Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablets, new SpringBoard

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T-Mobile Inc. this week said it will release the T-Mobile SpringBoard and Samsung Electronic Co. Ltd.’s Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to U.S. retail by this holiday. In fact, when it's lying next to the iPad 2 we honestly can't tell which tablet is thicker and unfortunately we don't have a micrometer handy to get down into the business of microns.

Rather than several paragraphs filled with confusing numbers, I thought a chart would be much more appropriate. Here's a handy chart to illustrate the size differences between the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and other recent tablets.


The T-Mobile SpringBoard, manufactured by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., is a 7-inch HD multi-touch tablet that includes a 1.2Ghz Dual-Core CPU, 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording functionality, 1.3MP front-facing camera, SD card slot for up 32GB of storage, and Google Inc.’s Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS. From the front, its 10.1-inch screen is surrounded by its 0.8-inch black bezel and a silver aluminum outline at the edge. In the top middle sits its 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 includes a 10.1-inch HD display, 1Ghz Dual-Core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU, 1GB RAM, 3MP camera with 720p HD video recording functionality, 2MP front-facing camera, GPS, and the Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS.

There are no USB or HDMI ports. And, try as we might, we couldn't find ports for either SD cards or SIM cards. We're hoping Samsung's final release version will make finding the ports a lot easier. Both tablets will utilize T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network.

New T-Mobile smartphone products include HTC Corp.’s HTC Amaze 4G and the The Samsung Galaxy S II. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a Google Experience tablet, meaning it uses the base version of Honeycomb 3.1, with no customizations to its interface; however, Samsung does include its Samsung Apps, um, app.

The T-Mobile 4G network currently serves 100 major U.S. markets. It plans to expand and double the speed of its 4G network in 2011. The back of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 sports a 3-megapixel camera at the top and a plain white back. It's the feel of the plastic back that is the most disappointing aspect of the Tab 10.1's design. It doesn't feel as solid as the iPad 2, and as a result, doesn't feel as comfortable in our hands.