Samsung and Verizon Wireless will begin selling the first Long Term Evolution 4G tablet 
on Thursday. The Galaxy Tab, first introduced in November, is now equipped for 4G download speeds of five to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of two to five Mbps in 4G broadband areas.
Verizon also announced an LTE netbook, Hewlett-Packard Pavilion's dm1-3010nr Entertainment PC , will go on sale the same day.
First LTE Tablet on Market
Powered by Android 3.1, Honeycomb, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is 8.6 millimeters thick, weighs 1.25 pounds, and will be available in metallic gray or glossy white at Verizon Wireless stores and online.
It uses Adobe Flash 10.3, sports a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core one-gigahertz application processor, a 10.1-inch HD touchscreen display with WXGA 1280x800 resolution, and a three-megapixel rear-facing camera and a two-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.
The Tab 10.1 beats the market leader, Apple's iPad , to the 4G party. That may give the tablet an advantage since faster speeds enhance experiences such as downloading and watching movies. But it won't cut significantly into iPad sales, said consumer devices analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis.
"The vast majority of iPads sold do not have cellular connectivity, and it is unlikely that a competitor with faster cellular connectivity will change that dynamic much," said Greengart. "It is also important to note that Verizon Wireless is not selling the Tab with an unlimited data plan, so if you're going to use it to watch videos, you're going to hit your data limit very quickly."
Verizon this month ended unlimited broadband data plans on all new contracts, with the cheapest rate of $30 now covering limited data per month.
"Streaming Netflix over LTE is not a use case for this product," Greengart said.
Jeff Orr of ABI Research noted that Motorola's Xoom, announced in January, was the first LTE tablet, but it still hasn't made it to market.
Check the Map
"It looks like Samsung has beaten others to market with commercial LTE availability on a media tablet," he said. But he cautioned that consumers should beware of "higher monthly service prices and limited availability. Those considering an LTE-enabled device should first verify that coverage is available where they want to use the service."
With an expansion announced July 21, Verizon's LTE footprint now covers 102 markets in the U.S.
The Galaxy Tab will cost $529.99 for the 16GB model and $629.99 for the 32GB model with a two-year data contract. The 16GB Wi-Fi-only version is $499 and available only in metallic grey.
As a promotion, Verizon is giving early adopters a $25 media hub credit from Samsung, to be redeemed for TV program purchases.
HP's Pavilion netbook runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and has an 11.6-inch high-definition HP BrightView LED display, a 1.60-GHz AMD E-350 dual-core processor, and a 320GB hard drive with two gigabytes of DDR3 RAM. It weighs 3.52 pounds. It's available online from Verizon for $599.99, and customers must choose between a $50 monthly mobile broadband access plan for 5GB or $80 for 10GB.
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