Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

Here it is official at last, a true competitor to the iPad, the Galaxy Tab. WE’ve talked about the rumours lots here at MightyGadget and we’ve definitely sung the praises of the Galaxy S, Android phone too go alongside it. It will be officially 100% unveiled at IFA on September the 2nd but Samsung have unleashed a wonderful little teaser video showing just what the Tablet can do.

The 7” tablet PC will run the wonderful Android 2.2 Froyo OS and will feature video calling, HD video playback, e-reader functions and will allow connection to a PC it also has a camera on the back of it, certainly something over the iPad there to take into consideration. If it’s as good as the Galaxy Phone then you’re looking at some serious piece of slate.

Keep your eyes on IFA then(next Wednesday) for all the release details. For the video click this link and enjoy.

We’ve spoken about the Galaxy S quite a lot recently mainly due to the fact it looked great before it came out and all we keep reading from other sources is how great it is since it’s release. Samsung phones in my opinion have always been just “alright” never exceeding the strengths of Nokia of old or the iPhone today, but I’d love to have a go with Samsung’s iPhone killer to see if the hype is worth believing, plus it runs Android and I do love Android. Well Samsung are taking it to what seems to be the new “next level”. Nokia did it with the N97, Sony have done it with the Xperia X10. Take their giant smartphones and well, make them smaller.

The Galaxy Q has pretty much all the same specs as the Galaxy S, bt as nothing is actually truly official we can only let you know what we know. a 3” AMOLED screen still powered with the 1GHz processor and 16GB of storage. the other difference rumour is that the Q will be a “candy bar” phone and operate a full QWERTY keyboard (I’m always a fan of these) plus as it’s not out for a few months on release should have had the Android 2.2 upgrade. Couple all this with an 8MP HD video capable camera and a 1MP camera on the front, it certainly looks to be a decent enough downsize.

Sadly it’s all just rumourage, so no price or exact release date but you’ll be looking towards Christmas for the Galaxy Q.

The Samsung Galaxy S hasn’t been with us long but the super 5 star rated blower is apparently getting an update early next year, according to Russian “internets” types. Now rumours are exactly what they are, RUMOURS but apparently the Ruskies are very much on the ball when it comes to Samsung mobile rumours and have gotten it right before. The one thing making this a certified rumour is the specs look amazing, a bit too good to be true. We’ll give you the rundown of what they said anyway, we can certainly hope it’s true.

The Galaxy S certainly packed some great specs but the S2 takes it to the next level. A bigger 4.3” 1280x720 Super AMOLED screen (wow in itself) with 32GB of storage and the ability to add another 32GB from microSD. It will also pack A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and N-standard WiFi. Camera wise you’re looking at 8MP but again the ability to shoot HD video. To tap into the iPhone 4 market it’ll have a similar style accelerometer/gyroscope feature. Now the rumour also states that by the time the phone’s due, next year, this mobile will be running Android OS 3 but also a massive 1GB of RAM.

Again the only thing with rumours is details, and we have none but I’m sure IF we get some more, we’ll pass them on

A lot of laptops we’ve seen recently are trying to be as “portable” as possible whether that being the thinnest, the smallest or the less weighty but usually when you steer down that path the goods that are produced are very limited. Samsung has recently issued the Q series laptop. Its not looking for the worlds thinnest laptop title nor are we looking at a gaming powerhouse with a half hour battery life. It’s just a standard sized laptop with a good spec and above all a nice price range.

Coming in a fabulous 3 sizes, 13.3”(Q330), 14”(Q430) and the 15.6”(Q530) are certainly aesthetically pleasing with a brushed metal look. Running Windows 7  you’ll get a choice of Core i3 or Core i5 chipsets to power the lappy. One can also get an HDD up to the size of 640GB. The 13.3” laptop has the option of GeForce 310M GPU whereas the larger two laptops an get GeForce 330M although what is slightly disappointing is the screen resolutions on all will only get to 1366x768. Also with 3 HDMI ports, N-standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 it attends to the rest of your needs.

Available this month Samsung say the prices will start at £599.

Sorry for the cheese but it had to be done. Remember the Samsung Beam we spoke about a while back , the first mobile phone to incorporate a projector so one can show their pics and vids onto a wall. Well back then it was just a prototype, now Samsung are unveiling it in Singapore next month so it can’t be too long before we can get our hands on it in Blighty and leave us all with “Beaming” smiles…………

As with the new-wave of Samsung mobiles it’s blasting us with a 3.7” Super AMOLED screen for those super nice rich, bright colours and that wonderful Android OS. Connectivity wise you’re looking at HSDPA, 3G, Wi-Fi and the new Bluetooth 3.0. Packing an 8MP camera for good quality pics, it’ll also shoot HD video, a must for todays top smartphones. Now obviously what makes the Beam stand out is it has a mini projector, capable of 50” wide images at a brightness level of 9 lumens. It’ll also back a-GPS and a built in FM radio.

Obviously we wont have any prices till the networks announce it’s release but I’m glad to see this phone made it past prototype and hopefully will live up to it’s potential.

Samsung have always been a major player in every corner of the electronics market with their good reliable products, whether it be the telly, the mobile phone or the computer. With the obvious popularity now of Apple’s iPad it was only a matter of time before Samsung entered that market too and with everyone trying to out-do Apple in whichever way they can, what will Samsung bring to the table.

We got our first sighting of it’s tablet from the official Samsung South Africa Twitter account, showing a 7” tablet PC next to it’s already well reviewed Galaxy S smartphone ( the obvious comparison to the iPhone/iPad relationship) So what’s it got? Available in 7”, 8” and 10” screen sizes the slate runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) and is powered with a “faster than iPad” 1.2GHz processor. It has 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded to 48GB with a MicroSD slot.

With the obvious speed ability over Apple and Google’s popular OS with all it’s apps this could be a true contender for the market. We have no price details yet and no exact date but it should be available in September.

The Samsung Galaxy is S is receiving a lot of good press from it’s Super AMOLED screen, super fast processing abilities and above all its HD content. This week also saw the announcement of iPhone 4.0 and Samsung were quick to judge and slam the Cupertino’s baby’s screen, claiming it wasn’t a patch on their Galaxy S’s. Well now iPhone 4 is incoming, so to the Galaxy S, which you could essentially get in your hands by tomorrow (iPhone Pre-order starts tomorrow)

For a quick recap on the Galaxy S it has a 4” WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen runing that wonderful Android OS. There’s also the usual suspects too, HSDPA and WiFi connectivity and a 5MP camera which is capable of shooting HD video. Couple all this with a 1GHz processor and a file extension support that will make your PC blush, this is some serious kit.

Vodafone are offering the phone on pretty much its standard new smartphone contracts. £35 a month for 24 months will get you the phone for nowt. If you only want an 18 month contract then you’re looking at £40 a month

Samsung have entered the touchscreen netbook market which may be a little late with the soon to be arriving folding tablets but where it makes up for it is in its durability and its compact size.

A not so great 1024x600 10.1” it’s standard size for a netbook but this has a nice touchscreen for you to prod around with and as its running Windows 7, the touchscreen friendly OS unlike most netbooks that run Windows XP. However despite its superior OS the netbook itself isn’t a top of the range power monster. Intels Atom N450 is the processor with 1GB RAM. It also comes with with a choice of 160GB or 250GB HDD.

However it looks like Samsung are aiming for a particular market with this one as it seems its been built to last the elements and general wear and tear despite its lack of future-proof tech. The drives are anti-shock protected and the case is reinforced to withstand the odd drop or bump in your bag, probably from them idiots at the train station who insist on barging you out the way. It also has a liquid resistant keyboard. Whether you can spill your coffee on it and it still work I would like to see although at £350 a throw for the machine, it would be an expensive test.

Not available in the UK yet and no release date, the Samsung NB30 Touch is on sale in Italy now so it shouldn’t be too far off a British release.