Given the current Galaxy S5 is already water-resistant out of the box, the S5 Active would appear to be stepping up its game, courtesy of a frame that ditches the curvier look of its predecessor for sharper edges and construction that offers a better grip in the hand.
Judging from the latest leak, the Galaxy S5 Active also features raised, more rugged navigational buttons, including a "convenience key" that can be customized for quick access to almost any function the user desires. tick off most of the Galaxy S5 feature list, right down to a 1080p HD AMOLED display, quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and a 16MP rear-facing camera, leaving only pricing and a firm release date left to the imagination.
How could you not notice how many tablets Samsung has unleashed
these last couple of years? And while Samsung has very definite ideas
about how to segment the market among Galaxy Tab, Note Pros and all the
other tablets it has introduced, it is sometimes hard to keep the
machines straight.
Such is the environment in which Samsung unveils its latest tablet line, the Galaxy Tab S. These are Samsung’s thinnest and lightest tablets models yet, and they’re clearly aimed at the kind of people who want to watch lots and lots of video, and not just short clips but full TV shows and movies.
The Tab S machines run Android KitKat 4.4 software, and will be available in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch versions, starting at $399.99 and $499.99, respectively. These will be Wi-Fi only models when they first arrive next month, though models with LTE wireless connectivity are promised too. Samsung starts taking preorders on the Wi-Fi slates on Friday. Machines come in white or titanium bronze.
A couple of things struck me during my brief hands-on demo time: First is how thin and light the these tablets are. The 10.5-inch model weighs just over a pound and is about as thin as five credit cards stacked on top of one another. The smaller model is equally thin and weighs about 10.4 ounces.
The most eye-popping feature on both models, though, is their gorgeous Super AMOLED (2560 by 1600 resolution) displays. Colors are vivid, rich, true to life. Samsung claims the “contrast ratio”— in simple terms the ratio measures the difference between the brightest and darkest image on the screen — is 100 times better than that of an LCD tablet. Viewing angles are superb.
Samsung has also incorporated a proprietary adaptive display technology that can automatically adjust the color and saturation on the screen depending on which key app is in use: eBook, Video, Gallery, Camera, Video calls, Web browsing or the general user interface.
For example, if you were reading an eBook via the third party Kindle app, the display is meant to soften the white background and sharpen the text to help reduce eye strain.
Users will also be able to adjust viewing modes for watching movies as opposed to viewing pictures.
Samsung says it has produced such a glorious display without sacrificing battery life. That’s because Super AMOLED displays don’t require a backlight. Samsung claims 11 hours of video.
Among the other features on the new tablets is a fingerprint scanner similar to the one on Samsung’s Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone, with the ability to capture multiple fingerprints for multiple users. I do hope I have a better experience with it on the tablet than I have had employing the fingerprint scanner on the S5 phone.
On the content side, Amazon is debuting a magazine service called Papergarden, which also makes beautiful use of the display. Cosmopolitan, Elle and Vogue are among the participating magazines.
Via a partnership with Marvel, Galaxy Tab S users will be able to access over 15,000 Marvel Comics through three months of unlimited free membership to Marvel’s Marvel Unlimited app.
The new tablets will also provide special kid
Such is the environment in which Samsung unveils its latest tablet line, the Galaxy Tab S. These are Samsung’s thinnest and lightest tablets models yet, and they’re clearly aimed at the kind of people who want to watch lots and lots of video, and not just short clips but full TV shows and movies.
The Tab S machines run Android KitKat 4.4 software, and will be available in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch versions, starting at $399.99 and $499.99, respectively. These will be Wi-Fi only models when they first arrive next month, though models with LTE wireless connectivity are promised too. Samsung starts taking preorders on the Wi-Fi slates on Friday. Machines come in white or titanium bronze.
A couple of things struck me during my brief hands-on demo time: First is how thin and light the these tablets are. The 10.5-inch model weighs just over a pound and is about as thin as five credit cards stacked on top of one another. The smaller model is equally thin and weighs about 10.4 ounces.
The most eye-popping feature on both models, though, is their gorgeous Super AMOLED (2560 by 1600 resolution) displays. Colors are vivid, rich, true to life. Samsung claims the “contrast ratio”— in simple terms the ratio measures the difference between the brightest and darkest image on the screen — is 100 times better than that of an LCD tablet. Viewing angles are superb.
Samsung has also incorporated a proprietary adaptive display technology that can automatically adjust the color and saturation on the screen depending on which key app is in use: eBook, Video, Gallery, Camera, Video calls, Web browsing or the general user interface.
For example, if you were reading an eBook via the third party Kindle app, the display is meant to soften the white background and sharpen the text to help reduce eye strain.
Users will also be able to adjust viewing modes for watching movies as opposed to viewing pictures.
Samsung says it has produced such a glorious display without sacrificing battery life. That’s because Super AMOLED displays don’t require a backlight. Samsung claims 11 hours of video.
Among the other features on the new tablets is a fingerprint scanner similar to the one on Samsung’s Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone, with the ability to capture multiple fingerprints for multiple users. I do hope I have a better experience with it on the tablet than I have had employing the fingerprint scanner on the S5 phone.
On the content side, Amazon is debuting a magazine service called Papergarden, which also makes beautiful use of the display. Cosmopolitan, Elle and Vogue are among the participating magazines.
Via a partnership with Marvel, Galaxy Tab S users will be able to access over 15,000 Marvel Comics through three months of unlimited free membership to Marvel’s Marvel Unlimited app.
The new tablets will also provide special kid