The first day of IFA Germany has been huge for Android. We got to see some amazing stuff today, but nothing can compare to the Samsung Tab. Clearly, the device is going to be huge (and I’m not talking screen size here). What have we been able to gather up on the the Galaxy Tab? Here’s a quick rundown. Oh and don’t worry, there’s a little non-Tab news for those burnt out on it later on.
The first thing on everyone’s mind, at least when it comes to sales and specs, is how the Tab competes with the iPad. Below, you will find a handy chart that takes care of the specs. When I look at the chart, I see one thing: It comes down to personal preference. As far as sales go, that will settle itself out once the holiday season is in full swing. Now I know the iPad is making a killing right now, but I’d venture to guess the Tab will do pretty well itself.
So how much will the Samsung Galaxy Tab cost? For the WiFi non-carrier branded version of the device, you’re looking at €699 ($900) for the 16GB model and €799 ($1000) for the 32GB version. The suggested retail price in Sweden is SEK 9,000 or $1,240 including 20% tax. At eXpansys, you can pre-order the device now for £679.99 (16GB), with a release date of 10/11. By the time the Tab makes it America and carriers get their plans involved, it should be a lot cheaper. Of course, for a Wifi only tablet… $1000 is a lot of money to just fork out. Hopefully we see a price break in that model as well.
Now for a little news that’s not Tab related, but still from Samsung. Amongst the hype of the Tab, a far less known PMP made it’s way onto the scene by the name of the Galaxy Player 50. The GP50 is an Android 2.1 device with a 3.2″ screen, WiFi, and 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. It also features a microSD slot for expandable memory of up to 32GB. Look for the DivX, ThinkFree office, Google services, Android Market bundled device to hit the shelves in Europe this October for 229 (8GB) and 299 (16GB) Euros.

So what do you guys think? Is Samsung proving itself a worthy opponent? Or are you still fixated on the Behold II of yesteryear? If you ask me, I’d say Samsung is becoming the name to beat.


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The fine folks from Verizon and
Shortly before January 5th, 2010, when the internet first heard whispers that Google would be putting out a device bearing their name, everyone already knew the manufacturer: HTC. Sometime after that, it was rumored that the next device to be launched with Google branding would be manufactured by Motorola. Fast forward several months to now. Google has already said they will not be releasing any more devices in the same manor the Nexus One was, however, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be working with manufacturers in some fashion. 

Thanks to the bright minds over at XDA Developers, and a select brave few, it’s now been confirmed that the Motorola Charm can be rooted via Universal Androot. If I’m not mistaken, NAND isn’t unlocked during the process, so reverting back to stock is as easy as pie. Of course that also means no custom ROMs yet, but Super User permissions are better then nothing. For instructions on how to root your Charm, as well as download links, visit the original XDA thread 
In a recent DROID X related post by a Motorola Support Forums moderator, several “things to know” have gone live today including some pretty interesting news regarding those of you applying that 
