Go to Hell iPad, welcome competition

Starting (in) mid-month Samsung launches its Galaxy Tab mobile device in Europe (US and Asia will get it "in the coming months").

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" widescreen touch tablet powered by Android 2.2. The Tab will use the same TouchWiz UI used on Samsung's line of Galaxy S smartphones … the device has a metal back, black bezel, bottom speakers, and even a 30-pin connector.

At the heart of the device is the same 1GHz ARM processor and PowerVR GPU core that powers the Galaxy S phones, and is in most respects equivalent to Apple's A4 processor. It also includes 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and 3G connectivity; assisted GPS capabilities; accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer sensors; and comes with either 16GB and 32GB of built-in flash storage.

However, there are a few areas where the Galaxy Tab separates itself from the iPad. The display is a 1024 x 600 pixel, 7" diagonal 16:9 wide touchscreen. The device also includes both rear- and front-facing cameras; the iPad's omission of cameras has been heavily criticized. At the rear is a 3MP autofocus camera with LED flash, while the front has a 1.3MP fixed focus camera. In addition to stills, the Tab can record 720 x 480 resolution video.

To expand storage, the device accepts up to 32GB MicroSD cards.

On the software side, the Tab includes the mobile version of Flash 10.1—Apple's iOS devices famously lack Flash compatibility—but the jury is still out on whether that is a benefit or not.

No it isn’t. Is there really any question about Flash, besides the fact that Steve Jobs hates it?

The Tab is compatible with a wide variety of audio and video formats for media playback, including being the first DiVX-certified tablet. Like Samsung's other Galaxy devices, it features the innovative Swype soft keyboard. And Samsung is targeting the popularity of the iPad as a full-color e-reader by including a Kobo-developed "Readers Hub" which is compatible with ePub, PDF, Kobo, and Adobe DRM'd content, including books, magazines, and newspapers. By virtue of running Android 2.2, it also includes all the Google apps like Navigation and Latitude, and can access software from the Android Marketplace.