Samsung unveiled three new Bada-based phones on Tuesday to add to its Wave lineup, the Wave 3, Wave M and Wave Y, according to a Reuters report . These phones add to the seven Wave phones that are already a part of its Bada portfolio .
The Wave 3, with its 4-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 1.4GHz processor and 5-megapixel camera, is the most high-powered member in the lineup. It is made of anodised aluminium and weighs in at 122 grams. The Wave M will feature an 832MHz processor, a 3.65-inch screen and a 5MP camera; the Wave Y boasts of similar specs but has a smaller 3.2-inch screen and a 2-megapixel shooter.
All three phones will have Samsung’s recently announced ChatON service installed and run its Bada 2.0 OS, giving them access to Samsung Apps, the company’s app-delivery platform that current has about 13,000 applications. They are set to be launched in October this year and will be on display at the company’s stand at IFA 2011 in Berlin.
Verizon confirms LTE Galaxy Tab 10.1: June 8th pre-order for $529
We had all figured that Motorola would roll out LTE capability for the Xoom tablets long before anyone else had a chance to get in the market but that appears to not be the case. We’ve just gotten confirmation from Verizon that the company plans to start pre-orders (update: you can now purchase the 10.1 directly ) of the 10.1-inch Galaxy tablet from Samsung starting on June 8th. The company squashes the Xoom rumors by calling the Galaxy it’s “1st 4G LTE Tablet”.
It looks like accessories will be showing their faces at the same time as well, with a multi-media docking station and full-sized keyboard dock on the promise list.
The LTE Galaxy tablet is the finally-released version of the 10.1-inch WiFi-only model that Google and Samsung gave away at this year’s Google I/O . Based on my own interaction with the device, I can tell you that it is the first one I’ve used which really gives the iPad any sort of competition.
Pricing on the LTE tablet is based on a 2-year contract. $529 for the 16 gig model, while the 32-gig will run you $629.
We’ll still be getting the LTE Galaxy Tab when it hits US shores as we want to be able to size up the differences between it and the forthcoming WiFi-only models.
Oh, and if you don’t want an LTE Galaxy tablet, Samsung says that the WiFi-only version will go on sale in New York on June 8th, as well. A “limited number” will be avaailable at the Union Square Best Buy, then the rest will launch across the US on June 17th.
16-gig version of the WiFi tablet will run $499 and the 32-gig will set you back $599.
How to fix the missing YouTube app on your Xoom
Many early adopter Xoom customers are voicing issues with their tablets not offering the popular YouTube app.
Motorola’s Owner Forums and various other sources show that the issue has been reported since the Xoom launched. Today, I ran into it, too.
Watching YouTube videos via the Android 3.0 browser works even without the application.
Motorola and Google have showcased the native YouTube app many times to demo how polished and stylish their new tablet OS really is. With the app not being available, a fun part of the user experience is gone for fresh Xoom users.
Before jumping right into a non-official fix, here is what all Xoom users reporting the problem experience:
Right after the initial setup, there is no icon for the YouTube app.
The Google “Books” app icon shows up. Tapping it yields an “Application is not installed.” error.
In Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All the “Books” app has a size of 0.00B and version 3.0.1-110420. It cannot be uninstalled. The “YouTube” app in the same menu reports an 8.00KB size and version 3.0.15. Uninstall is not available, either.
Most of the users reporting the problem purchased their Xooms from Costco.
Multiple factory resets do not help, nor does reinstalling YouTube from the Android Market.
In fact, the latter makes things even worse. Turns out, the Android Market is not aware about the full new version of the YouTube app for Android tablets . It compares the version reported by the Xoom with it’s own list of known versions for smartphones and (wrongly!) offers an “update”.
Neither Motorola, nor Google have officially responded, yet.
An unofficial fix – and as always, you do this at your own risk – is as follows:
I can confirm, this worked for me.
One more thing: Admittedly, I am a huge Apple fan, mostly using an iPad 2. My professional life forced me to check out the Xoom.
While I’m really surprised with the usability and performance of Honeycomb, it’s these kind of low-level problems, that ruin almost the entire experience for me.
Do you own the Motorola Xoom? Did you run into any of these problems? Let us know in the comments!