Telus recently announced that they would be offering the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with HSPA connectivity. They weren’t particularly specific about dates or pricing, but it woudn’t be surprising to see it going for $500 on contract sometime before back-to-school season kicks in. Although Telus is trying to push HSPA+ as 4G, Verizon’s branding of the Tab 10.1 as 4G seems a bit more legitimate since it has LTE inside. Still, 21 Mbps isn’t bad, even if it’s only a theoretical max.
In any case, the 10.1-inch Android tablet is a slim little number with an impressive 1280 x 800 display. It has a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 3 megapixel camera on the back with LED flash, and a 2 megapixel camera on the front. On Telus, it’ll be launching with Android 3.1 with full support for Flash 10.2. Be sure to check out our thorough review of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 if you’re interested in picking one up.
As far as plans go, Telus is particularly nice in that they let you share your existing smartphone data plan with the tablet at no cost. Just keep in mind that it’s a hell of a lot easier to hit your data cap on a media-hungry tablet, so make use of Wi-Fi when you can. I still find it hard to believe that anyone really needs a tablet, but if you’ve got the disposable income, it’s a great media toy to have around the house for casual browsing and a few unique apps. Just keep in mind that while a 10.1 inch tablet is certainly portable, I’d be hesitant to call it mobile; that line is crossed as soon as you need a bag to carry around the thing.
We’ll keep an eye out for more specifics on the launch of Telus’ Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.