The head of Samsung Australia’s telecommunications division has said that the $999 recommended price for their new 7 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet will not change despite Telstra launching a similar Android based model for $299. However carriers are expected to offer the device which goes on sale next week for sub $500 with a data plan.
Tyler McGee, the Vice President of Telecommunications at Samsung, said that the much anticipated Samsung device will go on sale early in November and that it is up to retailer and communication carriers as to what price the device is sold for.
“At this stage we have no plans to lower the recommended retail price of the Galaxy Tab. It will be up to retailers and carriers to set the price for the device” said McGee. In the USA a battle has broken out between carriers with T Mobile offering the same device for $399 with a two year data contract.
In Australia all three carriers Optus, Telstra and Vodafone will sell the new 7 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab with two of those carriers, Telstra and Vodafone both confirming with ChannelNews that they are set to offer competitive rates that could be sub $500 with an 18 or 24 month data plan.
The big difference between the new $299 Telstra T Touch and the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the operating system display screen and the touch functionality. The Tab will be launched with Android 2.2 Froyo while the Telstra model only has Android 2.1. The big difference is the screen, the Samsung Galaxy Tab has a T-LCD, WSVGA (1024 x 600), while the Telstra offering only has an 800 x 480 pixel WVGA resistive touch screen which is best used with the bundled stylus.
While the Galaxy Tab is sleek and fast the Telstra T Touch does take a little bit of getting used to, but for $299 it is highly functional and does deliver an extensive range of applications and capability.
Telstra T-Touch Tab Specifications
Network: 3G 850/1900/2100MHz
Dimensions: 209 x 108 x 15.5mm
Weight: 500 grams
Operating System: Android 2.1
Apps: Thousands of Android 2.1 applications via Android Market
Phone features: Voice capable, SMS/MMS capable.
Sound: Stereo speakers plus 3.5mm headphone jack.
Camera: 2 megapixel camera with video recording. Front camera for mobile codes.
Screen: 800 x 480 pixel WVGA resistive touch screen with bundled stylus.
Processor: 768MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
Battery life: Talk time up to 150 minutes, video playback time up to 150 minutes,
standby time up to 140 hours.
Entertainment: MP3 player and video player handling MPEG4 (.mp4, .3gp, .3g2), H.264
(.3gp, .mp4, .3g2), H.263 (.3gp, .3g2).
Memory: 512MB internal memory with micro-SD card slot expandable up to 16GB.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth.
Navigation: GPS built in.
Mobile broadband speeds: Typical download speeds 550kbps to 3Mbps. Actual speeds
vary due to factors such as distance from the base station, local conditions, user numbers,
hardware and software configuration.
Warranty: 24 month manufacturer warranty.
Price & availability: The Telstra T-Touch Tab can be purchased on Pre-Paid for $299 and
comes with 3GB included data and $10 call/credit to use in Australia in 30 days. It is
teamed with Telstra’s new Pre-Paid Data+ Cap Offer designed especially for Pre-Paid
tablet devices.
See Samsung Galaxy Tab specifications over page:
Samsung Galaxy Tab Specifications:
The Samsung GALAXY Tab (GT-P1000) Product Specifications
Network: 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE) : 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
3G (HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps) : 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
OS: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Display: 7.0 inch TFT-LCD, WSVGA (1024 x 600)
Processor: Cortex A8 1.0GHz Application Processor with PowerVR SGX540
Camera: 3 MP Camera with Auto-Focus and LED Flash
1.3MP front camera for Video Telephony
Value-added Features:
Android Market and Samsung Apps for more applications and contents
Readers Hub, Media Hub*, Music Hub*, Social Hub
Adobe Flash 10.1 player support
