Samsung Galaxy Tab Release: Tablet Headed To AT&T, Sprint, Verizon 'This Fall'

NEW YORK — All four major U.S. wireless carriers will sell an iPad-like tablet computer from Samsung Electronics Co., the companies said Thursday.

Samsung and the service providers – AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless Inc. – didn't say how much the Galaxy Tab will cost, or exactly when it will be on sale.

Verizon Wireless said in a statement that it will start selling it "in the coming weeks," and Sprint said it will do so "this fall." T-Mobile and AT&T said they plan to sell it this holiday season.

The Galaxy Tab has a 7-inch screen, half the size of the iPad. It runs Google Inc.'s Android smart phone software and can play Flash video from the Web, which the iPad can't. It also has two cameras for videoconferencing, which the iPad lacks.

The iPad starts at $499. The Tab will probably cost less, both because it's smaller and because carriers will probably subsidize it when buyers sign up for two-year data service contracts.

The Tab will have the ability to run on cellular broadband networks, just like some versions of the iPad. It won't have a dialpad or the ability to make traditional cell phone calls, but could be used for phone calls over the data connection with third-party software.

AT&T already sells a somewhat smaller hybrid of a tablet and a smart phone, the Dell Streak. It costs $300 with a two-year contract.

Comments

[iskra]

02:37 PM on 09/21/2010

Yeah, it's a rival

It's designed to look like an Ipad, it has an interface that works like an IPad. Chock full of innovation! 

zzzzzzzzzzz.......how many 'wannabes' are we going to see over the next 2 years? 

[Sabum]

06:02 PM on 09/20/2010

is it an Apple?no? then never mind. move on and stay calm, there are better things over the horizon.

[David Becker Sr]

03:38 PM on 09/20/2010

The one thing ALL rivals DO NOT HAVE, and never will, is the APPLE,APP STORE
Rivals=FAIL

[wespenn56]

04:02 PM on 09/20/2010

Spoken like a true Homer

[chlsmith]

09:44 AM on 09/20/2010

If every Zune owner buys one of these, Apple will go out of business! :P

[Sabum]

05:55 PM on 09/20/2010

good thing no one bought a Zune.

[iskra]

02:37 PM on 09/21/2010

lol

[NevadaLib]

04:13 AM on 09/20/2010

2 things:
-early adapters ALWAYS get burned
-aircard contracts being jammed into anything that can hold a battery will prove extraordinarily costly for the consumer

[jamesinraro]

03:43 AM on 09/20/2010

Apple is successful not because they are brilliant but simply because virtually every other gadget manufacturer strives to give customers compromised, essentially disposable products of rather low quality and functionality. Samsung's Galaxy is a prime example. How hard is it to copy the Ipad and just add the features Apple left out? Saving on cost by utilizing a 7" screen is idiotic. Millions of apps and publications will be designed around the 10" screen. They have left the niche for a lap top alternative to Apple and other manufacturers cluey enough to know that people want the larger screen, which is already a compromise vis-a-vis many netbooks, not merely a larger smart phone.

[Julie L Clancy]

11:34 PM on 09/19/2010

Here I was p-o'd about the additional cost for friends and family; I now see the benefit - transfer upgrade!

[Snowspot]

11:09 PM on 09/19/2010

Living in the future is pretty cool 8-)

[zelduh]

02:46 AM on 09/20/2010

The future is not here (yet.)

I keep waiting for the future to get here, but it never does.

In the meantime, I love playing with my new tech toys. And I cannot wait until I get my Adam next.

[Snowspot]

03:46 AM on 09/20/2010

Thanks I know what future means.

[TruEngineHearing]

10:47 AM on 09/20/2010

No, this is the future; it's the past that isn't here yet - it's still out there in the universe.

Have you seen the stars tonight? That's yesterday... right now we're on the today show.

[firelord5000]

09:39 PM on 09/19/2010

I have no doubt that tablets from major computer makers would be superior to Ipad, but I am not liking the fact that they are going so small that most of these tablets are barely bigger than my Evo. The tablet size range should be between Ipad to Kindle size.

A combo of a mediocre desktop ($1.2k range) + Tablet ($300-400) range would make a great combo and make usage of a laptop irrelevant, unless you travel 80%+ time for business and what not.

[iskra]

02:39 PM on 09/21/2010

I'm curious. The major computer makers failed to come up with an elegant interface and device yet as soon as Apple does and it starts working manufacturers are all going to make something better?

Where was their innovation before now? Having a nap? 

[firelord5000]

10:33 PM on 09/21/2010

They don't need innovation to make a better device when a prototype is out on the market. Simple fact is that Hardware wise Apple charges more, so when I say better, I mean a product that is same hardware or better than Ipad, for the same price or less price, as is the case with PCs, and I see no reason that tablets will be any different, perfect example being Evo vs. Iphone 4.

[ClassicLeft]

06:49 PM on 09/19/2010

The Archos 101 Internet Tablet at $299 is a much better match to the Ipad than the Galaxy.

http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it

[Sabum]

05:58 PM on 09/20/2010

but the touch screen on it sucks. you need to install a better/ newer os on that.

[mheister]

06:23 PM on 09/19/2010

IMHO, the cell phone companies are pushing a business model with this device that's dissonant to the likely usage patterns of most consumers.

[ClassicLeft]

12:02 AM on 09/20/2010

How so? I have an android tablet and a laptop and use both very often. I use the tablet to read books and business documents (mostly PDF) and web browsing.
I would never bring my laptop to a subway ride. But playing around with a tablet during rush hour on the subway is a delight.
This is still a transitional technology. When they manage to make a hybrid eink/lcd device, books will be as outdated as k7 and vhs tapes.

[zelduh]

02:19 AM on 09/20/2010

What's a "k7?"

[mheister]

06:26 PM on 09/20/2010

Do most people really need the 3G or 4G service contracts when most places have WiFi?

The model the cell phone companies are pushing, of course, includes a steady income stream for them. They eat $100 or less per device in exchange for hooking the customer into a contract that's going to reap more than $700 from the customer's wallet in a two-year period.

Caveat emptor I say! Take a hard look at your own usage patterns choose wisely.

[James Shanks]

05:46 PM on 09/19/2010

Idiots. It's not "iPad-like" if it's running a completely separate operating system, on a completely different platform, and isn't rushed to market.

[MrVee]

09:47 PM on 09/19/2010

Good call James Shanks. Good call.

Android is doing their own thing and could give a flip about what fruit flies think. What Android is doing is nothing short of "pure innovation" directed at consumers who need a 'little more' in a way of controlling the environment where this might be used. Not necessarily to replace the net / notebook or desktop but as a utility for quick research on the net or passing the time with a game, a book or movie. Nothing more, nothing less.
People need to get over this idea tablets can only be made by Apple. Apple hollowed out the iphone, stretched it and call it a tablet. Whatever. It looks good and works well even though it's not designed to do many common daily tasks like Adobe Flash. However much respect for the morph.

Now, there is Android.
Faved.

[Onutz]

01:43 AM on 09/20/2010

Once and for all Apple did not hollow out the iPhone and make it bigger. The iPad existed first. If anything it scaled the iPad down and called it an iPhone, which shifted the paradigm of cellular communication as we knew it.

[zelduh]

02:28 AM on 09/20/2010

You are right, Mr. Vee.

Frankly, I am waiting for the Adam (Notion Ink), which is a tablet built on the Android OS. It's coming out In November-December and I am so excited that I can't wait.

See what's up at http://notionink.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/week-end-special/

[tonyjim]

05:26 PM on 09/19/2010

This is more competition for the iPhone than the iPad. You should consider Samsungs device a smartphone.

[JeffBeckRocks]

04:26 PM on 09/19/2010

For people here saying it doesn't have wifi etc etc.

Try reading before spewing bs

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_p1000_galaxy_tab-3370.php

[rcpmac]

04:18 PM on 09/19/2010

Flash is yesterday. Apple is and always was tomorrow.

[skantea]

04:47 PM on 09/19/2010

Loyalty to a corporation you don't work for is automatic fail.

[James Shanks]

05:46 PM on 09/19/2010

Bingo!

[statementOfIncensed]

06:22 PM on 09/19/2010

adobe inclusive?

[ClassicLeft]

12:11 AM on 09/20/2010

Who cares about flash? Android is Linux based with hundreds of thousands of powerful applications ready to be ported to this new platform. You'll never see a GPL software on an IOS. Have you checked the Android Marketplace? Most applications are FREE.

While you keep bagging for Apple to "release" tethering, remote desktop, full bluetooth support, mouse support, etc. Android already has all these capabilities.