This morning’s big tech news came in the form of a 7-inch tablet. Yes, Samsung has finally officially unveiled the Galaxy Tab. Running Android 2.2, the Galaxy boasts a 7-inch touchscreen, 1024×600 resolution, and a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor. It also comes equipped with 16GB of onboard storage, MicroSD support up to 32GB, 1.3 megapixel, front-facing camera, and 3.0 megapixel, rear-facing camera. To round things out, it is GSM/GPRS/HSUPA/HSPDA and 802.11n capable.
According to the official press release, the device will be available in Europe, beginning in mid-September. U.S. and Asia releases are unspecified but reportedly scheduled for late 2010. Official pricing has yet to be published, but it is rumored that it could as much as 50% less than the Apple iPad. Okay, that’s the Samsung Galaxy news. So how does it measure up to the Apple iPad, or, for that matter, the similarly designed and equipped Archos 70 tablet? Will either of the new offerings be an iPad killer?
Comparing tablet functionality and specs
While some might put the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Archos 70 internet tablet side-by-side and say they are essentially the same, there are several key differences. The Galaxy’s resolution is 1024×600, but to achieve the same resolution on the Archos, one would have to upgrade from the Archos 7 to the Archos 10. The Archos 7’s resolution is only 800×480. Additionally, the Archos 7 may be internet capable and set up for tethering, but the Galaxy comes with built-in GSM/GPRS and HSUPA/HSPDA capabilities. Yes, a separate wireless carrier data plan might be required, but for some, the additional monthly cost will be offset by increased easy of mobility and use. Combining the resolution and connectivity specs together, this means that the Samsung Galaxy is more like the iPad (1024×768 resolution and 3G+Wi-Fi support) than the Archos 70 is.
Onboard storage is also an area where the Galaxy and Archos 70 differ greatly. The Galaxy has 16GB of onboard space for your stuff, while the Archos 70 seems to have 250Gb onboard storage. (Note: The product specifications pages from Archos are confusing in this area, since they do not reflect the onboard storage specs for any device except the Archos 70.). Only the Archos ) The Archos 43, 70 and 10 models (not the 32 and below) do come equipped with a Micro SD Slot. The Apple iPad comes in three different storage flavors, 16GB/32GB/64GB. For some, a Micro SD Slot may be preferrable, since they can easily back up the entire contents to a desktop or laptop computer. This benefit of the Archos 70, though, hardly offsets the lack of wireless carrier support provided by the Galaxy and iPad.
The other technical specification that could influence things is the fact that the Galaxy Tab and Archos 70 have front-facing cameras. As we all know, the iPad does not have a rear or front-facing camera. This could make the non-iPad choices more attractive to some consumers who like the idea of video chats. An unscientific poll among Android phone users that follow @GeekShui on Twitter reveal the Skype that exists for Android is currently available only to Verizon Wireless customers and limited to voice calls and instant messages. This means that, unless another cross-platform compatible video chat offering is included with or developed for the Galaxy and Archos 70, the benefit of the front-facing camera could be quite limited. Additionally, based on the Apple Keynote delivered yesterday, the iPad will soon have iOS 4.2. This means that the next generation release of the iPad is very likely to include both the front and rear-facing cameras boasted by the iPhone 4.
Note: The comparison between the iPad (9.7 inches), Galaxy Tab (7.0 inches) and Archos 70 (7.0 inches) were chosen based on their similar sizes, which make them more likely to be directly compared by consumers for the purpose of deciding which device to purchase.
There are no tablet killers among us
Of course, the big question that many will ask: “Is the Galaxy an iPad killer?” For that matter, is the Archos 70 (or 10 or any other model) a possible iPad killer? In our view, the answer is no. As we’ve asserted before, there is no such thing. Despite the higher price tag, people that own iPhones are more likely to opt for an iPad when choosing a tablet. Why? They’re accustomed to the Apple iOS’ functionality and behavior. Additionally, the apps, music, and movies purchased on their iPhones can be easily synced to their iPad.
Along the same lines, happy Android smartphone users are more likely to choose the Samsung Galaxy, the Archos 70, or any other Android-based tablet. The same logic applies, since, in most cases, the app need not be repurchased because (like iPhone/iPad apps) they are compatible with different models.
The bottom line is that people generally stick to what is the most comfortable for them. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Some technophiles change gadgets like some people change underwear. They may be the outlier in the tablet experiment, but they are also likely to trade it for the next best thing that hits the market.
Price does matter
Some may say that consumers are less concerned about the price tag and more concerned about how cool the device is. This may be the case for a certain segment of the market. For others, price does play a large role in their decision to purchase a tablet. As mentioned earlier, the Samsung Galaxy Tab doesn’t have an official price tag, yet. The rumored 50% cost savings over the Apple iPad, which starts at $499 (16GB Wi-Fi model), could be accurate. A more accurate number is likely to be 50% of the cost of the 32GB or 64GB Wi-Fi models ($599 and $699, respectively). This would put the retail price of the Galaxy Tab somewhere between $300 and $350. The Archos 70 price is said to be around $279. This makes sense, since the currently selling version (not to be confused with the Archos 70 IT version discussed herein) retails for $199. Add in Android 2.2 (Froyo) and the other bells and whistles not present on the current generation, and you have an estimated price that seems reasonable for what you’re getting.
The truth will be revealed in the market share divesture
Right now, the Apple iPad is the only serious contender in the tablet market. When the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Archos tablets are released, it will be interesting to see how the market share develops. There isn’t a market share to speak of now, since the iPad is basically the only option. Over the course of the year following the release of the new tablet options, it is quite likely that the market share could mirror that of the smartphone market. Why is such the case? Currently, the iPhone, various Android phones, and BlackBerry dominate the market. If the trend develops as we theorize, regarding who is most likely to choose an Android tablet over the iPad, the percentages of ownership across the board could be close to equal.
There is also the release of the fabled Dell and HP tablets to consider. Will their releases be timely enough to capture a significant share of the tablet market? Or will they be too late in the game to establish a foothold? The theories laid out herein are just that. How the tablet market develops into maturity will ultimately be determined by consumers, who, as we all know, are often fickle in their choices. In the end, though, iPad sales are unlikely to decrease. This would be especially true if, as theorized above, the next generation iPad includes a front and rear-facing camera.
The best tablet is the one that fits your needs and budget
We’ve mentioned it numerous times in previous posts, the decision regarding any gadget purchase, whether it be a smartphone, tablet, or computer, comes down to the individual. While onboard storage may be important for some, external storage may be preferable for others. Front facing cameras might be important for Skype-dependent types, but, for people like me, Skype is used sparingly, which makes its support a non-factor in my gadget purchase.
The most important thing for any potential tablet buyer to do is to compare the specs and functionality, in a side-by-side manner. Don’t be overly-influenced by what friends and family have (sounds like 5th grade, right?). To this end, flashiness and aesthetics only go so far. After a few weeks of use, you’ll really get a feel for how well the device actually works, for you. They should also take it account their past use of tablets and similar gadgets. Which ones were the most comfortable to navigate and use?
Questions such as the one above and others like it will reduce the confusion sometimes brought on by technical spec overload. With the confusion out of the way, any buyer will be able to make a more appropriate and cost-effective decision that truly fits their needs. Yes, in this specific case in life, it is all about you. It doesn’t happen often, so you should take advantage and pick your tablet wisely.
Source: geekshuiliving.com
LOS ANGELES – A year ago, the world watched as Michael Jackson balanced on the edge of a precipice. Behind the once-proclaimed King of Pop was a bleak stretch of pain and artistic decline. Ahead lay a series of 50 London concerts — a high-rolling bid to reassert his musical brilliance and re-establish control of his life.
Jackson was poised for a great leap of faith, one testing himself and those who believed in him. It was a chance to silence detractors who had mocked his increasingly clownish, artificial appearance and what appeared to be an equally artificial and veiled version of family life with the three children he was raising alone.
Harsher critics cast him as a man who used wealth and celebrity to elude justice on child molestation charges.
The elaborately staged shows set to begin last July 13 at London's famed O2 Arena represented winner take all, or lose all, for an entertainer who'd been famous for most of his 50 years.
He was ready. The audience was ready. Then he was gone. Less than three weeks before his new life may have started on a stage filled with special effects and song, the old one ended in a cloud of drugs and unfulfilled dreams.
Outwardly, Jackson had seemed fit as he prepared for the London shows, and his autopsy found he was in relatively strong physical condition for a man his age.
But privately, he was struggling with chronic insomnia that he battled with a regular regimen of powerful drugs.
In the year since Jackson's shockingly abrupt death on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of sedatives, a fuller picture of his last day has emerged. What follows is a comprehensive reconstruction of those final 24 hours by The Associated Press.
Exactly what happened during that time may never be known, as the only person with him was his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered a series of drugs to help his patient sleep. Murray is due to stand trial later this year on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death.
But witness accounts and court documents agree: Jackson's final day started off like many others.
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Early in the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24, Michael Jackson came down the stairs of his rented mansion and sat with his kids for what would be their last meal together.
He had a rehearsal later that night so he wanted to eat something light but sustaining. His personal chef, Kai Chase, prepared seared ahi tuna with an organic salad and a glass of carrot and orange juice.
"He smiled and put his hands together for a prayer," Chase said. "He said, 'Thank you, God bless you.'"
The singer, Chase recalled, looked well, seemed energized and was in a good mood.
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Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jackson left his eight-bedroom mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills, an exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood sandwiched between Bel-Air and Beverly Hills.
He got into the back of a navy-blue Escalade driven by bodyguard Faheen Muhammad. His personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, sat in the front.
They traveled downtown to the Staples Center, where Jackson and his team of musicians and dancers were in final rehearsals before heading to London. Jackson's logistics director, Alberto Alvarez, met the Escalade and drove Jackson in a golf cart to his dressing room.
Several people recalled Jackson being in good shape that night.
"He was completely enthused," said Dorian Holley, Jackson's longtime vocal director and a singer for the upcoming "This Is It" shows. "It was hard to discern any difference between his energy and his physicality between then and his earlier days."
Jackson went through several classic numbers, including "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Billie Jean," "Smooth Criminal," and "She's Out of My Life."
With an enormous monitor installed onstage, Jackson for the first time was shown video accompaniments to some of these songs, said Holley, who was standing beside Jackson during the rehearsal.
"It was eye-popping," Holley said. "He was grinning from ear to ear."
Tim Patterson, one of two cameramen who shot footage of the rehearsals and later helped edit it into the film "This Is It," recalled that Jackson was especially wowed by a 3-D segment on "Thriller" where a crystal ball floats out toward the audience.
"I remember Michael reached out and grabbed it," Patterson said. "He loved it."
Later that night, Jackson and his dancers performed "Thriller" on stage in full costume for the first time.
"His face said it all, he loved it," said Kriyss Grant, one of the dancers Jackson picked for the show.
Ken Ehrlich, an executive producer of the Grammys, went to the Staples Center to discuss with Jackson a Halloween special. Afterward, Ehrlich watched from the stadium floor as the rehearsal continued.
"He was really in good shape, he was very excited about the tour, very excited about getting it going," Ehrlich said. "He certainly didn't exhibit any signs of being tired or not being with it."
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The rehearsal ended around midnight Wednesday night with a performance of "Earth Song." The singer hugged his dancers, thanked the crew and wished them a good night. "God bless you," Patterson and Grant recalled him saying.
Jackson returned to Carolwood Drive, stopping briefly at its metal gate to greet a small group of fans who had gathered outside his home.
As they pulled into the driveway, the bodyguard Muhammad noticed Dr. Murray's car parked outside the home, just as it had been many nights previously.
Jackson's security personnel escorted him into the house and to the foot of the stairs. No one, except for Murray and Jackson's children, was allowed upstairs.
Soon after Jackson arrived home, he started complaining of fatigue and that he needed sleep.
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Murray, according to a police affidavit, was concerned Jackson was addicted to propofol, a powerful anesthetic normally used only in medical settings with special equipment on hand. He told police he was trying to wean Jackson from propofol and had not given him the drug for two nights.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 25, he again tried this approach, giving Jackson a 10-milligram Valium tablet. The anti-anxiety medication had no immediate effect and about a half hour later, the doctor gave 2 milligrams of lorazepam, another medication from the same family as Valium, administered through a saline drip.
When Jackson remained awake, Murray administered a 2-milligram dose of midazolam, another sedative, at 3 a.m., then another 2 milligrams of lorazepam at 5 a.m.
By 7:30 a.m., Jackson remained awake. Murray told police he injected another 2 milligrams of midazolam into Jackson's drip.
Still, Jackson could not sleep.
He lay restlessly on the white sheets of his renaissance-style double bed with a curlicued headboard. Beside him, investigators would later find a porcelain doll in the likeness of a little blond boy. Several oxygen bottles were by the door and on the night stand beside the bed was a stack of DVDs, including children's films.
Authorities would also note how untidy and warm Jackson's living quarters were. Jackson kept his inner sanctum fully heated, even though it was early summer in Los Angeles.
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After experiencing a sleepless night, Murray said Jackson made repeated demands for propofol, a white liquid drug he sometimes would refer to as his "milk." Around 10:40 a.m. Thursday, Murray said he gave in to Jackson's demands and pushed 25 milligrams of the substance into Jackson's drip.
The chronology comes from a June 27 police interview with Murray, though the doctor's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, has contested investigators' interpretation of events. Chernoff declined to comment for this story.
Murray remained with the sedated singer for about 10 minutes, then left for the bathroom, the affidavit stated. Less than two minutes later, Murray returned — and found Jackson not breathing.
Phone logs show Murray made at least three calls between 11:18 and 11:51 a.m. — to his Las Vegas clinic, a patient, and a friend.
When Murray discovered Jackson was not breathing, he called the personal assistant Williams and at 12:13 left a message saying, "Call me right away, call me right away," according to a statement obtained by AP. Williams called back and Murray said: "Get here right away, Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction. He had a bad reaction."
Williams called Muhammad, then Alvarez, who was located in a security trailer outside the house. Alvarez told investigators he rushed upstairs and entered a bedroom to find the singer lying on a bed with his arms outstretched and his eyes and mouth open.
At his side, Murray was administering CPR with one hand.
"Alberto, Alberto, come quickly," Murray said, according to the statement. "He had a reaction, he had a bad reaction."
In a proposed contract with concert promoter AEG, Murray had asked for a heart resuscitation machine and a nurse as a condition of treating Jackson. Neither was in place when the singer died.
Two of Jackson's children, Prince and Paris, came in the room, crying as they saw Murray trying to save their father. They were quickly escorted outside.
Alvarez told investigators that Murray asked him to pick up a few vials with rubber tops and put them in a bag. It was only after these bottles had been cleared that Murray told Alvarez to call 911.
"I need an ambulance as soon as possible," Alvarez told a dispatcher. "We have a gentleman here that needs help and he's not breathing."
They put Jackson on the floor, then Muhammad rushed into the room and began helping with chest compressions while Murray attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
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By 12:27 p.m. on Thursday, paramedics had arrived. They later wrote Jackson was not breathing and had no pulse at 12:29 p.m.
However, Murray stated he could feel a weak pulse in Jackson's upper thigh area, Alvarez and Muhammad said. No one else felt it.
A paramedic report stated that emergency responders tried two rounds of resuscitation attempts and were ready to discontinue treatment, but Murray said he would take responsibility and insisted resuscitation be continued in the ambulance.
The stricken star was taken the short distance to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center at 1:07 p.m., when doctors tried a range of resuscitation techniques, including the insertion of a balloon pump designed to move blood around his body.
Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.
After the death was called, Murray started crying, Williams told investigators.
He told the Jackson children that their father had passed away, then asked to return to the house.
"Is there any way I can go home, or be taken to the house," the doctor said, according to Alvarez's statement. "I want to get my car, and I'm hungry."
Williams said he didn't think it was a good idea for Murray to return to the house. He spoke to Muhammad and they concocted a story that police had taken all the keys to the vehicles.
Murray indicated he would take a cab, and Williams said he saw him leave the hospital through a side door.
Williams told Muhammad to call security at the home and make sure no one got into the house.
"Lock it down," Williams said.
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AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this story.
Taken from: Yahoo! News
