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Samsung Galaxy Tab full specs exploration
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The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the first tablet device that offers a truly tempting alternative to the iPad. It’s powered by the new Android 2.2 OS, but do the rest of its specs lead the pack?

Processor
Next year may be all about 1.5GHz dual-core, eye-watering CPU speeds, but for now the Samsung Galaxy Tab is still at the top of the mobile tree with its 1GHz A8 processor. It’s basically the same as the one used in the Apple iPad — although Apple’s baby’s CPU is dubbed “Apple A4″, it’s still an ARM A-8 under the hood.

There’s also a PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator, giving you HD video playback and plenty of polygon-pushing power. Few Android games so far will make full use of it though, sadly.

Screen
Samsung has wowed us this year, with the beautiful Super AMOLED screens of the Samsung Galaxy S and Wave. Such screens don’t come cheap though, so we weren’t hugely surprised when we learnt that the 7-incher of the Galaxy Tab is a standard TFT model.

Using a 1024×600 resolution, it’s not a super-high pixel density screen like the iPhone 4’s, but it is comparable to the iPad. Samsung has done its best to make the Tab feel like its not lagging behind its Galaxy S cousin — the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s TFT display is very bright, with some early impressions suggesting it’s almost on-par with AMOLED. It’s not king of the jungle, but it’s not bad.

Phone skills and connectivity
Google has made having cellular capabilities (making phone calls, basically) a requirement for any device wanting full access to the Android Market, which the Samsung Galaxy Tab has. It’s a bit big to fit in your pocket and take around with you 24/7, but this hybrid-sized tablet-phone can make calls.

This isn’t what impresses us about the Samsung Galaxy Tab — we’re not planning on calling home with that great big hunk of gadgetry against our ears. It’s the inclusion of all the latest connectivity standards that gives the Samsung Galaxy Tab its bite.

Wireless “n” support is in, giving you a connectivity range of up to 100m if used with a n-capable router, and Bluetooth 3.0 features too. Bluetooth 3.0 uses Wi-Fi to supplement transfer speeds, avoiding the sluggish feel long-term Bluetooth users will be all-too familiar with.

On the 3G side, you have 7.2Mpbs HSDPA — enough to max-out the connection you’re likely to get from any UK carrier at the moment, while EDGE and GPRS are on standby if you enter a 3G blackspot. All bases are covered.

Apps
The Android Market is massive, with more than 100,000 apps on offer in total. But the Samsung Galaxy Tab isn’t the sort of device that most app makers had in mind when making their apps.

Until now, Android devices haven’t tended to skip past the 854×480 mark, in screen resolution terms, and those that have haven’t offered full Android Market support. We haven’t yet had a chance to check out how existing apps cope with the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s relatively massive 7-inch 1024×600 pixel screen, but we imagine more than just a few will have more than just a few problems with it.

The Android OS will soon become much more tablet-friendly though, with truckloads of tablets using the OS heading to market. Android tablet apps will get there soon — they’re just not quite “there” yet.

Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Tab offers two cameras — or “two more than the iPad”, as Samsung might put it. These will enable video calling and simple taking of snaps.