All About Android 203: Wow What a Huawei Watch

This week, while in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, I was a guest on All About Android to talk about what is happening in the world of Android.

Thanks to Jason and Ron for having me on the show and to my colleagues who facilitated my participation from the apartment in Barcelona.

Did you find our Huawei Watch meltdown funny? You weren't alone: the good people at TWiT.tv made a TWiT Bit out of it.

You can vote for my app in the Arena (Cat Simulator) until Tuesday March 10th here too.

Motorola Moto E

This is my personal review of the Motorola Moto E, the budget Android smartphone which is taking the world by storm at the moment.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter and Google Plus, from November 2013 until April 2014 will have been a bit of a Blur of the hashtag #MotoG (Android skin pun intended). I really liked the device and used it as my main smartphone, flanked by the Nexus 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. When my Samsung S5 came along, I passed the Moto G on to a friend who was in need of a basic smartphone and who is now delighted with it and living the Android dream.
Over the last six months at least a dozen of my friends and relatives have been advised by me to get a Moto G (and they did). The Moto G is great device which packs an impressive amount of bang per monetary unit. With the Moto E Motorola are looking to wrap up the budget segment of the smartphone market using a similar recipe to the one which made the Moto G a success.

The Moto E is currently Motorola's budget handset offering, sitting below the Moto G in Lenovorola's product portfolio. For £80 (~$125) you get what would have been a 3G flagship specs a few years ago:

• 4.3" qHD 540x960 display
• Dual-core Snapdragon processor
• 1GB RAM
• 5 megapixel camera (with no flash)
• 4GB built in storage (expandable with up to 32GB MicroSD)
• Android 4.4.2, with guaranteed timely upgrade to the next major release of Android

Value for money, the Moto E delivers an excellent proposition: good performance, almost on a par with current flagship devices like the Samsung S5, for a fraction of the price. I must say, in some situations I think it actually outperforms many of the market heavy hitters. As a bonus, you get a smartphone which is also splash and dust resistant which can be particularly useful in Scotland.

The Moto E runs an almost stock version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat at the moment, with very few very minor extras which are unobtrusive and actually useful (like Motorola Assist). In my day to day use, I haven't suffered from any issues with the software or apps I usually use. If anything the stock Android experience makes me more likely to reach for the Moto E than the Samsung Galaxy S5. 

Pocket Casts, Google Play Music All Access, Audible, Gmail, Twitter, Google Plus and Hangouts are the apps I use the most and the Moto E runs them flawlessly. As long as you remember to change the settings in the media heavy apps to use the MicroSD there seem to be no storage issues either.

The Moto E has a 4.3" qHD (540x960) screen which is bright and clear. Use in direct sunlight, although not really an issue here in Scotland, is excellent. The auto brightness settings haven't created any annoyances for me and watching video on the screen is great.

The thing difficult to describe and that you won't see on a spec sheet is the feel of the handset in the hand. Just like the Moto G, the curved soft touch plastic back is really pleasant to hold, and sits in the hand very comfortably. This SKU of the Moto E, from Tesco Mobile, comes with an extra red shell in the box. Accessorising has never been easier!

The 5 megapixel camera on the back of the Moto E was a huge let down. No flash, slow and sometimes unresponsive I didn't like it. There is another disappointment in the camera department too: no front facing camera means making Google Hangouts or Skype calls with face to face video is impossible. I suppose some trade off had to be made to bring down the price of what is a great handset overall for the price. Or was it all a cunning ploy by Motorola to try and curb the number of selfies on the internet?

Sample: weak camera doesn't perform very well

Battery life on the Moto E is great. The 1980 mAh battery lasts me more than a day in heavy use, even on days when I play Threes and Voxel Rush a lot. If I used the phone less, it would probably quite happily last a couple of days in between charges.

The Moto E is a great device, which delivers a great smartphone experience for an affordable price. The weak points are definitely the camera and the lack of a front facing camera, but in every other department the device excels within its category. Considering that the Moto E is up against the Samsung Galaxy Fame and the Nokia Lumia 520 in the same price range, I think Motorola have a clear winner in their product portfolio.

A word of warning if you are considering buying a Moto E: the standard retail box does not have a mains charger, just a micro usb cable.

Feel free to leave comments and/or questions below, thanks!

I quite like the Samsung Galaxy S5's camera

I've had the Samsung S5 for almost two months now and I must point out I'm quite enjoying the overall experience on it.

The camera in particular is easy and quick to use, and when using HDR it delivers some impressive results for a smartphone. Here are a few samples:

There you go. On my recent vacation, I found I had only used my Panasonic TZ40 a few times. The bulk of my pictures were taken with the S5 and were of perfectly acceptable quality to me. Maybe this is a sign of things to come: will I actually need to get a stand alone camera next year? Convergence, convergence, convergence, convergence...

Feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Yesterday my Samsung Galaxy S5 arrived. These are my initial impressions, and if I find time to I may write a complete review.

My Samsung Galaxy S5

The unboxing was a bit disappointing. The plasticky protective films and lightweight feel of the device didn't give me a good first impression of the device, but so far in use I've grown to like the device and accept my initial purchase decision. The device comes with a mains USB charger and cable, a set of headphones with different sizes of earbud adapters.

The S5 next to my Cyanogenmod running Note 3

Yesterday evening the fingerprint scanner passed the "tipsy evening out with sticky fingers" test and I prefer the flattened and simplified TouchWiz to the horrible one on the Note 3.

The back of the Samsung Galaxy S5

The device is snappy and fast. I haven't noticed any slowdowns even when running some demanding apps and multitasking. I haven't been able to use the device long enough to pass judgement on battery life.

Here is a sample of a picture of Wobbles taken with the S5

Lets see how long I can resist voiding the warranty on the device by rooting it and flashing custom ROMs...

Feel free to pop any comments and/or questions you may have in the comments section below.

How To Have the KitKat Launcher On The Galaxy Nexus

Google have announced that the Galaxy Nexus won't be getting Android 4.4 KitKat. The teardown of the Nexus 5 factory image gives us the bits we need to have some of the KitKat tastiness on the Samsung made Galaxy Nexus. This quick tutorial gives you the new Google Play Services, Google Search, and the Google Launcher. I am not to be held responsible for any damage to your phone, you, the space-time continuum or anything else. I would like to add that I am not responsible for the lack of recent Rachel Stevens albums either.

You can have this KitKat crumb, but not the whole thing.

You will need to download and install the new Google Play Services first. You can download it from here.

Next, download and install the new Google Search (Now). It is available from here.

Finally, download and install the new Launcher. You can get that here.

Once you have done that, press the home button and then select the blue Launcher icon and select "Always".

That should be it! Enjoy the KitKat crumb while the newer Nexus devices get the full chocolatey experience.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to pop them below.

Enjoy the bigger icons and app drawer!

Samsung Unpacked at IFA 2013

Yesterday Samsung unveiled their flagship Android devices for the 2013 holiday season at an Unpacked event in Berlin, Germany. The Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 (2014) Edition, Samsung GALAXY Gear smartwatch and Samsung GALAXY Note 3 are going to be tempting you to spend your pocket money within the next month.

The Samsung GALAXY Note 3 is the 2013 iteration of Samsung's S Pen friendly phablet and has a 5.7" fullHD Super AMOLED screen. The Note 3 is powered by a quad core 2.3 GHz processor and 3GB of RAM and has 16GB/32GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded with MicroSD cards. Samsung have improved the S Pen functionality and services with features which are also coming on other S Pen devices.

The Samsung GALAXY Gear is a smartwatch accessory which enhances you Samsung Galaxy experience. Compatible with most of the recent Samsung Galaxy flagships, it is essentially an extension of GALAXY Smartphones/phablets. It can be used to route calls to the smartphone, check notifications, take pictures and monitor biometrics. It also has a camera for fast image and/or video capture. Welcome to the world of Dick Tracy.

The pixel density enthusiast rejoiced when hearing the specs of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2013 Edition. The Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) also comes with a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU (for the LTE version), 3GB of RAM, and 16/32/64GB of internal storage. Its 10.1-inch screen is of 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution, and the 8MP main camera is capable of 1080p video recording at 60fps. I'm very tempted to get one of these...

After all this shininess has been presented, the ball is in Apple's court. Lets see what happens next week...

Ubuntu Edge

Yesterday Canonical, the commercial entity which backs Ubuntu, launched their Indiegogo fixed funding campaign to raise $32m for the Ubuntu Edge project.

Shiny Ubuntu/Android smartphone. Want!

The Ubuntu Edge is going to be a dual boot smartphone running my favourite OSs Ubuntu and Android, with what looks like beautiful and powerful hardware. Initial specs are of a device with 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. The device will be able to be connected to a keyboard/mouse/monitor and run a full desktop environment as well as deliver a powerful smartphone experience.

The Indiegogo fixed funding campaign kicked off yesterday and a day in has already passed 10% of the total goal. I dilly dallied too long and seem to have missed out on the $600 option to get the device in May of next year for a discounted price. I will be making a token $20 contribution and will wait until the device is available through traditional commercial channels to get one.

The idea of a smartphone that acts as a more traditional computer when docked is not new, Ubuntu for Android has been pushing the idea for a while now. I like the idea, almost as much as the Chromebook/Chromebox one.

The smartphone/tablet/desktop computing world is going to be very different this time next year, lets see what Google, Mozilla, Samsung as well as Canonical get up to before then.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Source:  Indiegogo

Nexus 7 Review: No More Manbags

It has been two weeks since I took delivery of my Nexus 7 tablet, so I now give you my review of the device.

My Nexus 7 with my Galaxy Nexus

Before I start, here's the background that influences my subjective view of Google's Jelly Bean running 7" tablet: I'm an Android fanboy and have been since 2007. I love tinkering with Android devices, much in the same way as I do with Linux on laptops, netbooks, nettops and desktops. My main device is a Galaxy Nexus, which has a pure Google Android experience, and no custom ROM. Since October last year I have also been using an Android tablet, an Archos 80 G9. While not as shiny as other tablets at the time, price and specifications were the main reason I chose the 80 G9. Very few customisations by Archos on Honeycomb meant that the 80 G9 had as close to a pure Android experience as possible, and that also made it fast for Archos to push the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update.


While a hardcore Android/Linux nerd, I'm also a bit of a closet Windows Phone user. I enjoy Metro UI and like the service tie ins with Xbox Live. The Nokia Lumia 710 I'm using is a good piece of hardware, and just like my Android devices has replaceable batteries (unlike the Lumia 800). Windows Phone is different from Android, and I can see how it is less suited to the tinkerer than any Android phone, but is a very pleasant smartphone experience. I have to admit, at the moment I'm a bit of a BiOS smartphone user. (Just to make it clear, I don't partake in any of the Apple iOS tomfoolery, that's just not to my liking.)

So, back to the Nexus 7 review. After Google IO (end of June), I placed a pre-order for the Nexus 7 (the 16GB model priced at £199 in the UK) on the ebuyer.com website. At the time I had to choose between the direct Google channel and third party retailers. I ended up choosing ebuyer.com, because of their excellent service in the past. ebuyer.com was also a reasonable choice because they have had a good relationship with ASUS for years (ASUS is the company that manufactures the Nexus 7). As a result, on the morning of Friday 13th 2012, I had a knock on the door from Parcelforce and came into posession of a Google Nexus 7 tablet. (It was a lucky date for me!)

For those of you just wanting to get the specifications and then jump to the conclusion, here are the specs:

SCREEN
7” 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)
Back-lit IPS display
Scratch-resistant Corning glass
1.2MP front-facing camera

SIZE
198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm
WEIGHT
340g
WIRELESS
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
MEMORY
8 GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
1 GB RAM
USB
Micro USB
BATTERY
4325 mAh (Up to 8 hours of active use)
OS
Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
CPU
Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
FEATURES
Microphone
NFC (Android Beam)
Accelerometer
GPS
Magnetometer
Gyroscope


The Nexus 7 is a 7" Nexus tablet running Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). A Nexus device is made by a third party manufacturer (in this case ASUS) for Google, who have close input on device design and specifications. Google use Nexus devices to showcase/ship the latest version of Android and also jolt the rest of the market into upping their game.

My Archos 80 G9 next to my Nexus 7

The 7" form factor may seem strange to those who are used to larger tablets but after using it for a while I understood that it made more sense. The Nexus 7 is well built and feels solid to hold, and the rubbery back makes it feel less likely to slip out of your hand than other similar devices. I love the fact that it fits perfectly in a jacket pocket, eliminating the need for a man bag for me. The Archos 80 G9 has an 8" 4:3 screen, so won't fit into the same pocket. Another advantage of the 7" form factor is that when typing holding the Nexus 7 in portrait orientation, two thumb typing is pleasantly simple.

No more man bag for me

The screen is an LCD IPS backlit one, this means that it has in plane switching technology, which gives you great viewing angles. Colours on the screen are good and the high number of dots per inch (216) means images on the screen are nice and crisp. While not the best LCD display I've seen, in a sub £200 device it is phenomenal.

A phenomenal screen for a sub £200 device.

The Nexus 7 has a front facing 1.2 MP camera, which is great for videocalling. I've used it with both Google talk and Skype and the only complaints about image quality were probably due to a slow internet connection. Again, the 7" form factor of the Nexus 7 is great for long video calls. Whereas with larger/heavier tablet computers hands/arms get tired after a while, with the Nexus 7 I haven't had this issue, and I do tend to do a lot of video calls on it. Unlike other tablets on the market at the moment, the Nexus 7 doesn't have a camera on the rear, so you won't lose any street-cred using it to take pictures at parties. There is actually no software on the stock Android Jelly Bean shipped with the Nexus 7 to use the camera as a camera. Thankfully Paul O'Brien from MoDaCo.com has a solution for this if you really want that feature.

Jelly Bean, Android 4.1, is the operating system running on the Nexus 7. Coupled with Nvidia's Tegra 3 chipset and 12 core GPU the device is buttery to use. Google had people working on the UI smoothness and responsiveness and the differences from ICS (4.0), while not immediately apparent, are enormous. The user interface paradigm remains the same as on Ice Cream Sandwich, with a few subtle improvements such as icon and widget automatic rearrangement. The notification system has been augmented from ICS and made more expansive with snapshots and previews. I like this notification system improvement, especially because it includes Google Now notifications.

Google Now is a new way for interacting with Google services. A sort of predictive search, it presents you with information before you start searching for it. When I'm at work for example, Google Now will give me bus timetables and an estimated time for me travelling home, and a weather forecast. Presented as cards, the Google Now screen can be pulled up as an offscreen gesture swiping upwards from the bottom. This is a very WebOS like gesture, I wonder how much of Matias Duarte's input there was for this... You can find out  more about Google Now here.

The Nexus 7 is an NFC device, which means that it can be used to share/use information shared via near field communication technology. Often if I get an email recommending a Youtube video, and I just tap my phone with the open link to my Nexus 7 and boom, the video opens up on my Nexus 7. Lovely but limited feature at the moment, as time goes by it will be a standard on many devices.

On the Nexus 7 you have access to the Play Store. Any applications/services you have purchased from the Play Store previously are available to you on the Nexus 7, provided the application/service is compatible. Most of my favourite apps work just fine on the Nexus 7, but some don't. Flickr for example does not work on the Nexus 7 yet, but I'm sure it's just a question of time before it does. Google state that for a limited time Nexus 7 buyers get £15 of Play Store credit. £15 credit with the £159 (8GB) and £199 (16GB) price tags just makes the value proposition of the Nexus 7 go up.

The Nexus 7 has WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity. There is no 3G (cellular) option, but tethering to a smartphone is easy peasy. I tether with both my Galaxy Nexus and Nokia Lumia 710 without problem.

Battery life on the Nexus 7 is excellent. I've used my device regularly both at home and at work and never had a problem with the battery running low. I usually charge the Nexus 7 overnight if needed, but usually it lasts me at least a couple of days. The Nexus 7 has a beefed up USB charger which juices up the device through the MicroUSB port. Sadly some existing MicroUSB chargers for phones and/or Kindles do not work with the Nexus 7.

OK, for those of you who skipped to the conclusion from the specifications, you can start reading again.
Overall the Nexus 7 is a fantastic device. Form factor and excellent operating system make it a delight to use. Google's services run impeccably on the device, as you would expect them to. For under £200 there isn't anything on the market that can offer you as good value for money, and the £15 Google Play Store credit is just the cherry on the icing. I love my Nexus 7, and know it will be an amazing success for Google, ASUS and the retailers selling the device.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. Bear in mind this review is my personal view on the Nexus 7 and that as I stated at the beginning I'm pretty biased because I'm an android fanboy.

Samsung Galaxy Note - Prone To Screen Burn?

I was in  a Carphone Warehouse store today and saw a display unit of the Samsung Galaxy Note with visible signs of screen burn. Screen burn is when a screen has a static image (such as a menu/icon) burnt into the screen. The pixels in that section of the screen lose the capacity to display colours properly so you end up seein shadows of the static image (usually on white backgrounds).

Screen burn - annoying once you notice it...

Screen burn seen from a different angle

Apart from the screen burn, I really like the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note. Fantastic pixel density!

As usual, feel free to ask questions and/or leave comments below.

Bada OS To Be Folded Into TIZEN

Samsung's Tae-Jin Tang (Senior Vice President of Samsung’s Contents Planning Team) has revealed that Bada OS will be folded into the Tizen open source project. Bada OS is Samsung's own mobile operating system, which has not been as successful as Android globally. 

Tizen is the new name for the MeeGo open source Linux based OS (itself formerly known as Moblin and Maemo). Backed by Intel and Samsung among others, Tizen may be found on some Samsung handsets released by the end of 2012. Interestingly Tae-Jin Tang indicated that Tizen would be used on Samsung's lower end smartphones, while the higher end ones would be running Android or Windows Phone 7.


Source: Forbes.com

Three UK To Sell Galaxy Nexus

I just read on the Official Three UK Blog that 3 UK will be selling the Galaxy Nexus, the Google phone running Android Ice Cream Sandwich!

Good times! My favourite network stocking what may well be my next favourite phone!

You can read the full post here.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below or on Three's Blog.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich [4.0]

Sticking to Google's tradition of naming versions of the Android OS after tasty desserts, Android 4.0 was officially unveiled today and it is called Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS for short).

As written on the Official Google Blog:

"With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets."

ICS will be the default OS on the new Google Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and Google also announced that the ICS OS should run on any device that runs Gingerbread (Android 2.3). I'm looking forward to seeing what the vibrant communities at MoDaCo and XDA Developers come up with for handsets such as the HTC Desire, the ZTE Skate and the Samsung Galaxy Pro...


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. I would also advise popping into the MoDaCo Android forums and seeing what will be brewed up in the Android kitchens there...

Launcher 7 For Android

One of the great things about Google's Android operating system for smartphones is that it is an open platform. To explain this simply, if you don't like anything or you just feel like it, you can change it. This applies from the simple appearance to core functionality and applications.

One of the components of Android is an application called "Launcher" that deals with the main user interface and look and feel of the homescreen and application drawer. The most common launcher layout is usually a horizontal homescreen you can scroll through where shortcuts and widgets can be added and a vertical scrolling application drawer. This is the user interface that has been in use since the first Android device released to the general public in 2008, the G1.

A Classic Android Homescreen

An Android Application Drawer

When Android smartphone manufacturers personalise the Android operating system, they often change the launcher or replace it with a new one, usually with added functionality and sometimes changing the user interface. Most manufacturers only change things slightly and add extra functionality (such as HTC with their Sense user interface, Motorola with MotoBlur and Samsung with TouchWiz). This helps them differentiate and brand their products.

HTC Sense Homescreen

Samsung's TouchWiz Homescreen

Motorola's MotoBlur Homescreen

The Android developer community has also developed many different launcher applications that replace the ones that come preloaded on phones. Often they are variations on the same user interface offering easier theming (changing colours, backgrounds, icons), less usage of memory and processor power (my favourite is Zeam Launcher), or completely different user interface and functionality (such as SlideScreen).

Zeam Launcher's Homescreen

Slidescreen's Homescreen

For the last few days I have been using a new launcher that imitates the Windows Phone 7 operating system's user interface called Launcher 7. At launch, Windows Phone 7 was not customisable in any way by manufacturers as far as the user interface was concerned. It has a tiled, minimalistic but functional user interface. Launcher 7 is easy to download from the Android Market and install on your device. Once it is installed just hit the Home button and you are usually given an option to choose which launcher to use: the one that was in use up until now or Launcher 7.

Launcher 7 Homescreen

Launcher 7 Application Drawer

I enjoy the sense of humor of the author of this launcher because he has replaced icons on tiles such as the Internet Explorer one with a Google Chrome one, and the Windows Marketplace with the Android Market. Launcher 7 is extremely functional (as is the UI of Windows Phone 7), and runs very, very smoothly on my HTC Desire. It does get easier to operate once you are used to it, and it is fun to confuse other phone geeks with by making them think you are running Windows Phone 7 on your Android device.

There are a large number of settings that are personalisable, such as adding tiles, changing the tiles colours and how icons appear on the tiles. You can also choose to hide the Android status bar to have a full screen experience.

Launcher 7 Settings Menu

Launcher 7 is available to download from the Android Market, and is fun to play around with. Try it out and see how you like it. You may decide to stick with it, or maybe even change your mobile device for a Windows Phone 7 one... I'm definitely not going to do that unless someone gives me one for free! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge Nokia!)


Feel free to post comments/questions!

Something Is Rotten In The State Of Android Tablets (In The UK)

Last week I wrote and published my blog post about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In it I pointed out how Samsung and other manufacturers (Archos, Toshiba, Advent, etc.) would be on their own with their devices and left behind in a bit of a mess when it came to the longevity of their products and ability to provide firmware updates.

A few events over the past week show how some of the main retailers in the UK offering these "early" Android tablets are maybe having a case of cold feet (no weather pun intended during this cold snap...).

On Saturday, Tesco, the UK supermarket chain which has a rapidly growing electrical and non-food department, marked the Samsung Galaxy Tab as "discontinued" and reduced the price by an other £30 to £469. (At launch the price was £529 before being reduced a week later to £499 and then to £469).

During the past weekend, PC World (part of DSG) has "pulled" the Toshiba Folio 100 (a 10" Android Tablet) by raising its price from £329 to £999.99 (making it unsellable). This is apparently after negative feedback from customers and high return rates.

A Toshiba Folio 100 at PC World on November 15th 2010.

Maybe jumping in at the deep end of the Android tablet pool without Google's support is going to hurt brands (Samsung and Toshiba) as well as retailers because of disgruntled customers and their negative impression of Android on tablet computers. As usual, often it is the first impression that counts, especially with computers and user interfaces. Hopefully there will be the long awaited launch of Android Gingerbread (Android 2.3) soon, and we will know which manufacturers and devices will be left behind and which will be able to march on with their Android Tablets in their jacket pockets...

Samsung And The Galaxy Tab: Left To Their Own Devices...

In the UK, on November 1st 2010, Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet computer. Running Android 2.2 FroYo as an operating system, with a 1 GHz ARM processor, 512 MB RAM, 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD), it looked excellent with a  specification sheet like that.

Samsung Galaxy Tab (official image courtesy of Samsung)

I had a chance to play around with the Samsung Galaxy Tab in October at a conference, before the official launch. At the time I didn't get a chance to use it for long, but it seemed good. The same Samsung customised skin from the Galaxy S Android phone had been ported to a larger and higher resolution screen (1024 x 600) and seemed to be very snappy and responsive.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab I got to play around with in October next to my trusty T-Mobile Pulse Android phone

Before I go any further, I should state that I work for a retailer that sells the Samsung Galaxy Tab, participated in the set up of the display units in  a store and have been playing around with the device since a couple of days before the launch. This disclosure should preemptively avoid any "Screw you Mike Arrington...!" moments. (If you don't get the joke, watch Leo Laporte losing it here)

After playing around with Samsung Galaxy Tab for over ten days, I've lost my initial interest in the device for three reasons:

1. Before having an in depth experience with the Tab, I had read about the Google statement saying Android 2.2 FroYo wasn't yet ready for tablet computers, and that it was still aimed at mobile phones. Only after using the Samsung Galaxy Tab for a while did I realise how right that statement is. On the surface all is well with the user interface and the pre-installed applications, but when installing many apps from the Android Market (such as the Engadget one or Robo Defence) the applications are in a letterbox on the large 7-inch screen. To add to that, even though Swype comes as a standard keyboard on the Tab, using a keyboard on the multi-touch  screen is uncomfortable and slow. I really hope the device gets an update to the iteration of Android for tablets.
2. Screen legibility in a bright environment is ok, but the tempered glass touch-screen is smudged easily and is a very reflective. I wouldn't be able to use this device as a portable web browser/ebook reader as much as I would like to, because my eyes were very tired after demoing it for just over six hours in a strip lighted store.
3. The price is steep. In the UK, at launch, the Samsung Galaxy Tab was sold at £529. After a week on sale, the price was reduced to £499. Still, when compared in functionality to a netbook with an integrated 3G radio, the Galaxy Tab is double the price.

If you were considering purchasing the Samsung Galaxy Tab, my advice would be to hold on to your hard earned cash a little longer. Android tablet computers are just starting to hit the market, but Google (main input and guide of the Android platform) doesn't think the operating system is ready for these devices. My advice is to wait until the Android platform is slightly more mature and Google endorses the use of the Android OS on tablets. If you do buy one, you may end up doing a Samsung Galaxy Tab reboxing like Jeff Jarvis did with his Apple iPad...

Samsung and other manufacturers (Archos, Toshiba, Advent, etc.) who decided to jump forward into the market before Christmas with Android tablets may just be left to their own devices when it comes to the long term longevity of their products and software updates.

Feel free to let me know what you think and ask any questions in the comments section below.