Samsung Galaxy Tab

If you want a touch screen tablet that’s not an iPad, go for this Android

A 3G ready, 7 inch tablet from Samsung, called the Galaxy Tab, is finally here. It has 16 GB internal memory, and can take a micro SD card of up to 32 GB. You should go for it if you want an alternative to the iPad. Although it is a bit smaller, it has more features than the Apple gadget. Plus, it runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo platform. And unlike the Olive, which launched earlier, it promises to be eas­ily available from mid-November on­wards. It will also be available with data plans from cellphone services.

The Tab is about the same size as a Kindle, and much smaller than an iPad. While it is not a device for watching movies, it does offer HDMI output (using a proprietary cable). It has also got twin cameras, to allow 3G video calls. The primary camera is a 3 megapixel one with LED flash, and it can record videos up to 720 p (720 x 480) at 30 fps. There is also a 3.5 mm jack, to let you connect a handsfree or headphone. Its battery offers about seven hours of video play, but that would also depend on 3G coverage.

I love it that the 7 inch screen sup­ports a resolution of 1024 x 600 pix­els, as this resolution lets you browse most websites. The support for Flash and HTML 5 will make the browsing experience better.

It’s also got an ebook reader applica­tion and a newspaper application. But not many are likely to go for the news­paper application, as it costs £1 per week. On the plus side again, it has lots of docks to choose from, such as: keyboard dock, video output dock and a car dock to mount the Tab and use its built-in GPS. But all of them have to be bought separately.

PDA