Samsung Wi-Fi Only Galaxy Tab Available Sunday for $349

Samsung is set to challenge the iPad 2 with a cheaper, Wi-Fi only version of the 7-inch Galaxy Tab that will land on store shelves by Sunday and sell for $350. The Samsung tablet also arrives just 10 days beforeResearch In Motion's Blackberry PlayBook, another 7-inch iPad challenger, goes on sale at Best Buy and other retailers. Samsung apparently feels the Android 2.2-based Galaxy Tab still has some life left in it despite the fact the company plans on releasing a 10.1-inch version of the Galaxy Tab running Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) later this year.

But if you're hoping to wander into your local box store or electronics shop to get your hands on the ultra-cheap Galaxy Tab, think again. Samsung doesn't spell this out clearly, but as near as I can tell, the only physical store carrying the Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab will be CompUSA. Using Samsung's Website to look for retail locations in various regions across the country there was only one physical retailer available. So unless you happen to live near a CompUSA, your best bet is to buy the Galaxy Tab online from Circuit City, CompUSA, TigerDirect or Frys.com. At the time of this writing, the device was available for pre-order at three of the online retailers excluding Fry's. You can find more information about where to buy the Galaxy Tab here.

Despite the fact that the Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab will be a little hard to find, a $350 7-inch Galaxy Tab is a great price for those unwilling to shell out an extra $150 for the cheapest iPad or Blackberry PlayBook at $500.

The Galaxy Tab's 7-inch display features 1024-by-600 resolution and runs Android 2.2 (Froyo). The device also has a 1 GHz processor, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, 3.2 megapixel rear facing camera, and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. One discrepancy to note is that Samsung's announcement says the Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab comes with 32GB onboard storage, but my checks with online retailers andSamsung's own Website shows the device sports just 16GB of flash storage. The Galaxy Tab also includes a microSD slot that can support up to 32GB of removable storage. Check out PCWorld's head-to-head comparison of the Galaxy Tab, iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom (video) for more information about the Galaxy Tab.

If Wi-Fi only isn't your thing there are other cheaply priced versions of the Galaxy Tab. You can get a 3G version of the Galaxy Tab from Sprint for $200 with a two-year contract or $430 without. Verizon is selling a contract-free 3G Galaxy Tab for $500 or you can opt to pay $200 with a two-year contract just as you can with Sprint.

If you're in the market for a sub-$500 tablet, and don't mind picking up a device that doesn't run the latest and greatest version of Android, now is a great time to be looking at the Galaxy Tab.

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Sony to Launch Streaming Music on PSP

The rumors are true: Music Unlimited, Sony's cloud-based streaming music service, will launch on the PSP platform April 14.

The Sony cloud platform, Qriocity, is remarkably similar to the Amazon music-in-a-cloud store announced March 29, and most likely the Google music-in-a-cloud store that's allegedly lurking in the wings.

"The heart of the offering here is that with the one account you can access this music on your TV, your PS3, your laptop, your Blu-ray player, and have your music follow you wherever you go, rather than having to download all of your music into a device and make that device go with you everywhere," Shawn Layden, executive vice president and CEO of Sony Network Entertainment, told Eurogamer last week. It's also a streamlined way to sell PSP users all kinds of digital stuff.

"The idea is to make your PlayStation ID your ubiquitous sign-on wherever you go and also allow you to trade off the same wallet," Layden added, "so you don't have to charge up different wallets here for that."

Already good to go on TVs, laptops, Blu-Ray players and the PlayStation3 console, Music Unlimited and its 6 million tunes will be accessible to PSP users via WiFi next week. It requires a PlayStation Network account, the handheld's latest firmware update (6.3.7) and a subscription ($3.99 a month, $9.99 for premium features) after a 30-day free trial.

Layden said Music Unlimited, and other services on Qriocity, will show up this year on Sony Ericsson's new Android devices, including the Xperia Play, then on the upcoming NGP, and ultimately Sony'sPlaystation Tablet we've been hearing so much about.

The real question is whether adding music on demand to the PSP and its successors will be enough to distract fickle gamers from Nintendo's shiny new 3DS.

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DOCOMO unveils its green Mobile Phone Prototype with touch of Style

I guess use of scrap woods or so called surplus woods is becoming a technology trend coinciding with thinning tree activities in maintaining healthy forest. This is my second post on this subject. It all started with Mitsubishi’s announcement on development of new plastic resin from the surplus cedar wood. This follows with today’s DOCOMO announcement on development of mobile phone prototype made of surplus wood of trees culled. Well only the exterior body of the phone is made of wood. The new prototype was developed in corporation with Sharp and Olympus Corporation as well as with the collaboration of “more trees”, a reforestation project which is founded by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and others.

The new prototype which is named TOUCH WOOD in addition of featuring an excellent durability is water, insect and mildew resistance with an attractive shine all to three dimensional compression molding technology which is developed by Olympus Corporation. By the wood content comes from authentic Cypress tree. No artificial coloring and paint has been used in developing the TOUCH WOOD bearing a natural coloring and aroma. The TOUCH WOOD’s GUI is based on the photographic art of Mikiya Takimoto a more trees advocate. The TOUCH WOOD will be show cased both at ITU Telecom World 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland from October 5th to 9th and CEATEC JAPAN 2009 at Makuhari Messe, Chiba prefecture, Japan from October 6th to 10th.

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“Home Barrier” your simple and Easy Home Security Solution

A Japanese mobile phone design company by the name of GECOMM has come up with an interesting and easy to install home security solution equipped with wireless technology. According to the company the new Home Barrier Security solution brings the cost of home security system to one tenth in comparison to the conventional home security system offered by various security companies in Japan.

The Home Barrier is consists of window sensors and a receiver which is connected to PC through USB terminal. The window sensor comes with both shock and magnets sensors, when the window sensor detects some abnormality, the sensor sends a message to the receiver and the receiver sends an e-mail to registered mobile e-mail address. It is also possible to control security mode from the mobile phone. The window sensors and the receiver can use a specific frequency which enables a transmission within 100 meter inside house. The user can register up to five different e-mail accounts. The basic unit goes for 27500 yen which includes one main unit, tow window sensors, home barrier software, two magnets and two batteries.

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