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There was the Cash Cab, the Quiz Taxi and—for a few days in June—the Tab Cab, a Samsung marketing stunt to acquaint New Yorkers and Big Apple visitors with its newest tablet, the Galaxy Tab S.
Once passengers had settled themselves in the backseat, a woman popped her face through the small window to the front seat, pulled back curtains (an odd taxi accessory) and revealed four tablets installed on what’s usually protective plastic.
“These are four completely differently screens,” she tells the passengers, in a video compilation. “Go ahead and tell me which is love at first tablet.”
Most people—17 out of 20—after a moment’s consideration chose the Galaxy Tab S. (Samsung didn’t say what the other three tablets were, or which others were chosen.) Why? Repeatedly, passengers cited the display’s “clarity” and how “fake” it looked.
“It looks so real that it’s fake,” one man clarified.
The front-seat rep explained that this is thanks to AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) technology. “You know AMOLED,” she insisted, making the joke that of course they don’t. Though, of course, many do—it’s the technology used on the displays of smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5.
With the Tab S, Samsung made the shift from LED to Super AMOLED, which makes “the blues bluer and the blacks blacker” and the richer colors altogether more impactful, as members of the Samsung team explained to eWEEK ahead of the tablet’s June 12 introduction.
In an obstetrician’s office, for example, more distinct contrasts and truer shades of black could offer new parents a better view of a sonogram. Or, when ordering a dress from a retail site, truer colors could help eliminate any surprises in the shade of a selected dress when it arrives.
In the Tab Cab, it was explained that the Tab S has “20 percent more colors than an LCD screen.”
The focus then shifts to the Tab S’ other clear bragging point: its size.
“That’s thinner than my phone,” says one man. “Light, super light!” says another.
The front-seat promoter finally asks, “Is your mind being blown?” which at least one passenger, staring intently at the tablet, confirms.
While not highlighted in the taxi, Samsung also made the Tab S its most secure tablet yet, with Knox software, Samsung Approved for the Enterprise (SAFE) certification, virtual private network (VPN) support, AES 256-bit encryption and a fingerprint reader.
It also boasts a Side Sync feature that makes it incredibly easy (and cool) to move content between the tablet and a Samsung phone; Slacker-powered Milk Music; gorgeously displayed content from new Samsung partner Conde Nast; and a Kids Mode.
With the Tab S, Michael Abary, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics America, said at the tablet’s introduction, Samsung is “putting its flag in the ground.”
Even ground slowly headed downtown.