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BlackBerry PlayBook Coming April 19th at $499, Samsung Intros 8.9" and 10.1" Galaxy T

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With Apple's iPad 2 having been on sale in the U.S. for a week and half already and set to launch in 25 new countries on Friday, other companies are continuing to ramp up their efforts as they seek to bring competitive tablets to the market.


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Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook
Research in Motion today announced that it has partnered with Best Buy to begin taking orders for Wi-Fi models of the BlackBerry PlayBook, a 7-inch tablet primarily targeted at business users and set to launch on April 19th. Pricing for the Wi-Fi PlayBook will match that of the larger iPad 2 at $499 for the 16 GB model, $599 for the 32 GB model, and $699 for the 64 GB model.
"Tablets are becoming a bigger part of our business everyday and the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook will heighten the level of excitement in this category," said Scott Anderson, head of merchandising for Best Buy Mobile. "RIM has a tremendous history of producing great mobility products for our customers and we are excited to help launch the BlackBerry PlayBook."
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Not to be outdone, Samsung today announced new 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch versions of its Galaxy Tab device that will join the existing 7-inch tablet in running Android.


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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
As suggested by an executive earlier this month, Samsung has in fact redesigned the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to respond to Apple's iPad 2, dropping the thickness from 10.9 mm to 8.6 mm, making the Galaxy Tab 0.2 mm thinner than the iPad 2. The reduced thickness apparently forced Samsung to shift the rear-facing camera from an 8-megapixel sensor to a 3-megapixel one, although even the lower-resolution camera exceeds that found in the iPad 2.
The first iteration of Galaxy Tab 10.1 measured in at 246.2 x 170.4 x 10.9 mm and weighed 599g; this new, slimmer version is 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm and 595g. In the process the slate has gained a new back panel (to match the 8.9-inch version) and lost some megapixels. The 2-megapixel front camera remains, but the rear camera is a 3-megapixel unit with autofocus and an LED flash (down from 8-megapixels on the previous version). Battery life is up to 10hrs, Samsung claims.
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The Wi-Fi Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is said to go on sale June 8th and like the PlayBook will offer identical price points to the iPad 2 at $499 for the 16 GB model and $599 for the 32 GB model.

The Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab 8.9 will offer essentially identical specs to the larger model down to the same 1280x800 resolution display (although obviously smaller in size) and will launch in "early summer" at $469/$569 price points for 16 GB and 32 GB models.

Article Link: BlackBerry PlayBook Coming April 19th at $499, Samsung Intros 8.9" and 10.1" Galaxy Tabs
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/22/blackberry-playbook-coming-april-19th-at-499-samsung-intros-8-9-and-10-1-galaxy-tabs/
Samsung redesigned the 10.1 'just like that' did they? Wow, that's going to be one impressive piece of carefully considered and crafted engineering if they poured over it for such an extensive amount of time.... </sarcasm>

Seriously, either Samsung have pulled something incredible out of the bag or, more likely IMHO, this 'new' 10.1 wont be all that. They're certainly desperate to have a tablet success!
 
I wish RIM all the success in the world, even as I say that coming out with a WiFi-only version of the Playbook is a little short-sighted. Add to that so many executives want to have just one device, not two, in order to talk to their BES servers. (You need to pair the Playbook with a Blackberry)

I know that for RIM is a catch-22. They want desperately to compete with Apple before the iPad corners the market on tablets, and they didn't feel they could wait until their 3G product arrives at the end of this year.
 
Blackberry playbook = The IPad 2 killer - you heard it here first.

Look at the specs, their greater or equal to the iPad 2 with the exception of battery life.
 
Meanwhile, Apple is drowning in orders and battling light leaks in displays. If the quality cannot be improved expeditiously, would-be customers may investigate the competition. :(
 
rovex said:
The IPad 2 killer - you heard it here first.

Look at the specs, their greater or equal to the iPad 2 with the exception of battery life.
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Nope...its rim...so the hardware is going to be crap. The Samsung will be closer to the ipad 2 killer....what am I saying there will never be an ipad 2 killer.
 
All formidable looking tablets, it is indeed the year of the tablet, and glad they're becoming price competitive too.
 
rovex said:
Blackberry playbook = The IPad 2 killer - you heard it here first.

Look at the specs, their greater or equal to the iPad 2 with the exception of battery life.
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Well, minus the screen size too. Equal to isn't going to cut it against an Apple product. Just look at how the Zune fared.
 
ctdonath said:
'nuff said.
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Unfortunately you're so very right. Until it's in the hand and on the shelves it's vaporware.

And, like I've said many a times to everyone that brings this topic up:

Apple will be king until we see some viable apps that people flock to. The iOS environment is just too good.

Spoken from an Android fan here folks.
 
Competition is great, but they market the playbook as a Professional Tablet - which is fine, but if it's a Professional tablet why have so many pictures of it running games?
 
Assuming this gets out of vaporware status, it looks pretty good. The custom interface also looks good. Apple better have some improvements to the UI (ahem, notifications) in iOS 5
 
dustinsc said:
Well, minus the screen size too. Equal to isn't going to cut it against an Apple product. Just look at how the Zune fared.
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Yes the small screen isn't going to cut it but honestly carrying the iPad around is a hastle. People will be tempted with the size for portability.
 
dustinsc said:
Assuming this gets out of vaporware status, it looks pretty good. The custom interface also looks good. Apple better have some improvements to the UI (ahem, notifications) in iOS 5
Click to expand...

Sorry, completely forgot about that.

iOS rocks in apps, but it does suck *** in terms of notifications and true multitasking.

Apple should've been the ones to buy Palm.
 
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