A report by Boy Genius this morning says that the Samsung Galaxy Tab would be priced at a believable $399 contract and $599 on Sprint (S) as a stand-alone purchase. No information was available about the terms of the contract but I expect it to be similar to AT&T’s (T) iPad plan.  At a savings of $200 over the two-year contract, it would likely be an inexpensive contract, much like the iPad’s on AT&T.

I don’t think of the Tab as a direct competitor to the iPad because its smaller size makes it more of a hand-held device, rather than a lap/lean back experience that the iPad is optimized for.  But comparisons will be made.

Other differences include the Tab’s front and rear cameras and the significant differences in the Android/iOS operating systems.  Android will also play Flash and Adobe Air.

The Galaxy Tab will be carried on all four U.S. networks so there could be some variance in pricing with plans, though a $599 standalone price would likely be fixed.

I’ve embedded a video of the Tab in action below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAbsmHMAhrQ&w=600&h=375]

You may want to mute the soundtrack.