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Aug

5

2011

TouchWiz Update For Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Now Available For Download

by Joe Sirianni
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Well, as promised by Sammy, and just two days late, is the Galaxy Tab 10.1 TouchWiz OTA.  The update includes the following:
  • Live Panel: Magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, news, photo gallery, all on the home screen. The visual layout of Live Panel is completely customizable for one-touch entry into each user’s most important information.
  • Mini Mode Tray: One-touch access to commonly used applications—Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, Music—which overlay in a pop-up window on display screen for powerful multi-tasking.
  • Clipboard: Advanced copy & paste functionality allows Galaxy Tab 10.1 users to store photos, Web pages, YouTube links, etc., on the clipboard for easy sharing via email and social network sites.
  • Indicator Quick Panel: Quickly toggle on/off Wi-Fi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display.
  • Photo Editor: Rotate, crop and adjust colors on high quality digital images
Hit the break for the full press release which reveals a “butload” of extra features and UI tweaks.  If you’re the proud owner of a Galaxy Tab 10.1 please feel free to let us know what you think of the update in the comments below.  To our knowledge the update has not or is not currently rolling out to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O edition.  If we’re mistaken on this, please let us know.  To check for updates grab your device and head to Settings–> About Tablet–>Update.
From Samsung’s Press Release:

Samsung TouchWiz® User Interface:

The Samsung TouchWiz UX is specifically designed to work with Android™ Honeycomb 3.1 to optimize the large screen tablet user experience. The TouchWiz UX delivers superior multi-tasking and customization for an enhanced visual, fluid and intuitive mobile computing experience. TouchWiz UX features are scheduled to include:

  • Live Panel: Magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, news, photo gallery, all on the home screen. The visual layout of Live Panel is completely customizable for one-touch entry into each user’s most important information.
  • Mini Mode Tray: One-touch access to commonly used applications—Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, Music—which overlay in a pop-up window on display screen for powerful multi-tasking.
  • Clipboard: Advanced copy & paste functionality allows Galaxy Tab 10.1 users to store photos, Web pages, YouTube links, etc., on the clipboard for easy sharing via email and social network sites.
  • Indicator Quick Panel: Quickly toggle on/off Wi-Fi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display.
  • Photo Editor: Rotate, crop and adjust colors on high quality digital images

Samsung Media Hub:

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 software update will introduce the evolution of Samsung’s popular movie and next day TV content service, known as Media Hub. Media Hub has been redesigned with a new user interface and optimized video content for the 10.1” display for even easier downloads and higher quality viewing experience of rented or purchased content. Media Hub features thousands of new release and top-grossing titles from major Hollywood studios and leading television networks, including NBC Universal, Paramount, MTV, Warner Bros. , CBS and FOX. The new version also features Media Hub Show, which allows the user to playback Media Hub content on a TV through an HDMI cable from the Galaxy Tab 10.1 dock or adaptor. Users can register up to five devices under one account to access owned content across multiple devices without repurchase. Alternate premium video options include Android Movies, which is available to download from the Android Market.

Social Hub:

The software upgrade will also include Samsung’s Social Hub service, which aggregates email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar and social network connections into an integrated experience.

Apps Preloaded:

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 software update includes preloaded applications, scheduled to include:

  • Amazon Music Cloud Player: Upload your music in the cloud and access it from any device
  • Amazon Kindle: Get access to about a million Kindle books
  • Words with Friends: Face off against friends near and far with one of the most popular social games from Zynga

Enterprise Solutions and Services:

  • Full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14
  • On device encryption
  • Cisco VPN (Virtual Private Network)
  • Sybase MDM (Mobile Device Management)
  • Cisco WebEx mobile conference solution for meetings on the go

Samsung Kies 2.0:

Galaxy Tab 10.1 users will also gain greater file sharing capabilities through Samsung Kies 2.0 with support for both PC and Macs. Samsung Kies 2.0 includes the following user benefits:

  • Better device management: PIMS and multimedia data sync, firmware upgrades with file backup and wireless connectivity via WiFi and Bluetooth
  • Powerful multimedia support: Integrated library for storing mass data and complex content files
  • Faster performance: quick and seamless installation of Samsung Kies 2.0 delivers immediate access to file transfer process

Swype:

This enhanced, tablet-optimized typing application includes features such as ability to re-size the keyboard, move the virtual keyboard anywhere on the screen and of course, type faster by swyping.

Mobile Printing:

Print documents and pictures wirelessly from the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to any compatible printer.

» See more articles by Joe Sirianni

Categorized as Android Customization, Android Manufacturers, Android News, Android Software, Android Tablets, Android Updates

Comments

  • jcausey

    Liking the new Touchwiz so far.

    Good:
    - Search added to e-mail
    - Funky stretching of quoted text gone in e-mail
    - Lots of calendar app improvements!
    - Indicator Quick Panel very useful
    - Numbers at top to track which screen you are on
    - Screenshots!!!

    Mixed:
    - Interface look and feel, some I like, some I don’t like

    Bad:
    - New mail icon in tray looks just like the Google Mail new mail icon
    - Notification bubble on e-mail icon: too iOS
    - Mini Mode Tray, don’t use 5 of the 6 (only calendar, and I can get to that quicker using the icon on the homescreen), but may use Task Manager. Not found any way to edit these. Currently useless.

    Still testing things, but so far I’ll give it a thumbs up.

  • Andrew

    Huge Improvement! Most of my minor complaints have been resolved! :)

  • http://nealstout.smugmug.com Neal

    First Samsung update to the10.1.

    I like it.

    I like it a lot.

    I ran into a bunch of minor but positive refinements for the first few minutes of playing with it. Then I discovered the Task Manager. That is a real satsfaction to me. It has alway bugged me that when I went to see what was running, that it wasn’t just what was running, instead it was what was running as well as what had been running (not that it wasn’t running now, but as far as I was concerned, I was done with it and it shouldn’t be in memory). It bugged the ;(‘”,!77 out of me that I could not idenfify the apps I was through with and get them the blankety blank out of memory. Now with task manager I can. At least if I understand it, and it doesn’t seem particularly obscure, I can.

    Before installing, I moved my home page over one page in case this update was going to screw with it, which I assumed it was, I didn’t want to lose the hours and hous of satisfying work that I had put in setting it up “just perfect”. The Samsung programmers would have probably been heartily laghing at me had they seen me doing this, because their new updates do not mess with what you already had setup.

    In fact while I may not be jumping up and down over every single new feature, there is nothing, nothng at all I can find, that is negative about this update.

    The mail application has been improved. So what. It wasn’t the one I used anyway. But I will give this new one a shot.

    Pen memo is neat. ?;’():” it when will Samsung fill, their backorders, like for a pen and all that.

    OK, back to play.

    Oh my goodness. The updated email app will zoom the screen. My old favorite will not. I am 69 years old. That may be enough to switch me. (I am gmail in case that matters to anyone.)

    The sceeen dump is really nice. Really nice. Not that I am going to use it every day of the week, but it is really nice, and something you think is a basic function that the operating system owes you.

    No wait. It has a new keyboard, right? Now, since I can touch type on a 10.1 inch screen, that is one relearning process that I am going to explore with much fear and trepidation.

    Nice. This is a nice update that does not impose on anything you have already done (meaning jump in folks). It is a big satisfaction. Now to get back to moving my “home page” back to where it belongs.

    By the way, here at my office, (the Corner Pocket Bar and Grill) , I got a chance to see a 3D EVO I think it was. 3D images and movies. Wow. Not the pure gimickry that I thought it would be. Now let’s see – I can upgrade my contract in Jan. Boy that seems like a long time away.

    This is a very satisfying operatng system. This is a very satisfying machine.

  • Mile stone

    Do you have date for update for google io edition?

  • Anu

    Do you have date for update for google io edition?
    Why did Samsung leave these 5000+ tabs?

  • Anu

    And yes, not yet available for Google IO Editions. No idea why would Samsung not respond to any queries regarding this?

  • Demingjr

    When will the update be ready for the Google I/O Edition of the Galaxy Tab?

    Thanks.

  • RAY

    My google IO bricked a couple of days ago and after 3 hrs of web searching found the following website.
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1167250

    I downloaded all the files and used ODIN to unbrick and flashed the tab and installed the latest version for 10.1 which has the touchwiz in it.
    Tablet is back to life with the touchwiz ui.
    Happy camper again.