Timing is everything, and Samsung's announcement last night -- of the Galaxy Tab 8.9, a smaller version of its 10.1 tablet and of its new 5-in. and 4-in. Galaxy Players -- has been overshadowed on the tech news circuit by rumors about Amazon's upcoming tablet.
Still, Samsung's devices are nothing to sneeze at. The Galaxy Players 5.0 and 4.0 are basically smartphones without the phones -- Apple's iPod touch, Android style. I was able to spend a short time with one at the press event.
The Players are, according to the Ryan Bidan, director of product marketing for Samsung Mobile, meant as mainly an entertainment venue (thus the name "Player"). If that's the case, the resolution is a rather disappointing -- at 800 x 480 pixels, the color is not as crisp as you might like, and websites that are not optimized for mobile are going to be a bit difficult to view.
Otherwise, though, if you're looking for a non-phone to carry around -- sort of today's version of a PDA -- you can do worse. The Players include a front-facing 3.2-megapixel camera along with a rear-facing VGA camera -- again, not quite as sexy as, say, the 8-megapixel camera that comes with the Droid Bionic. On the other hand, it does include an FM radio; anyone who has tried to substitute streaming broadcast on a 3G connection will know the advantage of that. Software includes Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) and Samsung's TouchWiz UX interface.
I thought that a 5-in. device would feel awkward -- my hands are small enough to be comfortable typing on most netbooks -- so I was surprised how comfortable I felt holding the Player 5.0. These could be good alternatives for people who want access to Android apps on a well-designed mobile device without having to shell out for 3G; although at $229 for the Player 4.0 and $269 for the Player 5.0, they are not exactly a impulse buys. The Players are due to go on sale October 16.
The other announcement was, as expected, the smaller cousin of the 10.1-in. Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Tab 8.9. There is not much to say about it that couldn't be said about its larger cousin; it includes a dual-core T250S processor, 1280 x 800 resolution display and 6,100 mAh battery. The tablet itself weighs 0.99 lb. (the Tab 10.1 weighs 1.25 lb.) -- and, like the Tab 10.1, is a remarkably slim 8.6 mm thick.
As was suggested during the press event, an 8.9-in. tablet (which will go on sale October 2 and will cost $569 for the 32GB version and $469 for the 16GB version) could attract those who need a more fully-functional device than the smaller 7-in. models but who still want to minimize the amount of weight they have to carry around. I'll be working with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 over the next week to see how well it fulfills that promise.
Still, Samsung's devices are nothing to sneeze at. The Galaxy Players 5.0 and 4.0 are basically smartphones without the phones -- Apple's iPod touch, Android style. I was able to spend a short time with one at the press event.
The Players are, according to the Ryan Bidan, director of product marketing for Samsung Mobile, meant as mainly an entertainment venue (thus the name "Player"). If that's the case, the resolution is a rather disappointing -- at 800 x 480 pixels, the color is not as crisp as you might like, and websites that are not optimized for mobile are going to be a bit difficult to view.
Otherwise, though, if you're looking for a non-phone to carry around -- sort of today's version of a PDA -- you can do worse. The Players include a front-facing 3.2-megapixel camera along with a rear-facing VGA camera -- again, not quite as sexy as, say, the 8-megapixel camera that comes with the Droid Bionic. On the other hand, it does include an FM radio; anyone who has tried to substitute streaming broadcast on a 3G connection will know the advantage of that. Software includes Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) and Samsung's TouchWiz UX interface.
I thought that a 5-in. device would feel awkward -- my hands are small enough to be comfortable typing on most netbooks -- so I was surprised how comfortable I felt holding the Player 5.0. These could be good alternatives for people who want access to Android apps on a well-designed mobile device without having to shell out for 3G; although at $229 for the Player 4.0 and $269 for the Player 5.0, they are not exactly a impulse buys. The Players are due to go on sale October 16.
The other announcement was, as expected, the smaller cousin of the 10.1-in. Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Tab 8.9. There is not much to say about it that couldn't be said about its larger cousin; it includes a dual-core T250S processor, 1280 x 800 resolution display and 6,100 mAh battery. The tablet itself weighs 0.99 lb. (the Tab 10.1 weighs 1.25 lb.) -- and, like the Tab 10.1, is a remarkably slim 8.6 mm thick.
As was suggested during the press event, an 8.9-in. tablet (which will go on sale October 2 and will cost $569 for the 32GB version and $469 for the 16GB version) could attract those who need a more fully-functional device than the smaller 7-in. models but who still want to minimize the amount of weight they have to carry around. I'll be working with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 over the next week to see how well it fulfills that promise.
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