Official pricing is still unknown, but we now know that the device is due to hit European markets in mid-September, and the US, Asia and Australia by year's end. The Galaxy Tab's size and specs put it somewhere between the phone-like Dell Streak and the magazine-size Apple iPad. The Tab uses a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 1024x600 Wide Super VGA (WSVGA) resolution. It ships with Android 2.2 (Froyo), the complete Google apps Market, Flash 10.1, 16GB or 32GB of memory, GPS and integrated sensors, such as a gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor and geomagnetic sensor.

Click through for a complete photo gallery. (Credit: Samsung/CNET)

The whole thing runs on an ARM Cortex A8 1GHz applications processor, tied to a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processor. If you're feeling photogenic, a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back includes autofocus and an LED flash and records video up to 720x480. A video chat-compatible camera on the front of the Tab uses a 1.3-megapixel VGA resolution to beam your pretty mug to your friends and family.

Battery life is rated at an impressive seven hours of continuous video playback.

As far as connectivity goes, the Tab promises Wi-Fi compatibility up to 802.11n, as well as cellular 2.5G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) and 3G (HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps). Specific carrier agreements have not been announced.

Are we excited to get our hands on one? You bet your sweet bippy. But without concrete pricing or a launch date, we're just going to try and play it cool for now.

Via CNET

• Hands on with the Samsung Galaxy Tab
• Samsung iPad competitor out this month?
• Samsung Galaxy S
• Samsung ST550

• Single-speaker sound bar
• Excellent sound on movies for a sound bar
• Stylish exterior design
• Relatively lightweight makes wall-mounting easier

• No virtual surround effects
• Rubber support pads are too small
• Needs to be carefully tweaked to get the subwoofer/sound bar balance right
• Requires an AV receiver

Editor's note: the system was reviewed by CNET Australia's sister site CNET US as a HTF8003 soundbar, in Australia it's part of a package that includes a KUBE-2 subwoofer and HTS7001 surround speakers.

Soundbar speakers generally only appeal to a small portion of home audio buyers. If you've got a large budget, minimalist ethos, appreciate sound quality - but not enough to insist on a pair of stand-alone speakers - a soundbar speaker fits your niche. The KEF HTF8005 doesn't offer anything radically different from the competing models available, with a long tube-like design and glossy black finish. Its sound quality with movies was among the best we've heard on soundbars (although it doesn't do any virtual surround effects), but music fans will want something more substantial. As usual with this product category, our major concern is the total cost of the system: in addition to the soundbar, you need an AV receiver, plus we found that a subwoofer is pretty much a must-have, too. That will probably bring the total cost to over AU$3500, which could buy you a lot more sound quality from a more conventional tower speaker arrangement, but if you like the single-speaker style, the KEF HTF8003 is one of the better options available.

Design and features

The KEF HTF8003 looks like most of the other sound bars on the market, with a long tube-like design and glossy black finish. Viewed from the side, the HTF8003 has a skinny, oval-shaped profile, and it comes to only 3.2 inches deep. The speaker isn't particularly heavy, but its weight distribution made it feel somewhat unstable: whenever we moved the HTF8003, it had a tendency to tip over backward. The problem: the small rubbery support pads seem a little too small to provide a stable platform for the speaker. On the plus side, the HTF8003 weighs significantly less than the competing Atlantic Technology FS-7.0; we'd feel much more comfortable wall-mounting the HTF8005 ourselves.

The HTF8005 comes with wall-mounting hardware and small rubber support pads. We found the rubber pads to be a little too small. (Credit: CBS Interactive)

Around back, the main HTF8003 speaker has three pairs of all-metal spring connectors that accept bare wire ends, or wires terminated with pins or spades; banana plugs won't fit. We appreciated that they weren't recessed into the speaker, like on the Canton CD 90 SB, but their low positioning made them slightly difficult to access with speaker wire.

There are three pairs of all-metal spring connectors on the back of the HTF8003. (Credit: CBS Interactive)

Behind the speaker grille, the HTF8003 houses nine total drivers. Each channel includes a 3-inch Uni-Q driver (and each Uni-Q driver has its own high-frequency/mid-range/bass driver), a 3-inch woofer and 3-inch auxiliary bass radiator.

Set-up

Since the HTF8003 doesn't make much bass on its own we started our listening tests partnering the speaker with a KEF HTB2SE-W wireless sub. We've tested the wired version of the sub before, and know it's a great-sounding unit. But in this case we had to work for hours to get the HTB2SE-W to blend with the HTF8003.

The problem was that each time we adjusted the sub's volume, phase, bass boost (equalisation control) and placement relative to the HTF8003 we either had too much or too little bass. During the initial set-up period we had to keep adjusting the balances every time we changed discs. The root problem was that since the HTF8003 made so little bass, the sub had to do most of the work. We eventually got a sub/speaker balance that worked for most discs. If you're looking for a soundbar with a big, full sound on its own, you need a much bigger speaker, like the Zvox Z-Base 575.

We were happy to note the HTF8003's left, centre and right channels sounded almost exactly the same when we ran test tones through them. That's never a given with soundbar speakers, and we associate that sort of channel-to-channel tonal consistency with better than average dialogue sound quality. That was, in fact, the case, the HTF8003 reproduced dialogue very accurately.

Performance

The HTF8003's overall sound is extremely clear and concise, certainly in the top ranks of sound bar speakers we've tested. The HTF8003 is strictly a three-channel sound bar, so it doesn't even try to produce faux surround effects. That said, the speaker generated a wide and deep soundstage for movies.

Amelia isn't what you'd call an action film, but it fully exercised the HTF8003's home theatre skills. We see Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) on a succession of historic flights, including her first 1928 cross Atlantic flight. The older planes' engines had a high-pitched sputtery whine - the sleeker, more advanced 1930s aircraft had a deeper, rumbling drone - and the HTF8003 zeroed in on the subtleties of the sound of each plane. The conversations between Earhart and her crew in the cramped cockpits had a truly claustrophobic sound. When Earhart's little plane encounters severe turbulence and takes a nosedive, the HTF8003 and HTB2SE-W made our hearts jump.

We next fired up the Black Hawk Down Blu-ray; the film vividly re-creates the battle for the Somalian city of Mogadishu in October 1993. The HTF8003 didn't have any problems delivering the film's healthy dynamic jolts, and the jarring gunfire exchanges between the US soldiers and the hostiles had terrific impact. The sounds of gunfire echoing through the city streets demonstrated the speaker's resolution of fine detail, but the big explosions and fiery crashes lacked the visceral punch we've heard from large speakers and subwoofers. While the film uses surround sound effectively, we didn't miss 5.1 surround while listening in stereo.

At this point we swapped out the KEF HTB2SE-W subwoofer for our reference Aperion Bravus 8D sub. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was actually a lot easier to blend the HTF8003 with the Aperion - the KEF-Aperion combination sounded excellent. Still, the HTB2SE-W was the better of the two subs in that its bass had slightly better definition teamed with the HTF8003.

CDs didn't fare as well as movies, probably because the HTF 8003's narrow soundstage and limited bass were more apparent with music. The sound was fine for background music listening; we were much happier with the HTF8003's sound on movies.

Via CNET

• JVC TH-BA1 soundbar
• Polk Audio SurroundBar 360 DVD Theatre
• Creative Inspire S2 Wireless
• Yamaha YSP-5100

(Screenshot by CBSi)

Remember the days before digital cameras?

That could be a line taken directly from these TV infomercials, from Vivitar.

The company's latest camera uses 35mm film and comes with such class-leading features as autofocus and flash. Plus, it's a bargain at just US$10, including film!

For all the patronising sentiment though, the ads do bring up a good point about the issue with images being forgotten about on memory cards and computers. For the train-spotters, here's the exact same ad for a Kodak camera. Note the premium charged for "the name you know and trust".

What do you think? Patronising or straight to the point?

• Kodak EasyShare M1093 IS
• Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f1.8G
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP3

(Credit: LG)

Yet another IFA-related announcement from LG, this one sees the company's NetCast web content streaming function undergoing a complete overhaul.

The new Smart TV system, due in 2011, promises four unique propositions (easy, fun, more and better) for consumers using a centralised home dashboard, a slew of TV applications and a Wiimote-like Magic Motion remote.

The home dashboard promotes ease of use by providing instant access to content and apps on a single landing page. The firm's Magic Motion remote enables "point-and-click" capability and advanced interactivity for programs such as an on-screen colouring book. There will be more content sharing ranging from uploading of user-generated media to wireless remote streaming from the TV to gadgets.

LG plans to showcase a selection of services such as YouTube and video-on-demand Maxdome at the Berlin trade show running from 3 to 8 September. Furthermore, the firm will be collaborating with key content providers to beef up its TV app offerings, including the possibility of pay TV subscriptions. That said, the new Smart TV system bears a close resemblance to Samsung Apps as featured on TVs like the plasma C7000.

• LogMeIn Pro and LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone
• Sony Bravia KDL40NX700
• Samsung PS50B850
• Sony Bravia KDL-46Z4500

The Galaxy Tab's size and specs put it somewhere between the phone-like Dell Streak and the magazine-size Apple iPad. The Tab uses a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 1024x600 Wide Super VGA (WSVGA) resolution.

It ships with Android 2.2 (Froyo), the complete Google apps Market, Flash 10.1, 16GB or 32GB of memory, GPS and integrated sensors, such as a gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor and geomagnetic sensor.

• Samsung iPad competitor out this month?
• Samsung Galaxy S
• Samsung Galaxy Icon
• Samsung has Galaxy Apollo in the works?

• Good performance for a sub-1k notebook
• Slim design

• Average battery life
• No in-built optical drive

Design

Inexpensive notebooks have the habit of looking, if we're going to be blunt, a little on the cheap side. Dell's Inspiron N301 - part of the company's Inspiron 13z series, which initially made it quite tricky to track down on Dell's local website - bucks that trend, with a silver finish that, while plastic, actually does look pretty good. Measuring in at 24x328x235.5mm, it's also relatively slender, especially for an entry-level system, although there's a minor price to pay for its slightly lowered profile. The N301 ships with an optical drive - it's a DVD+/-RW drive to be specific - but it's an external unit rather than being built in. If you don't use optical drives much you won't miss it, but if you want or need it, it's an additional item you'll have to throw into your laptop bag every time you go out.

Features

One thing you don't get with this particular model at the time of writing is a lot of customisation options, which is a rarity for a build-to-order company such as Dell. You can have it with an Intel Core i3-330UM 1.2GHz processor, or not buy it at all. Windows 7 Home Premium is your only choice. The only display option is the 13.3-inch LED 1366x768-pixel display that comes as standard. There's no option to upgrade the memory beyond 4GB, or the storage beyond 320GB, at least at the time of writing. The stock video card option is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD5430 1GB, although there we can't be too critical, as plenty of laptops sell with a single video card choice. Naturally enough being Dell, there's no shortage of other laptops you could purchase with plenty of configuration options. This just isn't one of them.

The N301 ships with two standard USB 2.0 ports and one combination eSATA/USB 2.0 port, as well as HDMI out, 10/100 Ethernet and a seven-in-one card reader slot. On the wireless front it offers 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1. On the software front Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit is pre-installed, as is a 15-month subscription to McAfee Security Center.

Performance

The N301's keyboard isn't the most stunning notebook keyboard we've ever hit, but it's perfectly serviceable in this price range. As you might expect, frills are at a minimum, with only standard media playback controls built into the keyboard and the trackpad acting simply as a trackpad. As a basic workhorse machine, though, the N301 works well.

This was borne out by most of the unit's benchmark scores. It managed a respectable but not world-beating 4038 in PCMark05 and a solid 3DMark06 score of 3107. You're not going to get top-flight video rendering out of a system at this price point, but for basic utility work and some light gaming it should be quite adequate.

The N301 ships with a six-cell battery, although Dell's specifications page for the N301 is curiously quiet about how long they reckon the battery will last for. In our battery test, running full-screen video with the brightness turned up to full and all power-saving measures disabled, the N301 lasted for two hours and three minutes before running out of juice. That's not a great battery score, although it is something of a worst-case scenario, and with careful usage you should be able to get a little more life out of this system.

Conclusion

For a system that costs under AU$1000 in this configuration, the N301 performs adequately. It's not a knock-your-socks-off type of system, and the external USB DVD drive will be a problem for some users, but at the price point it performs well enough to be worth considering in the rather bulging field of low-cost Core i3 competitors.

• Dell Inspiron 13
• Dell Inspiron Mini 12
• Dell Inspiron M501R
• Dell Inspiron Mini 1210

The Ideos (Credit: Huawei)

The Ideos comes in several models and runs Android 2.2, also known as Froyo. The handset features a 2.8-inch QVGA, 320x240 capacitive touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and will support 3G speeds of up to 7.2Mbps as well as 802.11n Wi-Fi. It also comes with GPS functionality for Google Maps navigation and supports SD cards of up to 16GB for additional storage.

"Huawei is currently in talks with Australian and New Zealand operators about local distribution," the company said in a statement issued overnight.

The Ideos will sell for between US$100 and US$200, although Huawei has not yet said what the phone will cost in Australia, nor what mobile telcos it is talking to regarding distribution.

On paper, the Ideos may not support Telstra's 850MHz Next G network, as the device is listed as supporting the 900MHz and 2100MHz device bands, but there is a possibility the handset could be customised to suit Next G due to Huawei's status as a global manufacturer.

Huawei also announced three additional Android-powered devices - its U8800, U8500 and U8300 models. However, it has not revealed plans to bring the handsets to the Australian market.

The news represents the first launch by Huawei of an Android handset in the Australian market, as well as a significant mobile phone push in general by the company, which has a strong handset presence in its home turf in China.

Up until this point Huawei has not focused on bringing its consumer line-up to Australia, preferring to work on larger deals for carrier network infrastructure behind the scenes.

It also comes as virtually every other handset manufacturer of note, apart from companies like Apple and Nokia which run their own operating systems on their phones, have recently started introducing waves of Android-based smartphones into the Australian market.

Even companies that have not traditionally focused on smartphones are getting into the game. Dell has been discussing its Streak mini-tablet with carriers, and Acer on Wednesday revealed plans to bring no less than five Android handsets to the local market.

• Toshiba Android tablet set for September
• Oracle sues Google over Android and Java
• Optus looking at Android-based tablets
• Android trojan sends expensive texts

(Toshiba Satellite image by Vibrantspirit, CC3.0)

Toshiba posted its own recall of several models of its Satellite T130 laptops on its product support forums last week.

The CPSC said 129 instances of "overheating and deforming the plastic casing area around the AC adapter plug" had been reported. Two of those reports resulted in "minor burn injuries that did not require medical attention" and two in minor property damage.

Toshiba said on its website that the problem stems from a "faulty DC-In harness", which can lead to the computer melting where the AC adapter plugs in.

The solution is a BIOS update, which the company recommends users of the affected models implement right away. The update is available on Toshiba's website.

The affected models are:

Satellite T135D-S1326, T135D-SP2012L, T135-SP2909R, T135D-SP2012M, T135-SP2013L, T135-SP2013M, T135D-S1322, T135-S1330, T135D-S1328WH, T135D-S1328RD, T135D-S1328, T135D-S1327, T135D-S1325WH, T135D-S1325RD, T135D-S1325, T135D-S1324, T135D-S1320, T135-SP2911R, T135-S1312, T135-S1310WH, T135-S1310RD, T135-S1310, T135-S1309, T135-S1307, T135-S1305WH, T135-S1305RD, T135-S1305, T135-S1300WH, T135-S1300RD, T135-S1300, T135-SP2911C, T135-SP2911A, T135-SP2910R, T135-SP2910C, T135-SP2910A, T135-SP2909C, T135-SP2909A

Satellite Pro T130-W1302, T130-EZ1301

This isn't Toshiba's first go-round with hot, melting laptops. The company was included with most of its competitors in the 2007 massive recall of laptops that shipped with faulty Sony batteries.

Via CNET

• HP recalls batteries worldwide, several laptop models affected
• Laptops with long battery life
• HP laptop batteries recalled for overheating
• Dell: Exploding batteries are Sony's fault