This 16GB tablet is running with Android 2.2 Froyo and is expected to be upgraded to Android 3.0 Gingerbread later.  This 380g lightweight machine is equipped with a real phone function, that means you can insert a SIM card without being unreachable like the problem iPad created.

Unfortunately the price is a bit steep – €671.43 is not attractive to us when we can buy iPad with 3G here at €488.7.  Perhaps we’ll wait until a price drop.

Step 1) Get Odin.  In this case we are using Odin3 v1.00.

Step 2) Get the ROM and PIT file at http://samsung-firmware.webs.com/samsungi9000.htm . Do note that i9000 and i9008 are different models.

Step 3) Run Odin, select the corresponding PDA and PIT files.

Step 4) Turn off your phone.  After ten seconds, turn on the phone while the VOLUME DOWN and HOME button are pressed.  You should see “Downloading" in bright yellow in your phone.

Step 5) Connect your phone to Odin, and in Odin you should be seeing the first space ID:COM filled with yellow (not sure if Kies must be installed).  Press Start to flash the ROM.

Step 6) Done.  If you flashed something else with Odin before, you might be asked to wipe your machine in your phone screen.  If you see the screen, chances are you have to wipe the data, otherwise you will get stuck in the startup screen and need to start from Step 3 again.

We took these pics at around the official launch time.  The offiical reseller, “DG Lifestyle Store” was on the second floor of IFC Mall.  The queue started inside the mall, just outside the door, then through the male toilet next to the store on the 2/F floor, and the photo just showed the pilgrimage outside the entrance on the 1/F floor, and the queue was already extended to outside of the Exchange Square.

To our estimation there was more than 300 people waiting – with half of them having an Apple product in their hands, which we believe is some kind of ritual to beseech the Steve Jobs the patriarch.

Price list of Apple iPad in Hong Kong for your reference:

Our recommendation?  There’s no need to buy an iPad if you’re travelling to Hong Kong, all you can save is the GST/VAT and nothing else.

We feel obligated to remind you to backup essential information before any attempt of modifying the phone system.

Also, before rooting, make sure you know your machine is a X10i or X10a, there are slightly different procedures.

Read more on threads of XDA-Developer forum here:

• [Tutorial] Rooting the X10 and removing apps
• [GUIDE] Root your X10 R2BA023 !

Hopefully we will receive the phone before iPhone 4 release in Hong Kong.

Basic stats:

Connectivity: UMTS+GSM(850/900/1800/1900MHz)
Dimensions: 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm
Weight: 119g
Talk Time: 13 hours(2G), 6.5 hours(3G)
Standby: 750 hours(2G), 600 hours(3G)

Screen: 4.0 inches, 16.7million color WVGA “Super AMOLED” touchscreen, 480×800 resolution

Photo: 5MP
Video: 1280×720, 30fps
Earphone jack: 3.5mm
Wi-fi: 802.11 b/g/n

OS: Android 2.1
CPU: 1GHz Cortex A8 (Not 100% sure)
Internal Memory: 8G/16G (with micro-SD slot)
Bluetooth: V3.0 +HS (A2DP / AVRCP)
Radio: Yes, FM