Samsung offers free Galaxy Tab to select enterprises, after RIM hands out free PlayBook


Samsung Mobile is joining the league of Research In
Motion (RIM) by offering a complimentary Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 to attendees of
m3 Mobility Exchange, a three day networking and business information exchange
event in San Diego, CA.

 

m3 is an invitation-only event for C-level mobile
decision makers of Fortune 1000 companies to focus on three key vertical
segments within the mobile landscape: health, finance and retail. Samsung and
AT&T are the exclusive device and carrier sponsors.

 

Event attendees will also be getting 30 days of LTE
service provided exclusively by AT&T, along with a collection of pre-loaded
enterprise applications, including ProntoForms, Box.net, Quickoffice Pro and
Pyxis Mobile.

 

Samsung will offer the free Galaxy Tab 8.9 along with
enterprise solutions and services such as support for Exchange ActiveSync
version 14, on device encryption, Cisco VPN, mobile device management and
Cisco WebEx mobile conference solution.

 

In 2012, we plan to aggressively expand the SAFE
umbrella to include a wider range of enterprise solutions across many more
Samsung devices in addition to the Galaxy S II smartphones and Galaxy Tab
tablet line. Our proactive approach to meeting the current and future needs our
of enterprise customers with initiatives like SAFE makes Samsung Mobile
the ideal partner for mobile solutions,” said Tim Wagner,
vice president and general manager of Enterprise Sales for Samsung Mobile, in a
press release announcing
its association with the event.


Recently,
RIM offered a free PlayBook to buyers of the new version of its BlackBerry
Enterprise Server software. It’s the latest move by RIM in its attempt to get
its troubled tablet into the hands of users.


The latest offer is
aimed at business users, and sees RIM throwing in a free 16GB PlayBook for
anyone that upgrades to RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) v5 between now
and the end of December. BES is mobile management server software designed to
increase mobile worker productivity and reduce the burden on help desks.


The move is the latest
in a string of offers and incentives from the Canadian maker of the beleaguered
tablet to try to get it off the store shelves and into houses and offices,
according to a report in Digital Trends.


Recently, Best Buy
slashed the price of the PlayBook to $199 from $399 for the holiday season,
while late last month RIM began running a buy-two-get-one-free campaign for
business users.


In September, RIM
started offering the tablet to employees of Canadian cell phone carrier and
long-time business partner Rogers with a discount of 50 percent.


Competition is growing
in the tablet space and we expect more correction in prices soon.


By Baburajan K
[email protected]