc-thunderbolt-review/
• http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-thunderbolt-verizon-wireless/4505-6452_7-34468664.html

Next Up: Motorola Droid Bionic

Google’s Nexus phone program aims to combine top-end hardware and the latest Android software to create a flagship Android smartphone (and arguably, a developer phone). The first phone from the Nexus program was the Nexus One (HTC). Just recently Google has partnered with Samsung to bring the intuitively not intuitively named Nexus Two Nexus S to market. Does Google + Samsung = Success, or is the Nexus S being quickly superseded by other devices, even if they aren’t yet running the latest Android built? Step inside to find out.

All About Updates

There’s one thing we should talk about up front. Google’s Nexus phones offer updates to the very latest Android built right as it’s released regardless of the carrier or manufacturer. On pretty much every other Android phone/device, updates are pushed through the carrier or OEM. This means that if users want the latest enhancements for Android (and who doesn’t?) they have to wait for a middle-man to get around to setting everything straight before they get the update. Unfortunately promised updates have failed to come to fruition in a number of cases, leaving users without important feature updates and performance improvements. And even when promised updates do eventually come through, they aren’t always as simple as upgrading right on your phone, making updates unobtainable for those less versed in the computer world.

With the Nexus program, Google provides access to the very latest Android software. Updates always come as soon as they’re released from Google, and they install straight through the phone. This gives any of the Nexus devices an advantage over most other phones. The Nexus S is one of the only [perhaps the only] devices on the market today that comes out of the box with Android 2.3 installed. And, even then after powering it on, the phone will ask to install several incremental upgrades that have been made since the initial Android 2.3 release.

And now back to our regularly scheduled reviewing!

Hardware

Let’s has a quick look at the specs of the phone and a tour around the device. As usual, you can see detailed specs, links, photos, and even compare devices with the Nexus S at it’s tracking page in our device database.

Briefly, before we get to the aforementioned, you might be interested in having a look at our Nexus S overview video:

Specs:

• Android 2.3
• Cortex A8 (Hummingbird) CPU @ 1GHz
• 4 inch curved Super-AMOLED capacitive touchscreen @ 800×480 (1.67:1 aspect ratio [non-standard])
• 512MB of RAM
• 5MP rear camera (only capable of 720×480 [DVD quality] video recording) with single-LED flash
• 0.3MP front camera (640×480)
• 16GB of internal memory
• WiFi b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS & digital compass
• 129g (0.284 pounds)
• NFC (near-field-comm) chip, acelleomoeter, light sensor, proximity sensor, 3-axis gyro

Hardware Tour:

And that’s all! Yup, it’s a pretty simple phone.