Looks like another test for apple.  People still clamor for the phone. Read it is changing the way we live and will continue to do so.  Amazing how apple just stsrted this craze with a pretty simple idea and device.

Samsung's unreleased iPad rival spotted on Sydney train

As Samsung prepares to release its rival to the iPad, the Samsung Galaxy tablet, its attempts to keep a lid on it were foiled this week after an Australian technology journalist filmed it being used on a Sydney train.
"It was quite a find," Sanjiv Sathiah, a journalist with Electronista.com, said in a telephone interview.
"I was standing in my usual spot at [Central Station] and I thought 'What the hell is that?'
"And then I noticed, 'That's got an LCD screen - that's not an [Amazon] Kindle or an e-reader - that's a tablet!'"
Sathiah began filming the man carrying it when they entered the train at Central and sat down.
In the video, filmed on Monday about 8am and shot on an iPhone 4, Sathiah asks the man, who is not indentified, a number of questions.
Asked whether he had used Apple's iPad before and if the Samsung tablet was better, the man said that he had used the iPad and that the Samsung tablet was "very different" to it.
He also said the tablet was "awesome" and that it ran Google's Android operating system.
Off camera, Sathiah said the man denied he worked for Samsung, suggesting he was an Australian telco worker, for a company such as Telstra or Optus, and was testing the device to see how it worked on the company's mobile network.
Sathiah said the man was perhaps "looking to see what the reception was like under the tunnels".
Sathiah said the man was heading towards North Sydney. He said he could clearly see "Samsung" displayed across the top of the tablet.
Today, Samsung released a sneak peak video of the device on its website.
Technical specifications are scarce, but the official video reveals that the device will feature a 7-inch multitouch screen and will use Google's Android 2.2 operating system. This is the latest Android variant and the first to include official support for Adobe Flash, something the iPad does not support.
The video also says the tablet will be capable of video calling, which Apple's iPad also cannot do.
The tablet would be officially revealed on September 2, it said.
Telco Vodafone/3 posted, and then retracted shortly after, a blog pointing to the video. A spokesperson for the company said it had told its social media team to remove the post as the product had not yet been released.
"The guys at Electronista spotted the Samsung Galaxy Tab in action in Sydney," the Vodafone/3 post said.
"They briefly asked a few questions to the owner to confirm the specifications of this Android tablet device from Samsung.
"Check out the video."
Link here:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-li ... 20100825-13r4i.html

very interesting atomic. i got my iPad last night, and got my 3 year old son to sit down with me to watch Thomas the Train. when we got to the website, it ran off Flash, so my son was disappointed.

a small tablet that looks nice and runs Flash might be just what Apple needs to shape up.

Yeah we all wish, but Jobs won't give in. Flash is just too much of a resource hog.

You can jailbreak your iPad to run flash, the same flash component from the Android OS. Have tried it but a little unstable as it's still in the beta phase.

If you want to jail break the iPad, do not install the latest security update from iTunes. A new jailbreak has not yet been written to counter the latest update.

Apple 'traitorware' can take your photo and shut down your jailbroken iPhone, iPad
        •        Software locates, snaps user
        •        Apple can shut down iPhone, iPad
        •        EFF calls it "traitorware"
APPLE has been accused of creating "traitorware" for trying to patent security software that tracks down people who jailbreak their iPhones and iPads and locks them out of their devices.
Jailbreaking allows users to access software and features for their devices that have not been sanctioned by Apple.
The process was declared legitimate by a US court earlier this month, but Apple said any such interference in their device will void its warranty.
Apple's patent, which went before the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this week, is for "systems and methods for identifying unauthorised users of an electronic device".
Using the software, Apple can remotely access your sensitive information and data, ostensibly to determine if you are an “authorised user”.
Among the information they can access, the system can take a flashless, undetectable photo of the users' face (with the iPhone 4's front-facing camera) and multiple photos of the surrounding location.
It can also record the users' voice regardless of whether they are making a phone call, monitor their internet usage and record the heartbeat and “vibration signature” of the user.
According to the patent application, if these identifiers do not match the "authorised" user, the system then determines if there is "suspicious behaviour".
Suspicious behaviour, says the application "comprises one or more of hacking the electronic device, jailbreaking the electronic device, unlocking the electronic device, removing a SIM card from the electronic device, and moving at least a predetermined distance away from a synced device".
If Apple decides that all this adds up to unauthorised use they will remotely lock or shut down the offending iPhone or iPad, making it unusable.
It's been labelled by watchdog organisations as dangerous spyware. They even invented a new word for it – “traitorware”.
US civil liberties group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has called the patent "downright creepy and invasive" and overkill for technology that is to track down a lost or stolen phone - something already possible with the "Mobile Me" app.
"This patented process could be used to retaliate against you if you jailbreak or tinker with your device in ways that Apple views as 'unauthorised' even if it is perfectly legal," it said.
There are obvious financial incentives for Apple putting an end to the legal process and the Electronic Frontier Foundation believe this could be the greater motive behind the software.
“This patent application does nothing short of providing a roadmap for how Apple can - and presumably will - spy on its customers and control the way its customers use Apple products.”
Electronic Frontiers Australia shares their concerns.
“There are huge privacy implications.” Colin Jacobs, chair of EFA told news.com.au
“It raises the risk of what happens if someone gains unauthorised access to the information… if this information is stored then it's pretty clear that someone will come looking for it.”
Link here:
http://www.news.com.au/technolog ... rfro0-1225909901032

Wow, did not know Apple is turning that nasty. Very much like Microsoft some 5~10years ago but even nastier.

downright nasty, apple is becoming... microsoft was anti-competition but never intruded into people's lives (unlike Google). apple should learn where to draw the line. their products are great, but people have limited patience as well with all their shortcoming, if they keep acting so arrogantly

Patenting something like this and actually using it are two different things. As things stand I don't believe they would be able to implement the traitorware in the U.S. without running into "Bill of rights issues", not to mention the PR disaster possibilities.

Said it before--getting close to the book "1984" by George Orwell.  Funny thong is that we are doing it to ourselves.  Now that it is known that the iPhone4 can do this, why would anyone want one.  Yet people continue to buy and buy.  Soon the fromeoest of companies, apple of all things, becomes the evil eye watching all of us.

guys be careful not to smuggle new iphone or ipad to Shenzhen now because the customer will check and tax you $1000 if you carry new iphone or ipad.

why would they charge you if it's real?

This is not the case. I've been to China maybe 6 times with my iPad and never been charged any tax. Where do you get this ridiculous notion from? If it's a new iPhone or iPad certainly, you can remove to packing and customs will not charge you anything even if they do a spot check because it's part of your persona effects.

harold, any factual basis for this?

Was looking at the new HTC phone the other day and it looks just like the iPhone. Very tempted to get one but am concerned about its inability to sync with a Mac OS computer. Anyone have one?

I saw this news in all newspaper in HK - they said SZ customs will tax any new iphone/ipad. the meaning of new in here i think it means all used one with the box that is not opened yet.

Here's something for all those looking for an alternative.

Top five iPad rivals
A crowd of so-called iPad killers staged their grand debut at the IFA consumer electronics show this week in Germany, hoping to mimic the success of Apple, which at last count had sold more than 3 million of its popular tablets since launching in April.
Looking to fill the gap between smartphone and netbook, hardware makers have sweetened their tablets with a diverse selection of features and form factors, and here is our pick of five of the more promising devices expected to hit the streets this year.

Samsung Galaxy Tab

The company that brought us the stunning Samsung Galaxy S smart phone has turned its hand to tablets with a 7-inch device based on version 2.2 of Google's Android operating system. The device, which also works as a phone, will only be available through carriers and weighs in somewhat smaller and lighter than the iPad.
It also sports Flash 10.1 for watching Flash videos, and is available with 16GB or 32GB of memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel forward facing camera. It also features an accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS and will have access to the Android Market of apps.

Toshiba Folio/Libretto
W100
Another tablet from the Android 2.2 camp is due to hit the market sometime soon - this time from Toshiba. Available in Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus 3G, its 10.1 inch screen makes it a smidgen larger than the iPad.
It is powered by the next-gen Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset, has 16GB memory, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 2 USB slots, an SD card slot, stereo speakers and an HDMI connector for hooking up to a TV.
Local pricing and availability are yet to be announced, but the company has recently released a dual screen high-end tablet/e-reader device called the Libretto W100. As the first tablet to be built on the Windows 7 operating system, it boasts two touch screens and a reversible keyboard so it can switch from clam-style notebook into e-book reader and is selling for $1599 in Australia.
It has an Intel U5400 processor, 2GB of RAM processor, a USB port, and is wireless-enabled with a built-in webcam and integrated Bluetooth. Although it weighs less than a kilo, the extra functionality results in a thicker device than the iPad.

Dell Streak

The Streak is a fairly small and thin small tablet (or large phone) that sports a 5 inch screen. It has a 1 GHz processor, a 16GB microSD memory card and 5-megapixel digital camera on its back with a flash.
However the Streak is hobbled by version 1.6 of Android – which is an older version of the operating software that is missing some of more popular Android features of the current version 2.2. It also lacks Adobe's Flash Player 10.1.
ViewSonic ViewPad 100
Another iPad-sized device set to hit the market sometime soon is the 10-inch ViewSonic ViewPad which features 1GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 16GB SSD which can be extended with a 32GB micro SD.
Running on an Intel Atom N455, one of its key differentiators is that it comes loaded with both Windows 7 and Android (albeit the older Android 1.6).
The device also has two USB ports, a mini-VGA output for hooking up to a screen and is due out later this year.

BlackBerry
'BlackPad'
With nothing but rumours swirling around the actual existence of the BlackBerry tablet, speculation has so far centred on the possibility that device will be designed to be tethered to a BlackBerry handset, with only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. No shipping or pricing details released as yet.
Link here:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-li ... 20100908-150qf.html

[ Last edited by  atomic3d at 8-9-2010 14:25 ]

Ipad is pretty good, Ive been using it and its just as good as a laptop except that it doesn't have flash but other than that its just so handy to bring around.

Yup. Many people are talking about Samsung Galaxy Tab now and they all have very good feedback - lighter, can use flash, 2 cams and you can make phone call too. but i think one thing that has not solved is the apps - Apple's apps are much much more than Android. besides the price range i have seen about Samsung Galaxy Tab is so big - from HK$7000 - HK$3000. so not really sure how much does it really cost.