Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

Tablets are flavor of the season and 2011 will see almost all of the major tech companies selling them from $200 (Zenithink 10.1” Android 2.1) to $1099 (ASUS Eee Slate). While Ipad was first to come out with the tablet in 2010, Samsung’s Galaxy tab had managed a good share of the market as well. After researching for almost 2 months I decided to purchase the Galaxy Tab. Having used it for over a month now, I am more than happy with my decision. Here’s a quick round up of why I personally like the tab from an end users functional perspective without talking about the technical specifications.

Ease of use: There is absolutely no reason to actually have a user manual. The Galaxy tab is easy to use even if one has not used an android device before. You have all the apps on the screen if you need, adding more apps to the main screen is as easy as dragging it from the main menu. Hold on to an app for a while and drag it to the bin to delete. Though I have seen an android device before, I think the layout and structure will be very easy for anyone using it even for the first time.

Quick Startup: It is much quicker to even switch it on (you don’t have to switch it off) and start using everything as compared to a laptop. My laptop usage has reduced considerably. Skype is still better on a Laptop along with remote desktop connection, but I can do everything else on the tab.

Huge Android Market: Access to the android market has definitely increased the sales of the tab. It gives the user thousands of apps to choose from and most of the free ones are great as well.  Some of which I access daily are GTalk, NDTV, Financial Times, Facebook, Twitter, NY Times, Weather Channel, Bus and Subway Map and some more. The ease with which one can get information even while travelling is surely a big plus. The bus map app is a personal favorite as I know exactly when I need to walk down and catch the bus on time. I can at least avoid waiting in -20 degree Celsius temperature for a bus.

Screen size and Tablet Size: This is a big advantage. Most of the above features are available on the DROID phones and I am assuming they will be there on the other smart phones. But this size (7 inch screen) makes it much better to use most of the applications. You’ll struggle to read news or other information on your phone and you’ll have to keep zooming for Facebook or Twitter or even for your email. The other advantage is that the tablet size is just apt enough to hold in one hand and light enough in terms of weight.

FLASH PLAYER: There is a reason to mention this in capital letters. I tested my galaxy tab by watching Cricket (India – SA ODI series) and Tennis (Australian Open 2011) Live and it worked very well. This was one factor that made me purchase the galaxy tab initially against the Ipad. You cannot watch or play any flash related media on Ipad. Most of the sports events that I watch will stream via a website with a flash player and it would make no sense for me to buy an Ipad on which I cannot view these events.

Camera: Another factor that differs from the Ipad. Ipad as we know does not have a camera as of now. Ipad 2 might have a camera or two but the first version definitely has none. Galaxy tab has a rear and a front facing camera and so far I have enjoyed the camera quality. The video recordings look quite clear and sharp for a tab.

These are some of the reasons why Galaxy tab works better for me as against the Ipad. I am sure Ipad has its share of users who can do a lot with it as well. I believe apple will lose some of its market share to these android powered devices at least until it comes out with the Apple Ipad 2.

IPL Player Retention !!! 2011

Indian Premier League, more commonly known as IPL, will most likely be held for the fourth year in a row in 2011. This 4^th edition of IPL is scheduled to be held within a week from the day of the World Cup 2011 final in Mumbai. Some would call it wrong timing and cry over the tight schedule; others might call it an overdose of cricket, while some like me wouldn’t mind it at all!! There is definitely a big interest in the IPL and the fourth edition comes on the backdrop of a lot of controversial happenings right from the accusations against Lalit Modi to the expulsion of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Both these franchises might still play in IPL4 from what I gather based on the latest news articles. IPL has only grown ever since its inaugural tournament in 2008. Fans packed the stadiums across the nation and I can tell you from my first-hand experience that all of the home games for Mumbai Indians were sold out during the first edition (I can safely assume it was the same during IPL 2010, IPL 2009 was held in South Africa due to the security issues coming out of the Mumbai attack).

Come 2011, IPL will now have two new franchises in Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi. Kochi has just about managed to meet the BCCI deadline after agreeing to resolve their internal conflicts related to the ownership pattern. The deadline for retaining players is now over and some of the franchises have surprised us by not including the big players while Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stuck to their most trusted players. Mumbai Indians have now retained Sachin Tendulkar (There was no question about it), Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh (Only 4 players are allowed to be retained). CSK have kept Dhoni, Raina, Murli Vijay and Albie Morkel.  This retention means Mumbai Indians and CSK have now half of their spending power to buy the rest of the players. Mumbai Indians always wanted to retain more players and I’ll be surprised to see if they don’t bid aggressively for Zaheer Khan and Saurabh Tiwary. While these two franchises will bid for players with less money in the bag, Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have not retained even one. These franchises definitely have the spending power but I am not sure if it is worth losing Adam Gilchrist, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Ganguly ( kolkata might lose a large chunk of their fan base if he doesn’t play for KKR), Andrew Symonds from the squad. Dravid and Kumble have been let into the auction as well by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The player auction, scheduled for January 2011, will be highly interesting with some big players available and two new teams in the battle as well. With Pune and Kochi being bought for $370 million and $333 million respectively, IPL is well on its way to being the biggest and richest sporting league in the world. (It has always been the richest cricket league anyways and was valued at $2 billion a year ago). I hope we don’t have any other controversies related to IPL and would like to see IPL get bigger and better!!