To go with that Galaxy Tab 10.1, and provide more storage, they’re also offering a new Samsung Galaxy Tab SD Card Reader for only $10. As pictured above, the card reader connects to the 40-pin port on the tablet and enables the use of SD & SDHC cards, as well as microSD & microSDHC via the included adapter. Given the low pricing, and the 16GB of storage in the tablet, I’d strongly advise spending the extra $10 to pick one up. And if you already own a Galaxy Tab and want a way to use SD cards, this is your deal.

Lastly there is a refurbished Vizio 8″ Android Tablet for only $154.00 + $5 S&H. This is a lower-end Android tablet, running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The 8″ screen is 1024×768, and it has a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, and only 4GB of on-board storage – though there is a built-in microSD slot for up to 32GB of additional storage. So it isn’t a power house, but this tablet’s differentiator is the built in IR blaster. Yes, it is really designed to be used like a large, touch screen remote control for your home entertainment system. The tablet includes the V.I.A. (Vizio Internet Apps) Plus interface and it comes pre-loaded with a number of universal remote app covers to make it easy to start using it as your remote control.

Well, actually, Samsung is better than that, since they had nothing to do with it. It turns out the stunt was staged by, of all companies, RIM – as uncovered by Macworld. And RIM fessed up once it was uncovered:

UPDATE: RIM Australia issued a statement this morning, May 1 9:20 AM AEST, with Richelle Gillett, Account Director from Spectrum Communications for Blackberry confirming:

“We can confirm that the Australian ‘Wake Up’ campaign, which involves a series of experiential activities taking place across Sydney and Melbourne, was created by RIM Australia. A reveal will take place on May 7th that will aim to provoke conversation on what ‘being in business’ means to Australians.”

I don’t know what is sadder – the idiotic stunt itself, all of the free publicity RIM effectively bought for Samsung (with more to come as updates, like this one, get posted), or that it seems RIM wasn’t even considered as a possible culprit in the PR stunt. When you think of companies staging social media stunts, RIM just isn’t the company that comes to mind. They just aren’t considered ‘cool’.

It reminds me of the old OS/2 Warp ads in which IBM tried so desperately to seem cool. As my best friend once put it some years ago: “It’s like watching your grandfather breakdance, seeing a company like Honda or IBM try to Get Down Verbally. You don’t know whether to be mortified or just afraid he’ll break a hip.”

Way to go RIM.

Good work by Macworld and MacTalk in finding the real culprit behind the idiotic stunt.

The end of the video displays this text progressively: “With technology that fits in this easily, you can now stand out from… …everyone else.” And when it displays “everyone else” the video shows a pen full of white sheep ‘baa’ing. While they never call out Apple or the iPhone, given the history of their rivalry I think it is clear who that is aimed at.

So that’s all well and good, a little jab at the competition. But they also apparently arranged another stunt at an Apple Store in Sydney, Australia as part of a pseudo-viral “Wake Up” campaign that seems to be designed to drum up interest in advance of the Galaxy S III launch. (And here I am writing about it, so I guess it is working.) The website wake-up-australia.com.au is just a large countdown timer. There have been incidents of “Wake Up” popping up around Sydney – on billboards, in a pool, etc.

But this time a couple of large black buses pulled up outside of the Apple Store in Sydney and disgorged a horde of black clad ‘protesters’ who held black placards emblazoned with “Wake Up”. They then proceeded to chant loudly outside of the store, blocking the sidewalk and generally creating a disturbance. And a local blogger caught it on video:

Frankly I think this is way over the line, and just completely dickish behavior. That goes beyond good natured ribbing and is just harassment of the Apple Store employees and customers. And the general public who had to deal with the obstruction and disturbance. All to drum up attention. But this is like a toddler throwing a tantrum to make everyone pay attention to them. Samsung – you’re better than that, cut this crap out.

EDIT: Apologies to Samsung, the real jerk is RIM.

From mUmBRELLA via Android and Me.

And now it is just $49.99 for new Verizon Wireless customers when purchased through Amazon Wireless. And if you’re an existing Verizon Wireless subscriber looking to upgrade it is just $149.99 with a contract extension.

First up, originally slated to end March 26th, but extended through March 31st, the DROID Madness Sale. This sale is only good on new Verizon Wireless activations. New activation includes a new individual account, a new family account, or a new line to an existing account. The promotion does not include upgrades or contract extensions.

All Motorola DROID devices on Verizon are on sale. The DROID RAZR MAXX 4G 32GB in black is $199.99. The DROID 4 4G is $49.99. The DROID RAZR 4G 16GB is $34.99 in black, white, or purple. The DROID BIONIC 4G 32GB is $29.99. While the DROID BIONIC 4G 16GB, DROID X2, DROID 3 Global, and DROID PRO are all just $0.01 each – a penny! My wife has the DROID RAZR and she loves it, it is a very nice phone.

The second sale has some overlap with the first, now extended through April 15th (formerly March 31st) Double Your Data on 4G Phones. It is pretty simple – all 4G Verizon phones qualify for twice the amount of data for the same monthly price. New 4G smartphone activations and upgrades are eligible, including existing customers with 4G smartphones.

The following prices are for new activations, upgrade pricing may differ. As above, the DROID RAZR MAXX 4G 32GB is $199.99. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G is $99.99. The HTC Rezound 4G is $79.99. The DROID 4 4G is $49.99. The DROID RAZR 4G 16GB is $34.99 in black, white, or purple. The DROID BIONIC 4G 32GB is $29.99. The LG Spectrum 4G is $19.99. The HTC ThunderBolt 4G, Samsung Stratosphere 4G, DROID BIONIC 4G 16GB, Samsung DROID CHARGE 4G, and Pantech Breakout 4G are all just $0.01 – one red cent.

Of all of these the one I’d select is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – which is in fact the phone I carry. My second choice would probably be the DROID RAZR, or maybe the DROID RAZR MAXX, though battery life hasn’t really been an issue for me so far.

One of the drawbacks of the thin design is that, to achieve it, Samsung left off any expansion capabilities – but this deal includes the Samsung SD Card reader accessory that supports SDHC cards up to 32GB, along with a microSD adapter to use your microSD cards with the reader.

MSRP on the tablet is $499.99, and Amazon sells them for $448.00. The Galaxy Tab SD Card Reader MSRP is $19.99 and Amazon’s price is $14.11. So the $299.99 price for both is a very good deal. This is still one of the best Android tablets on the market, and you’re getting it at a substantial discount.

First up, running through March 26th, the DROID Madness Sale. This sale is only good on new Verizon Wireless activations. New activation includes a new individual account, a new family account, or a new line to an existing account. The promotion does not include upgrades or contract extensions.

All Motorola DROID devices on Verizon are on sale. The DROID RAZR MAXX 4G 32GB in black is $199.99. The DROID 4 4G is $49.99. The DROID RAZR 4G 16GB is $34.99 in black, white, or purple. The DROID BIONIC 4G 32GB is $29.99. While the DROID BIONIC 4G 16GB, DROID X2, DROID 3 Global, and DROID PRO are all just $0.01 each – a penny! My wife has the DROID RAZR and she loves it, it is a very nice phone.

The second sale has some overlap with the first, through March 31st Double Your Data on 4G Phones. It is pretty simple – all 4G Verizon phones qualify for twice the amount of data for the same monthly price. New 4G smartphone activations and upgrades are eligible, including existing customers with 4G smartphones.

The following prices are for new activations, upgrade pricing may differ. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G is $99.99. The HTC Rezound 4G is $79.99. The DROID 4 4G is $49.99. The DROID RAZR 4G 16GB is $34.99 in black, white, or purple. The DROID BIONIC 4G 32GB is $29.99. The LG Spectrum 4G is $19.99. The HTC ThunderBolt 4G, LG Revolution 4G, Samsung Stratosphere 4G, Samsung DROID CHARGE, and Pantech Breakout 4G are all just $0.01 – one red cent.

I note that the sale specifically states “all 4G Verizon phones qualify”, yet the DROID RAZR MAXX 4G 32GB and DROID BIONIC 4G 16GB from the first sale aren’t listed in the second. But I’d expect them to qualify as well, as they are “4G Verizon phones”.

Of all of these the one I’d select is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – which is in fact the phone I carry. My second choice would probably be the DROID RAZR, or maybe the DROID RAZR MAXX, though battery life hasn’t really been an issue for me so far.

The normal rate through Verizon is $299.99 with a two-year commitment. But Amazon Wireless is now offering this top-end phone at a low-end price, just $99.99 for new subscribers with a two-year commitment. If you want to add a line to an existing family account it is just $179.99. And even those renewing can save with a $259.99 price. If you’ve been thinking about switching to Android and/or Verizon, this is a fantastic deal. Big savings on a killer phone. I’m extremely happy with mine.

In other Android news, my Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime arrived Tuesday. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with it, but so far I love it. I’m planning to take it on my extended trip starting next week, for my wedding and honeymoon, instead of my laptop.

• LG – We’re thrilled to welcome global consumer electronics leader LG to the Google TV family. LG will showcase a new line of TVs powered by Google TV running on their own L9 chipset at CES.
• Marvell – Also new to the Google TV family this year is Marvell, an innovative worldwide leader in chipsets. Marvell will be showcasing a new generation of Google TV solutions which will help bring more products across more price points to consumers.
• MediaTek – We’re also excited to partner with MediaTek, the leading Taiwanese chipset designer. MediaTek chipsets will power yet another wave of Google TV devices.
• Samsung – We’re excited to work closely with Samsung to bring Google-TV powered Samsung devices to market in 2012.
• Sony – We’re happy to build on our partnership with Sony. At CES, Sony will unveil new devices for the US and plans to offer Google TV powered products in several countries around the world in 2012.
• Vizio – Last year we announced our partnership with Vizio at CES. This year we’re excited to join Vizio as they hold private demos at CES showcasing their new line of Google TV-powered products.

The shift to ARM based processors has been widely anticipated, though the specific partnerships with Marvell and MediaTek is new info. It is a little surprising as you might expect well known chip vendors from the mobile industry, such as NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, and Samsung, to be involved but perhaps Google feels the requirements for Google TV are different enough from mobile Android systems that alternate chip designs are better.

Sony is the only vendor who brought first generation products to market to return to this list. Samsung and Vizio both talked about Google TV at the last CES, but held off on shipping products. Which was probably for the best, given the multitude of issues with Google TV 1.0. Now that Google TV 2.0 is out, and is vastly improved over its predecessor, it is much more viable as a connected TV platform. With the addition of LG, if all four vendors really execute on Google TV in their new models, we may well see Google make good on their bold claims of Google TV being in the majority of new TVs this year.

Via the Google TV Blog.

Edit: I see in my YouTube feeds that they’ve also posted a video preview of what’s to come:

Now Samsung is taking the battle to a new level with their marketing. They’ve been releasing a series of videos promoting their Galaxy S II, which is one of the best smartphones available, by having a little tongue-in-cheek phone with the ridiculous hysteria that seems to surround every iPhone launch. People with thin skins may be offended by these videos, but even if you’re an iPhone user I think you can fund a little humor in these.

From the first post:

The second post:

And the third:

Keep an eye on the blog for any additional videos.

Like most of the first line tablets it has a 10.1″ 1280×800 display, a dual-core 1GHz NVIDA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, and, in this model, 16GB of storage. It has dual-mode 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, front 2.0MP and rear 3.0MP cameras, and it is thinner, lighter, and narrower than an iPad 2 – it is just a bit longer. Normally these are somewhat pricey, with a $499.99 MSRP, even Amazon sells them new for $449.99. This may be the best price I’ve seen to date on the WiFi model. If you want a deal on a top quality Android tablet, this is it.

First up, Special Holiday Deals on Select LG Home Entertainment Products. Save on 25 different HDTVs, three different Blu-ray Disc players, and three different Home Audio Systems.

Or maybe you’d prefer a Free Family Pack of 3D Glasses with Select LG Cinema 3D LED HDTVs with Smart TV. Five LG 3D HDTV models to choose from.

Or a free LG AN-MR200 Magic Motion Remote when you buy an LG Infinia 42LV5400 42″ 1080p HDTV with Smart TV.

Next up, Save Big on Select Sony HDTVs. Seventeen different models to choose from.

Of perhaps Great Savings on Select Panasonic HDTVs. Sixteen models to choose from!

Next, Save up to 45% on Select HDTVs. HDTVs from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony – 102 different models to choose from!

Maybe Big-Screen HDTVs for $999 or Less. LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, TCL, Toshiba, VIZIO and Westinghouse, 42 models all together.

And to feed those HDTVs content, Blu-ray Disc Players and Digital-Media Devices Under $100. The Apple TV and TiVo Premiere are in there along with the Roku 2 family and Roku LT. Blu-ray Disc players from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, VIZIO, and Toshiba, and streaming devices from Iomega, Western Digital, Patriot, Netgear, and the aforementioned Apple, TiVo, and Roku boxes.

And for those Blu-ray Players, save on thousands of TV shows and movies on Blu-ray and DVD.

Now, if you want to create your own content, there is this special: Instant Savings on Select Sony Camcorders. Eighteen different models to choose from – from the $89.99 Bloggie to the $399.99 HDR-XR160.

If still photography is more your thing, get a Free DSLR Backpack, Memory Card, and Tiffen Filter with Select Canon Rebel DSLR Cameras. Thirteen different camera models to choose from.

Or perhaps you prefer to Save Big When You Bundle Select Canon DSLRs with Qualifying Canon Lenses and/or Printers. With seven different cameras to choose from.

Amazon certainly has your entertainment electronics needs covered.

Thursday-Saturday Only: Best Buy Exclusive Asus Transformer 10.1″ Wi-Fi Tablet, $249.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Acer Iconia Tablet with 8GB Memory, $189.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Dell Streak 7″ Tablet, $149.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Barnes & Noble NOOK The Simple Touch Reader, $79.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great Tablet Deals.
Thursday-Saturday Only: HP Laptop with AMD Vision Processor, 500GB Hard Drive, and 4GB DDR3 Memory, $429.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Lenovo Laptop with AMD Dual-Core E300 Processor, 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB Memory, $179.00.
Thursday-Saturday Only: HP All-in-One Computer has AMD E-Series Processor, 4GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive, $399.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Toshiba Laptop with Intel Pentium Processor, 320GB Hard Drive, and 4GB Memory, $349.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Samsung Laptop with Pentium Dual-Core Processor, 320GB Hard Drive, 4GB Memory, $299.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great Computing Deals.
Thursday-Saturday Only: 50% Off All M-Edge eReader Covers.

Thursday-Saturday Only: Only $999.99 Samsung 55″ Class LED 1080p HDTV. Best Buy exclusive.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great Home Theater Deals.

Thursday-Saturday Only: Free $50 Gift Card with Apple iPod touch 8GB MP3 Player.
Thursday-Saturday Only: $20 Off Any $100 iTunes Gift Card.
Thursday-Saturday Only: $2.99 Music CDs.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great iPod and MP3 Player Deals.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great Entertainment Deals.

Thursday-Saturday Only: Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Bundle with Fable III and Halo: Reach, Only $199.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Nintendo 3DS Game Console, $179.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Select Games for $34.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Select Games for $29.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Select Game Accessories for $7.99.
Thursday-Saturday Only: Great Gaming and Gadget Deals.

There are many more deals, so be sure to check them out. The links should be live on Thursday.

There are new specials each day, so be sure to check back in.

In addition to the current sale, they’ve also published a preview of what they’ll be offering on Black Friday – in stores and online.

In stores only you’ll be able to grab a Sharp LC-42SV49U 42″ Class LCD 1080p HDTV for $199.99, a Toshiba BDX2150 Smart Blu-ray Player for $39.99, a 15.6″ Samsung Laptop with an Intel Pentium CPU, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB HDD for $299.99, and the one I think is the most tempting, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Android tablet for only $249.99.

Also available in stores, the HTC ThunderBolt 4G LTE on Verizon for free with a 2-year activation and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Blu-ray just $9.99. These will also be made available online – the Thunderbolt on Thursday and the Blu-ray on Friday.

They’ve listed specials that will be available online starting Thursday, 11/24, without revealing the prices. There will be deals on the Dynex 32″ Class LED 720p HDTV, a 15.6″ Gateway Laptop with Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB HDD, the Dell Streak 7″ Android Tablet, a Dell desktop PC with Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and an 18.5″ widescreen LCD monitor, the FujiFilm FinePix AX350 16MP Camera, a Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, the Tritton AX120 Headset, and the Nintendo Wii Console with New Super Mario Bros. Wii Game and Music CD. Check back Thursday for the pricing.

There are yet more deals, way too many to list here, so check out their webpage for the full listing. More HDTVs, laptops, PCs, phones, tablets, cameras, hard drives, flash drives, washers & dryers, PlayStation 3, games, etc.

Looking at a graph of market share by smartphone vendor, the precipitous decline of Nokia is painfully obvious, and it looks like RIM isn’t doing so well either. On the other hand, you can see the rapid rise of Samsung. Samsung has claimed 26% of the global smartphone market, becoming the largest vendor. Apple slipped from 19% to close to 14%, but that could be due to anticipation of the iPhone 4S (the figures are from before the launch). Nokia has toppled from the top of the heap to under 14% in roughly a year. HTC overtook RIM with 11% to 9% as the former continues to gain market share and the latter loses it. Sony has approximately 6%, LG 5%, and Motorola 4%.

Unsurprisingly the units shipped by vendor closely aligns with the market share of each vendor. The sheer number of devices being shipped is really impressive.

Via Droid Life.

You know, speaking of the Verizon version that I’m waiting for, we also got the official details on the differences between the LTE & HSPA+ variants. The LTE model is slightly thicker and heavier, with a tad more battery capacity. While the official specs list storage as 16GB, and it seems all the phones available currently are 16GB, it has been widely reported that a 32GB model is in the works. The official site used to say 16/32GB, though it now says just 16GB. Perhaps the 32GB version is still up in the air, or won’t be available at launch so they want to narrow the message. Given my history with my OG Droid, and how much of my content is in the cloud anyway, I could probably live with 16GB. But I’d still like to have 32GB, just in case.

Samsung has rather more detailed information on the HSPA+ version of the phone on sale in the UK. The US version of the page isn’t up yet since the phone hasn’t launched.

I’ve been waiting for this phone to launch, since I’m still using my OG Droid which I picked up at launch in November 2009. I rooted it and I’m running Cyanogenmod 7.1, but I’m still eager to get something newer. I’ve been holding out for the G-Nex to make the jump to ICS on an a Verizon LTE device. It looks like the G-Nex will hit Verizon in November, so I’ll probably be upgrading – unless something else pops up that is just more tempting. But I doubt it.

Skimming around the net after today’s announcement, Android Central compiled the stats in a nice format:

• Network: HSPA+ 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps 850/900/1900/1700/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
  Specifications above may differ on the LTE version.
• Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual-core Processor (OMAP 4460)
• Display: 4.65-inch 1280×720 HD Super AMOLED
• OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Main (Rear) Camera: 5MP AF with LED Flash with zero shutter lag and fast shot2shot
• Sub (Front) Camera: 1.3MP for Video Call
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Light, Proximity, Barometer
• Memory: 1GB RAM + 16/32GB Internal memory
• Size: 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, 135g
• Battery: Standard battery, Li-on 1750 mAh.

The Official Google Blog covered the launch of both ICS & the G-Nex, along with a video:

ICS is the one platform to rule them all. Android 2.3.x Gingerbread is optimized for phones and Android 3.x Honeycomb is optimized for tablets. But Android 4.0 ICS is designed for both phones and tablets. It evolves the Honeycomb UI to the next level, and introduces new features. While the G-Nex is a major product, the real news is ICS as it will be coming to a number of current and upcoming phones and tablets, and it really takes Android to the next level in UI polish, speed, and features.

UPDATE: The full video of the launch event has been posted.

“We are excited to be the first TV maker to support Adobe AIR on our Smart TVs bringing rich, Flash-based applications to millions of customers today,” said Kyungsik Kevin Lee, vice president, Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics. “With the dramatic advancements in AIR 3, Adobe continues to push the envelope with innovative new features that will enable powerful 3D gaming apps and other next generation app experiences on televisions soon.”

“LG is working closely with Adobe to bring Flash-based applications with AIR to LG Smart TVs in 2012,” said Youngjae Seo, vice president, Smart TV Team, LG. “We can’t wait to see what kind of application experiences three million Flash developers will bring to our customers with AIR 3.”

“The availability of AIR will give us the tools to deliver better functionality, more features and a rich, seamless experience that our users expect from TiVo products,” said Jim Denney, vice president and general manager, Product Marketing, TiVo. “We look forward to the development of a rich ecosystem of multi-platform applications to make the TV experience even better.”

See the full release for more. I am, of course, most interested in how this will apply to TiVo. The TiVo Premiere is already using Flash for the HD UI and newer apps, like Hulu Plus. (Some of the older, legacy apps are still using the Java-based HME framework.) But the TiVo Premiere hardware supports Flash Lite, a reduced version of flash for lower powered embedded systems. Will this new announcement apply to the existing TiVo Premiere? Or might the new TiVo Premiere Elite and forthcoming TiVo Preview be using newer SoCs that would support the fuller Flash/Air experience? I’m not sure, but I’m hoping this means we’ll see new versions of the apps, and all new apps, across the Premiere lineup. Ideally I’d love to see TiVo open an app store for third party apps, and open up the platform to developers to explore.

Oh, and if you’re ready to bash Flash – just stop. Flash as a platform is extremely rich and powerful. While it has had some issues, all platforms do. Most of the problems users experience with Flash apps on the web are due to the app developer, not the Flash platform. In recent releases Adobe has made great strides in improving the performance and stability of the Flash interpreter as well. In the long run I expect it will fade out and be replaced by a collection of technologies many refer to as ‘HTML5′ – HTML5 proper, JavaScript, SVG, CSS, etc. But it isn’t going away overnight. Remember Flash itself displaced Java Applets and Shockwave back in the day. That’s just how it goes.

And all of that aside, Flash on embedded platform is not the same beast. Devices like TiVo and the smart TVs use hardware with dedicated Flash support, not a software interpreter on a generic CPU like a PC. And the platforms are generally more limited in what they’ll support – only what the hardware can decode. So it is a much more focused environment. So Flash isn’t the root of all evil that I’ve seen many make it out to be. It is a logical choice as a platform with many advantages in an embedded environment. Embedded Flash support is much easier to come by these days than embedded ‘HTML5′ support, for example. Especially as HTML5 is still a moving target as the standards evolve.

Well, this post should make those users happy. Both the Samsung Galaxy 4.0 and Samsung Galaxy 5.0 are slated for US release on October 16th and Amazon has both models up for pre-order. The two models share most of their specs: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, a 1GHz S5P-C111 CPU, 800×480 displays, front VGA and rear 3.2MP (with auto-focus & flash) cameras, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP & AVRCP, 8GB of internal storage, microSD for up to 32GB of additional storage, built-in speaker & mic, and an FM radio tuner. Supported video codecs include DivX, XviD, H.264, H.263, MPEG4, WMV, & RM/RMVB (up to 480×320) and audio codecs include MP3, AAC, ACC+, e-AAC+, AMR, MIDI, & WAV. Basically the Samsung Galaxy Players (as they’re known) are to the Samsung Galaxy S smartphones what the iPod Touch is to the iPhone. The same basic platform with all the features, but without the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy 4.0, pictured above to the left, is listed for $229.99. It has a 4″ 800×480 display (if you couldn’t figure that out from the name) and a 1200 mAh battery which is good for roughly 36 hours of music or 5 hours of video playback). Overall it measures 2.43″ x 4.87″ x 0.39″ and weighs 4.27 ounces.

The Samsung Galaxy 5.0, pictured above to the right, is listed for $269.99. It has a 5″ 800×480 display (natch) and a 2500 mAh battery for approximately 60 hours of music or 8 hours of video playback. It measures 3.08″ x 5.56″ x 0.47″ and weighs in at 6.42 ounces.

By way of comparison the iPod Touch 4th generation has a 3.5″ 960×640 screen, supports up to 40 hours of audio or 7 hours of video playback, and measures 0.3″ x 2.3″ x 4.4″ with a weight of 3.5 ounces. The Samsung Galaxy Player offers several things the iPod Touch does not: a larger screen, expandable storage (via microSD), an FM tuner, and the battery is replaceable on the 4.0 (built-in on the 5.0). And you have full access to the Android Market over WiFi for apps.

Here are the original spec sheets for both players. It seems they’ve been updated a bit for the US release, notably the Android version.
Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment

It has 8GB of on-board storage and accepts a microSD card for up to 32GB of additional storage – unlike an iPod Touch. Also unlike an iPod Touch, it has a built in FM tuner. The WiFi is 802.11b/g/n for high speeds. The 5″ screen is WVGA 800×480, and it has a front facing VGA camera and rear facing 3.2MP camera with auto-focus and flash.

An 8GB iPod Touch is $204.99 at Amazon, if you’ve been thinking of getting one you might consider saving $35 and getting this instead, and putting the savings toward a microSD card to have more storage for your music. And you get an FM tuner in the bargain. You also get up to 60 hours of music playback or 8 hours of video playback on a single charge, better than the iPod Touch’s 40 hours of music and 7 hours of video. Oh yeah, and it’ll run Flash too if you want.

UPDATE 9/28/2011: Well, now we know how much of a deal this was – and the answer is $100 savings. Amazon is now listing both the Samsung Galaxy 4.0 and Samsung Galaxy 5.0 for pre-order, shipping October 16, 2011. Pricing is $229.99 and $269.99, respectively.