Apple's iPad is a hard act to follow, but Android is starting to compete.
The Android-versus-Apple battle has spread from smartphones to the new world of tablet devices. Samsung's 7in Galaxy Tab is built to compete with the iPad. It's not the only Android tablet - we review it alongside some of its rivals in chapter 7 - but it's probably the most serious contender. By way of introduction to Android tablets, let's compare the Samsung directly to the iPad.
The first thing that strikes you on picking up the Tab, especially if you've already tried an iPad, is its manageable size. Smaller than the Apple but larger than a mobile phone, it's compact enough to fit into tight spaces - even a roomy pocket - yet large enough
to make viewing pleasant. We found it comfy to hold, unlike the iPad, which weighs twice as much and is too heavy to grasp with one hand for any length of time.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
Clearly influenced by Samsung's Galaxy S phones (see chapter 5), the Tab looks more stylish and less clunky than some of the off-brand Android tablets around. The size and weight allow you to hold the Tab and type with your thumbs on the virtual keyboard, using two hands or even one.
Although the Super VGA 1024x600-pixel TFT display appeared quite bright and viewable even at an angle, it may not prove quite so visible in bright sunlight. Samsung claims that its screen has a wider viewing angle and higher contrast ratio than the iPad's. Apple's display, by comparison, has more pixels but, since they're spread over a larger area, a lower number of pixels per inch, though it doesn't seem any less sharp for all that.
While the iPad surprised many by having no camera at all, the Tab, like other Android devices, features two. It has a rear-facing 3.2Mp camera for photography, and a front-facing 1.3Mp camera which serves as a webcam for video chat.
The Tab has a proprietary charger port, and like the iPad it needs more juice than is available via USB. If you plug the tablet into a PC's USB port, or even a powered hub, you'll get only a trickle charge; instead, you need to plug it into the mains using the supplied adaptor. The 4000mAh battery will last through seven hours of video viewing (generally a high-drain task), according to Samsung; direct comparisons aren't easily made, but Apple's 10-hour claim for the iPad is supported by users.
In addition to a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, the Tab has a 3G mobile data connection, Wi-Fi and DLNA support, 16GB of built-in storage, and a MicroSD slot for expanding the memory up to 32GB.
How does Samsung's Tab (right) stack up to the Apple iPad (below left)?
BEATING THE SYSTEM
Running Android 2.2 (see page 7), the Tab supports Adobe Flash 10.1 and Microsoft's PlayReady DRM, and comes with a tablet-optimised version of TouchWiz 3.0, the user interface found on the Galaxy S phones.
Like those phones, the Tab supports the Swype input method for faster typing; Samsung's Social Hub for aggregating email, text, and social network messages; and a new service called Media Hub for download and rental of TV shows and movies. You can share a Media Hub account among up to five Galaxy devices, although you can't yet start watching something on one and then resume from the same place on another.
Samsung has spent time optimising Android for a tablet screen, redesigning the email, memo, file management, calendar, contacts, messaging, music and video apps. Email, for example, has an iPad-esque dual-pane view in landscape mode that shows the open message and your inboxes.
The Android Desktop has been tweaked too. A sliding tray of icons (browser, apps, email and the like) sits at the bottom, while widgets occupy the middle. An enhanced status bar resides near the top; above it is the Android-standard notifications bar. The ability to pinch to view your multiple home screens - a feature not offered on the Galaxy phones - is available here.
Three e-reader apps (PressDisplay for news, Kobo for e-books and Zinio for magazines) are preinstalled. Of course, you can also download and use any Android e-reader app; the only question is whether it's been designed to work with tablets.
Samsung says all the apps in the Android Market will run on the Tab, although just a small number are optimised for this size of screen. The iPad, similarly, can run almost any app designed for the iPhone (or iPod touch), and a large number have already been optimised for the tablet, or designed for it from scratch, including magazines from many well-known publishers. Standard Android apps appear on the Tab at 800x400 size in the centre of the screen and look better than iPhone apps do on the iPad.
For work, the Tab has Microsoft's Document Viewer and Editor preinstalled, allowing you to work on Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents. There's no equivalent for the iPad, although you can view many file formats, and business apps available include Apple's iWork suite.
Spot the difference
While Apple's mobile operating system has plenty of strengths, an Android tablet such as the Tab could have an advantage in numerous areas.
■ Apps Apple's App Store may have more items, but Android lets you install what you like. With no pre-approval, there's no censorship of content.
■ Tethering Android opens up the potential to hook up your laptop to a 3G tablet and use its interne connection without having to pay extra.
■ Flash Love it or hate it, Flash is a big part of the web. iPad can't display it.
■ Direct access Android devices can act like hard drives: you can drag and drop files from your PC, and browse your device like a computer. Apple insists you use iTunes to transfer files.
■ Battery replacement Most Android device makers use removable batteries When the battery fails (they don't last as long as the device is designed to) you can order a new one and install it yourself. Apple requires an engineer.
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