Recent statistics from analytics firm Net Applications’ NetMarketShare report show the iPad has continued to grow worldwide since its launch in early 2010. The tablet recently broke the 1 percent mark in worldwide browsing and accounts for 2 percent of browsing in the U.S.

The report showed the iPad to have “53 times the usage share of its nearest competitor,” the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab throughout May. Apple’s tablet also dwarfed the third-placed Motorola Xoom tablet’s share of global web browsing with a share 76 times greater. In addition when compared to the Research in Motion’s Blackberry PlayBook, the iPad has roughly 306 times the usage.

In the U.S. mobile browser market, the iPad takes a solid 25.5 percent, only trailing Android (31.6 percent) and the iPhone (35.2 percent). However, when iPhone and iPad data are combined, they take over 60.7 percent of U.S. mobile browsing, a figure almost double that of Android. Blackberry came in at 6.9 percent, while Symbian, Windows Mobile and webOS are left far behind, accounting for less than 0.5 percent.

Net Applications compiles its figures from an “exclusive on-demand network of live stats customers” with more than 160 million visitors per month. The firm also classifies and reports on more than 430 referral sources identified as search engines.
[Apple Insider]

Samsung, which competes with Apple Inc.’s dominant iPad in the tablet sector, has long been developing its own mobile phone software, Bada, and those phones have competed with smartphones using Google’s Android software. But Android has already given Samsung’s smartphone business a shot in the arm, and the company is looking to replicate that success in tablets.

While Samsung—which makes everything from memory chips and phones to flatscreen TVs and home appliances—is the world’s second-largest cellphone maker by shipments behind Nokia Corp., it still trails Apple’s iPhone and iPad in smartphones and tablets. Like many other competitors, it was caught off guard by the success of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple’s iPad when it was launched in early 2010. Compared with other manufacturers, though, Samsung was one of the first few to embrace Android in tablets, launching the 7-inch Galaxy Tab in October to rival the iPad.

Samsung will launch new versions of the Galaxy Tab this summer in two other sizes, an 8.9-inch and a 10.1-inch model, both running the latest version of Android, known as Honeycomb. The 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab, which launch in June for $499 to $599.

“We’ll continue to work with Android on future tablets,” J.K. Shin said in an interview at Samsung’s headquarters in Suwon, South of Seoul.

Mr. Shin’s comments come as Samsung is embroiled in a lawsuit with Apple, a major competitor but also the major customer of Samsung’s component business. Apple this year filed a lawsuit alleging Samsung copied the look and feel of its popular iPhone smartphones and iPad tablet. Samsung countersued, alleging that Apple violated patents covering Samsung’s cellphone transmission technologies. The company filed suits in the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Germany.

“We didn’t copy Apple’s design,” Mr. Shin said. “We have used many similar designs over the past years and it [Apple's allegation] will not be legally problematic.” He suggested the scale of the lawsuit could grow, though he didn’t provide more details.

Samsung alone expects its tablet shipments to jump about fivefold this year to 7.5 million units. Market data provider IHS iSuppli forecast in April that Apple’s iPad shipments would reach 39.7 million this year.

“Android is the fastest-growing platform and the market direction is headed toward Android so we’re riding the wave,” added Younghee Lee, senior vice president of sales and marketing. Samsung also aims to differentiate itself from Apple and other tablet makers by continuing to offer various sizes, Mr. Shin said.

As part of that strategy, Mr. Shin said Samsung is in talks with carriers in South Korea and the U.S. to launch a tablet running on a technology called long-term evolution, or LTE. This so-called fourth-generation technology promises faster download speeds than the current third-generation platform, allowing consumers faster access to such applications as TV programs, movies and video conferencing.

Verizon Wireless and other global carriers, including NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Hong Kong’s CSL, a unit of Australia’s Telstra Corp., have launched services using LTE networks. A number of carriers, including South Korea’s KT Corp. and SK Telecom Co., plan to commercialize LTE service this year.

“The 4G [fourth-generation] race has already begun. All carriers are coping with high data traffic with the availability of tablets and without 4G service, it will become increasingly difficult to cope,” Mr. Shin said.

Related News
All Things D: Samsung Wants to See iPad 3, iPhone 5

.More than half of Samsung’s smartphones launched last year were powered by Android and the company plans to increase that proportion this year, though it didn’t disclose details. Samsung this year expects smartphone shipments to jump about threefold from about 24 million last year.

Samsung said it isn’t abandoning its Bada mobile software, but it is focusing on Android, especially for the growing tablet business. “When there is a market need for our own software, we will consider it but that’s not our plan at the moment,” Ms. Lee said.

“Understanding that the market is changing very quickly and being able to embrace market trends quickly is one of Samsung’s biggest challenges in the mobile communications business,” Mr. Shin said.

Samsung will have an uphill battle this year in tablets. A slew of other PC makers and consumer electronics makers are planning to launch new tablets to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and the iPad on price. For example, Taiwanese PC maker Acer Inc. unveiled a tablet called Iconia Tab A500 in April that sells for $449.99, while Asustek Computer Inc. is also slated to unveil new devices at the Computex show in Taiwan this week.

“We believe that as time progresses, the tablet market will stabilize. There are a lot of players jumping into the market but it’s important to offer a device that customers can relate to and feel it’s a necessity in their daily lives,” Mr. Shin said.

During the first quarter, Samsung was the world’s second- largest tablet vendor behind Apple but it was the world’s No. 1 Android tablet provider, based on data from market research firm Strategy Analytics. Analysts say it will still be a competitive race this year and Samsung will need to up its game. Many other competitors are also embracing Android, including LG Electronics Inc. Motorola Inc., ZTE Corp. and HTC Corp.

“Samsung is not going to overtake Apple for the foreseeable future because its volumes are considerably smaller, but Samsung can continue to maintain its leadership of the Android tablet market by enlarging its retail presence in numerous countries world-wide, expanding the range of models across multiple price tiers and spending heavily on marketing to raise awareness among tablet buyers of Samsung’s devices and app store,” said Neil Mawston, director of Global Wireless Practice at Strategy Analytics.

Mr. Shin said that because competition is so fierce in the tablet space, Samsung recently had to cut prices to attract consumers to its Galaxy Tab. He also hinted that company would be willing to lower prices further in order to gain more share.

U.S carriers Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless cut the price of the Galaxy Tab tablet this year to as low as $199.99 with a two-year wireless-service contract.
[Wall Street Journal]

But what if you can’t get your hands on the product before purchase? Well, then of course you default to online reviews about the thing written by trustworthy journalists.

Well, Samsung decided to bypass that whole trustworthy journalist thing and just hire actors to talk about how great the new Samsung Galaxy Tab really is.

At a press conference at CTIA in Orlando, the folks at Samsung announced the new 10.1″ Galaxy Tab; a device thinner than the iPad with the same starting price of $499.

At that very press event, the folks at Samsung had the thing locked up in a glass case.

Perhaps it’s because the prototype 10.1″ inch advertised to be smaller than the iPad 2 is actually slightly thicker than the iPad 2.

Even the promotional video, which invites successful New Yorkers to try the Galaxy Tab and share their opinions, seems to be filled with actors.
[TG Daily]

It looks like Samsung will release the Galaxy Player, Android’s answer to the iPod touch.

Samsung plans to introduce an iPod touch rival at CES next week, Samsung Hub claims. Insiders are saying that the media player will be modeled after the Galaxy S smartphone, without the phone function of course, and run Android OS 2.2 Froyo. Like the later-generation iPod touch, the device will feature front- and rear-facing cameras and come in 8, 16, and 32 GB options.

Samsung is wise to manufacture a player that is almost identical to its Galaxy S phones. The iPod touch is an iPhone replica sans cellular connection which has easily bested competitors like the Zune. Samsung is taking a note out of Apple’s playbook and will use a similar formula.

Here’s a look at the Galaxy Player’s reported specs:

•9.9 mm wide
•1 GHz Hummingbird processor
•4-inch LCD screen with up to WVGA resolution (800 x 400)
•SoundAlive audio enchancing technology
•Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0 enabled
•3.2 MP rear-camera
•HD video playback
•microSD card slot
•Android Market and Samsung Apps access
In addition to using Apple’s iPod touch strategy, Samsung also appears to be tapping into continuing its Galaxy line. The Galaxy Tab has been an able iPad opponent (although unable to keep pace with the Apple tablet), and there were rumors earlier this year that a 10-inch version was on its way. And the Galaxy S, released in June, is swiftly approaching $10 million in global sales. Together, the two devices have been an impressive boon for Samsung, and a PMP seems like a natural and profitable next step for the brand. Aside to developing the line, it will also give Android an in with consumers who like the platform but aren’t ready to commit to a two-year contract.

But how will it actually compare to the iPod touch? Well it won’t be able to offer quite as sharp of a retina display, but it should be able to compete relatively well and should take a piece out of Apple’s touch sales. There’s no word on pricing or availability at this stage of the game, but CES begins next week and Phandroid reports that it will be on display January 6 at the show.
[Digitaltrends.com]

A statement has been put out by AT&T lets all customers know that Windows Phone 7 devices require a “certified high-speed microSD card” in order to work optimally. Specifically the Samsung Focus right now is expandable with microSD cards is warned about in the AT&T statement, them then noting the fact that “Certified for Windows Phone 7″ is not yet marked on any microSD cards on the market. Updates came into Engadget after this new initially broke letting us know that microSD card compatibility with Windows Phone 7 devices isn’t just based on speed class – other factors including the number of random read/write operations play a role, too.

More on the subject found by Engadget included documentation from Samsung including the fact that once a microSD card is inserted into a WP7 device, it “will no longer be readable or writable on any other devices such as computers, cameras, printers, and so on.” This includes formatting. Scary! Furthermore, they were told that it’s not so much to do with total throughput, as Microsoft would imply, but mostly to do with the random access speed. Sadly, the type of cards these WP7 will be good to work with are currently only manufactured in bulk (which explains why the cards that come standard in the phones work just fine.)
[SlashGear]

The Samsung Galaxy Tab may just be the first real challenger to Apple’s iPad tablet.

Even though it may be touted as a touchscreen computer, it’s actually a phone too – that is if you put a SIM card in it that allows phone calls – something the iPad can’t currently do.

The Galaxy Tab also has the ability to send MMS and SMS messages, as it runs the latest Google Android operating system, which now runs on many smartphones.

However, having used it for the last few weeks, I don’t know whether it could become a replacement for my mobile phone.

But it does have a lot to offer as a tablet, even if Google says Android isn’t tablet-ready yet. It really is the first tablet I’ve seen that comes anywhere close to competing with Apple’s iPad.

It might not be what you’re looking for if you’ve enjoyed using an iPad, but it’s certainly something worth checking out if you don’t want to be locked into Apple’s iTunes environment or just want to try something different.

But, at a starting price of $999 outright – Apple’s 16GB iPad with 3G costs $799 – it’s certainly expensive.

The kind of consumer I really see this tablet targeting is the slightly more tech-savvy user. It actually took me a little Google searching to figure out how to use its certain features, but that may have just been because the review unit’s manual I was sent was in Italian.

Flash

The Galaxy Tab has Adobe Flash Player built-in (the iPad doesn’t), which allows you to view many video and multimedia applications on the web. But when opening or playing a Flash video, in my testing, the browser became quite unstable and even crashed in some instances.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Apple have been so against it being installed on its iPad.

But for those who are really desperate to be able to enjoy a web experience that includes the ability to view Flash items, then the Tab has got you covered in that department.

Web browsing

General web browsing is fast – that is if the browser doesn’t crash – but the screen size makes it a little hard to read the text on websites without zooming in.

For example, when reading this website on the Tab, it was near-impossible to do so without zooming in. The experience was also pretty laggy as this site has Flash items on it.

In fact many of the sites this website visited that had Flash items embedded on them became laggy and annoying to scroll to the bottom of. Sometimes it took a few seconds for the Tab to become responsive.

A Fairfax video this website tried to play didn’t work very well at all. It felt as though it was only running at three frames per second.

A feature I really liked though, that could one day perhaps allow us to do away with the on-screen keyboard, is Google’s voice control feature. It makes searching Google easy.

You literally just have to say what you want to search for and it usually gets it right – and if it doesn’t, it gives you a “Did you mean…” message with other options, which usually include the correct search term you said.

You can also use voice control to activate other functions of the phone, like sending a message.

Apps

As for apps, well, there’s a lot of them on Google’s Android Marketplace. But as the Android operating system hasn’t been optimised for the tablet, as explained by one Google executive, you can’t search for apps that suit the larger screen size.

Most of the apps this website downloaded were suited to a smartphone’s screen size and not the Tab’s, which is a major disadvantage. There’s no actual way, at the moment, to search for apps that will fill the entire screen.

To try and fill the void, Samsung has created its own app store called “Samsung Apps”. But when this website was testing its store, it only had one application in it. Samsung said it hoped to fill the store with more apps soon.

But apps are what make smartphones and tablets useful. And remember, apps aren’t just utility-based, they can also be games – and to not have very many available for the larger screen size almost makes it a little pointless to use.

If third-party developers decide to jump onboard with Samsung’s own app store, then, with time, its store should become extensive. But whether the Samsung app store – which currently only serves the Galaxy Tab – will explode with apps or not is another question, as developers might not have any incentive to want to build apps for just the one device.

Google’s Android Marketplace is where I really see the opportunity for developers to exploit. But it’s really up to Google to actually optimise it for the Tab, according to Samsung.

Camera

The rear-facing camera, which utilises an LED flash and auto-focus, is 3 megapixels, while the front-facing camera, used for video calling, is of a lower quality – 1.3 megapixels. The quality, in this website’s testing, isn’t that great though. It’s fairly average, and it doesn’t always focus on what you want it to.

Screen size

The Tab features a 7-inch LCD display. The iPad is much larger, at 9.7 inches. But it’s important to note that devices with screens are usually measured in diagonal length, and so the Tab’s screen is actually less than half the size of the iPad – but it did pass the fitting in my skinny jeans test, whereas the iPad did not.

Memory

It is be able to store up to 16 gigabytes of data internally and has a microSD slot that allows for an additional 32 gigabyte SD card. Placing files on the Tab is quite easy, as it shows up as an external drive.

Networking abilities

The Tab makes use of both Wi-Fi and 3G technologies, allowing for internet access on the go. It also has Bluetooth for connecting to other devices and GPS for Google Maps and other apps that require location.

Weight

The tablet comes in one model and weighs 380 grams, half that of its rival, the Apple iPad 3G with Wi-Fi.

Music and video

The tablet plays almost all of the audio and video files we’re used to listening to or watching.

You just have to treat it like a USB drive. Once you connect the Tab to your computer you just need to mount it and then drag the files you wish to have on it.

Once you have demounted it, it scans for the new files you’ve uploaded to it and then adds them to their appropriate app. For example, the music app picked up the MP3 files I put on it straight away. But it’s no Apple iTunes store.

There’s no ecosystem, as such, that allows for simple, legal purchasing of MP3 files. You’re expected to go to a website like Amazon or “rip” CDs for their MP3 files and then upload them to it. Some people will like this, others will not.

Cost

According to Samsung you can get the Samsung Galaxy Tab outright for $999 at Harvey Norman. It’s also available with carriers Optus and Vodafone on various plans. Telstra said it would be carrying it and that it would release more details soon.
[Sydney Morning Herald]

Following on from our previous article which informed you about a confirmed price and date for the MyTouch 4G on T-Mobile, we now have a confirmed price and date for the T-Mobile version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
As reported from BGR, the price has now been confirmed to be $399, which is what was first rumored in one of our previous reports here. That price has now been set though, and it is subject to a two-year agreement.

What you might not be aware of though, is that the T-Mobile version will also benefit from their newly established HSPA+ network, which promises 4G speeds of up to 21Mbps.

If you are interested in picking one up, it will be available to buy on November 10th, just one day after a certain video game is launched worldwide.
[Product Reviews]

With other big names like Motorola and HTC still at least a few months away from announcements, Samsung may be the first big name to market with a Google Android tablet.

Samsung is expected to officially reveal their Android tablet on September 3rd at the IFA conference in Berlin. Gadget geeks are waiting with baited breath on any news of a first tier manufacturer who dares take on Apple’s iPad with an Android device.

Judging by the strong reaction to the cheap Augen Kmart Android device, it seems like there might be some pent up demand for an Android tablet, especially at lower prices than the iPad, which fetches anywhere from $500-$830 in the US.

In fact, Gizmodo is running a survey of its readers on whether they’d rather have an Android tablet (sight unseen) or an Apple iPad. Surprisingly, without one available on the market, more of their tech-focused readers are interested in an unreleased Android device over an iPad. As of this morning, a surprising 58% of them (below) would rather have the Android OS on their tablets.

Android device numbers have globally caught up to Apple’s iOS devices in the less than two years since the first Android device, the G1, was released. Samsung released its Galaxy S Android phones this summer, which have been an immediate success. Samsung announced a million devices sold in the first thirteen days, without even launching in the US. Samsung subsequently announced 900,000 devices had been sold in S. Korea alone in the first quarter of sales. Galaxy S smartphones will be on all major and some minor US carriers by October.

There have been no shortage of leaks of Samsung’s tablet device, including one from the official Samsung Twitter feed (above right). Two more leaks (below) have emerged in the last 24 hours which are shedding more light on Samsung’s Galaxy tablet.

A Chinese Site today called ifanr.com posted more pictures of the device with some additional information.

The prototype they used is running Android 2.2 which allows Voice Actions and plays Adobe’s Flash-enabled websites and content. The keyboard input has Swype enabled for speedy text entry.

It also has an Apple-like (or Dell Streak-like) 30-pin connector at the bottom. The screen is a 16:9 1024×600 pixel Super AMOLED according to the tip. That puts it at the same pixel resolution as the iPad in length but 168 pixels thinner. This will be a widescreen viewing experience.

What will set this apart from the iPad is its front and rear facing cameras which are VGA and 3.2 megapixels respectively. It is also said to be much lighter and ‘plastic-ier’ than Apple’s iPad. The post said it was an excellent e-Reader.

The device is also said to have GPS with Google turn by turn Maps, which should make an incredible navigation device for driving.

To imagine a commuter use case, you have to venture to Australia where someone on a train was playing with one yesterday.

Notice he’s holding it in one hand much more like a phone than one would hold an iPad. You can’t wrap your hand around an iPad like that unless you are a giant. At 2.2 pounds, the iPad isn’t comfortable for long periods of time in one hand either.

For those interested in a smaller sized ‘tablet’, Samsung will be releasing a 4-inch, iPod-like Galaxy product in its Yepp MP3 player line running Android as well.

Obviously, Samsung isn’t alone in building Android tablets as just about every manufacturer from California to Shenzhen is readying one for Christmas. As the Motorola Droid proved with its stunning success however, being the first big name to market does offer advantages.
[Fortune]

Earlier this year Samsung unveiled plans for an Android-based Galaxy tablet PC to launch by the end of the year. New details are emerging now, and it appears that Samsung may launch the device in a few weeks at the IFA 2010 consumer electronics show in Berlin.

The initial details released on the Samsung tablet concept hinted that it might have specifications and functionality capable of offering an iPad alternative. The early information suggested that the tablet would have a 7-inch Super AMOLED display with Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI, a 1.2GHz A8 processor, 16Gb of internal memory–expandable to 48Gb, and run the latest Android 2.2 OS–a.k.a. “Froyo”.

The team at Samsung Firmware have gotten their hands on a firmware update which confirms some of the early predictions, and reveals more details about the upcoming tablet. According to Samsung Firmware, the Galaxy Tab will run Android 2.2, and it does have an ARM processor, but it is supposedly the slower and less powerful processor found in its Galaxy S smartphone siblings.

In addition, Samsung Firmware was able to determine from the firmware update that the Galaxy Tab will have a display resolution of 480×800, GPS functionality, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and rear and front facing cameras. The details also reveal that the Galaxy Tab will run JavaScript 1.5 and Adobe Flash Player.

There are rumors that the tablet will be offered through Vodafone UK later this fall. However, there are also rumors that Samsung will launch the tablet in early September at the IFA 2010 conference in Berlin–suggesting that Vodafone may get the device, but not necessarily be first in line. There are no details about availability of the Galaxy Tab for the United States.

Samsung seems to have a much better timing strategy than rival iPad competitors such as Asus. Launching the Galaxy Tab tablet in the fall is brilliant. It is far enough away from the original iPad launch, or the coming next-generation iPad to be the focus of attention, and–assuming it lives up to the demand–it could provide a capable Android-based tablet to take on the iPad during the 2010 holiday season.

We will all have to wait and see if the Samsung Galaxy Tab delivers. But, ultimately, the success of the device is only partly dependent on the capabilities of the tablet itself. Pricing the tablet too high, or offering it through the wrong distribution channels–or both–could make or break the Android tablet as well.
[PC World]

At last week’s Apple press conference regarding the iPhone 4 antenna issues, CEO Steve Jobs called out another of other competitors. Most of them have responded already, and now Samsung is joining the fray.

Samsung specifically points towards design comparisons of the iPhone 4 and the Omnia 2, both of which have out-of-the-ordinary antenna placements.

Here’s the statement from Samsung spokesperson Shin Young-joon, as published in the The Korea Herald:

The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna.

We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.

While there is a pointed difference in antenna placement, the statement isn’t that loud or inflammatory. The Omnia 2 isn’t exactly comparable to the iPhone 4 in terms of price, popularity or features…so maybe not comparable at all. Perhaps that’s why Samsung doesn’t have as much of a direct and firm response as RIM did. Or maybe Samsung would rather focus on something more important than smartphone drama.
[ZDNet (blog)]