Vodafone preps Galaxy Tab for October launch

MOBILE OPERATOR Vodafone is already trying to drum up interest in Samsung's recently announced Galaxy Tab by offering punters the chance to register their interest for the tablet.

Last week Samsung unveiled its 7-inch Galaxy Tab at IFA with The INQUIRER managing to get a hands-on demonstration of the first real competitor to Apple's Ipad.

Samsung has realised that mobile operator subsidies are just about the only way the firm will ever be able to compete with Apple's "magical" Ipad and Vodafone is already out of the blocks to woo potential punters onto its network with the Galaxy Tab.

Vodafone hasn't announced pricing or a firm release date, only saying that the tablet will go on sale some time in October. Potential buyers might hesitate after seeing the Galaxy Tab on Amazon's German website with an astonishing price of €799 (£670) though this is likely to be a mistake. A more realistic price was offered by Samsung product executive Hankil Yoon talking to the Wall Street Journal, who said that the device will go for somewhere in the range of $200 (£130) to $300 (£195), with operator subsidies likely to reduce the initial price.

Although Samsung is not the only company to release a tablet, given the firm's mainstream appeal and distribution setup it is likely that the Galaxy Tab will fare somewhat better than devices from other firms like Acer and Toshiba.

Vodafone seemingly hasn't missed a trick either, pointing out that the Android operating system used by the Galaxy Tab supports Adobe's Flash software, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs has made sure the Ipad will never do.

With the Galaxy Tab able to consume large amounts of data through Vodafone's 3G network, expect to sign away a significant amount of money if you want to use the Galaxy Tab. Nevertheless, in the Galaxy Tab, Apple's Ipad should finally have some serious competition in the coming months. µ