Samsung slate
The Samsung Galaxy Tab, arguably the strongest rival to the Apple iPad yet, will be in the shops from 1 November, according to a press release sent out by Samsung this morning.
Simon Stanford, MD of mobile for Samsung UK, said: "The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a very unique proposition to the tablet market and from 1 November, gives consumers the ultimate in connectivity and portability that they have been waiting for."
Just to remind you, the Galaxy tab is a seven inch Android 2.2 tablet with a 1GHz Hummingbird SoC. It only weights 380g and is being positioned as a big mobile phone. This is important as it means Google will allow the Android Market to appear on it, judging the Galaxy Tab to be capable of doing its apps justice.
There are some apps unique to the device, which Samsung is calling ‘hubs'. The readers hub is and e-reader and digital library, while video and music have their own hubs, as does social networking. Despite being launched in conjunction with Vodafone, the Galaxy Tab will be available from all networks and retailers.
Incidentally Samsung also announced what everyone had already known since February: that it will be launching several Windows Phone 7 handsets this year. No date or details were given but Microsoft is expected to be officially launching the OS on 11 October.
"The addition of Windows Phone 7 devices to Samsung's smartphone portfolio is a significant milestone," said Stanford. "Samsung's new Windows Phone 7 based smartphones will play a key role in reinforcing Samsung's leadership in the smartphone market and commitment to providing a range of devices across a variety of platforms."