Samsung Galaxy Tab to cost almost £800, according to Amazon

An Amazon listing for Samsung’s new touch-screen, tablet-style computer, the Galaxy Tab, shows the device has a recommended retail price of almost £800

The Samsung P1000, also known as the Galaxy Tab, has a recommended retail price of £799.99, according to Amazon.

The online retailer is offering 15 per cent off, bringing the price down to £679.99, and says the Tab will be dispatched “within one to two months.
If the price listing is correct, it would mean that the Galaxy Tab would cost significantly more than its key rival, the iPad. Prices for Apple’s device start from £429.
Samsung is yet to make an official announcement about the price of the Tab, but it is hoped that some mobile network operators will choose to subsidise the cost of the 3G-enabled Tab in return for consumers taking out mobile data packages for the device.
The Galaxy Tab will also be available in the United States from the four major carriers – AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Samsung held a press conference yesterday to give more details about its tablet computer.
"The Galaxy Tab will redefine the tablet market," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung’s telecoms division in the US. "We expect to be a major player in this market."
The Galaxy Tab has a 7in screen and runs Froyo, the most recent version of Google’s Android operating system. It has Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity built in, and features two cameras, a three-megapixel lens on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front for making video calls.
One crucial differentiator between the iPad and Samsung’s device is that the Tab will play Adobe Flash content. Apple has famously jettisoned Flash in favour of rival standard HTML5, but it renders many web pages unreadable on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

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Nokia appoints Microsoft's Elop as CEO

Mr Elop, the head of Microsoft's Business Division, will take over as Nokia chief on September 21, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Kallasvuo will resign his position on Nokia's board of directors, but continue to chair the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks in a non-executive capacity.

"The time is right to accelerate the company's renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success," said Jorma Ollila, Nokia's chairman and former chief executive.

Speculation over the potential departure of Mr Kallasvuo has been rife this year, as the world’s largest mobile-phone maker has struggled in the face of the growing smartphone market.

Since Apple introduced the iPhone three years ago, changing the mobile-phone industry with thousands of applications, Nokia shares have slumped more than 60pc.

The company has yet to develop a smartphone with the same mass appeal and has been forced to cut prices, sacrificing profits to defend its shrinking market share.

"The mobile phone market has changed tremendously over the past 10 years. It's no longer a handset, it's now more about services and operating systems," Hannu Rauhala, a senior equities analyst for Pohjola Bank, told AFP.

He said the appointment of Mr Elop was an acknowledgement by Nokia that its leadership should change to reflect the fact that its product and the entire mobile phone industry had also drastically changed. "I see that they are now looking for a more software-oriented leader," Rauhala added.

Nokia shares rose as much as 49 cents, or 6.3pc, the biggest intraday jump since May 10, on the news and was trading up 5pc at €8.10 by lunchtime in Helsinki.

Mr Elop said: "I am extremely excited to become part of a team dedicated to strengthening Nokia's position as the undisputed leader of the mobile communications industry."

Mr Elop joined Microsoft from network infrastructure company Juniper Networks in January 2008, where he was the chief operating officer.

Mr Kallasvuo has been with Nokia for more than 30 years. He became chief excutive in 2006 when Jorma Ollila stepped down. He has served on the board of directors since 2007.

"The whole Board of Directors joins me in thanking Olli-Pekka for his 30 years at Nokia, during which he has been deeply involved in developing the company and its operations," Mr Ollila said.

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Information Commissioner reprimands Talk Talk

The Information Commissioner’s Office has criticised internet service provider Talk Talk for failing to disclose details of a malware trial that tracked which websites users had visited

Talk Talk, one of the country’s leading internet service providers, has been rapped by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for failing to disclose details of a software trial that gathered information about the websites visited by its customers.

The Information Commissioner said that Talk Talk should have informed its customers – and the ICO – about a trial it was carrying out to help protect web users from websites infected with malicious software.

The system worked in part by scanning the web addresses of sites visited by customers to check for traces of “malware”. All customers were automatically included in the trial, and were not asked to proactively opt in.

Details of the trial came to light after a Freedom of Information request was lodged with the Information Commissioner’s Office, asking it to provide details of meetings that had taken place between the ICO and Talk Talk.

Correspondence between the two parties revealed the ICO’s disappointment that details of the malware trial had not been disclosed to the Information Commissioner’s Office and the ISP’s users.

“I am concerned that the trial was undertaken without first informing those affected that it was taking place,” wrote Christopher Graham, the information commissioner.

“In the light of the public reaction to BT's trial of the proposed Webwise service [which gathered details of web pages visited by users in order to deliver targeted advertising], I am disappointed to note that this particular trial was not mentioned to my officials during the latest of our liaison meetings.”.

But Talk Talk has defended the trial, saying that it was designed to help protect users from malicious software and computer viruses, and that the data gathered was not used for any other purpose.

The company said that by scanning websites, it could generate a ‘blacklist’ of web pages that contained malware and viruses, thereby enabling the ISP to alert customers to the potential risk certain websites posed to their computer. Talk Talk said that 75,000 of the websites visited by users that it scanned contained malware.

“We were simply looking at the URLs accessed from our network, we weren't looking at customer behaviour so we didn't feel we were obliged to inform customers," said Mark Schmid, TalkTalk's director of communications.

“This is all about protecting customers. It is not designed to provide us with data for any other purpose.”

Talk Talk said it still planned to officially roll out the system by the end of this year.

The Information Commissioner’s Office said it would closely monitor Talk Talk’s new service.

“The ICO is currently looking in to the process by which Talk Talk collects data about websites visited on its network,” said the watchdog in a statement.

“We have requested further details about how data is used and will continue to monitor this service to ensure that it complies with the Data Protection Act.”

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Apple IOS 4.1 update ‘still susceptible to jailbreaking’

Hackers have identified a way of “jailbreaking” iPhones running Apple’s new IOS 4.1 operating system, just hours after the software update was released.

A team of hackers, known as pod2g, said they had found a possible exploit, which takes advantage of a loophole in devices running Apple’s IOS platform.

Other hackers said it would be difficult for Apple to plug the exploit, because the company would need to make significant changes to the underlying code of the operating system in order to resolve the problem, rather than simply patch the flaw.

Previous ‘jailbreaks’ – including JailbreakMe, which could be installed on an iPhone just by visiting Jailbreakme.com on the device – exploited software bugs within the platform, and were subsequently easily patched by Apple.

Dev-Team, a team of hackers responsible for writing much of the software used to jailbreak iPhones, said it was still working on a jailbreak for IOS 4.1, and advised users of jailbroken iPhones not to update to the newest software.

This time of year there are lots of new iPhone owners, and not everybody knows that accepting new IOS updates is the surest way to lose your jailbreak and/or unlock,” said the team in a blog post. “While those of you who have Cydia or TinyUmbrella backups of your FW hashes will always be able to get back to 4.0.1 if you make this mistake, this doesn’t hold for unlockers.”

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, has acknowledged that his company is involved in a “cat and mouse” game to try and keep hackers and jailbreakers at bay.

The IOS 4.1 update brings a variety of new features to the iPhone, including High Dynamic Resolution photography, a Game Centre social gaming service, Ping integration and high-definition video uploads.

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IFA 2010: Samsung launches Galaxy Tab iPad rival

Samsung has launched the long-awaited Galaxy Tab tablet computer. The device, officially called the GT-P1000, is powered by Google's Android 2.2 operating system and makes an explicit pitch for the market staked out by the Apple iPad.

Representing a new category of mobile products for Samsung, the Tab offers a 7in display, but, unlike the iPad, can also be used as a phone. Multitouch web browsing, including HTML5 and Adobe Flash, email, voice and video calling is joined by the Android Market for additional apps. Weighing 380g, the device is based on Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone and is designed to be used in one hand. It will launch in the UK in October, and will be available on the Vodafone network. Pricing details will be announced nearer to the launch date.

Samsung recognises the tremendous growth potential in this newly created market and we believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market,” said Simon Stanford, head of mobile for Samsung in the UK and Ireland.

Like the iPad, the Tab also includes an ebook reading application, call the “Readers Hub”. Powered by Kobo, PressDisplay, Zinio and others, Samsung claims more than 2 million books, over 2,500 magazines in 20 languages and more than 1,600 newspapers in 47 languages will be available at launch. A Social Hub also combines social networking information with contacts information.

Wifi, including DLNA, and 3G connectivity come as standard on the tab, which is powered by a Cortex A8 1.0GHz processor. A front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera is used for video calls, which can be made over 3G, and there is also a rear-facing three-megapixel camera. Samsung will also offer music and video stores for the full high-definition Tab.

The device also includes the new Swype input method, allowing users to drag their finger over each letter, rather than tapping each letter individually to input text. Some mobile operators will offer a second SIM card so customers can use the Tab and their mobile phone from a single account.

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