Consumer electronics giant Samsung has Apple?s iPad squarely in its sights with its Android-based Galaxy Tab that will be on the top four carriers in the United States and?gasp?will support Adobe Flash.

Powered by Android 2.2 and with full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1, the Galaxy Tab includes Samsung?s Social Hub application and the new Media Hub content service, offering a collection of premium movies and TV episodes from various entertainment companies. So how appealing will this tablet be for brand advertisers and their agencies?

?Greystripe?s brand advertisers have loved the huge visual pallet in our iPad ad network and they will surely like it on the Galaxy Tab,? said Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe, San Francisco. ?We are excited to be supporting both mobile Web and native apps in Android tablets in our ad network.

?By having a large screen in the palm of the users? hands, brands are able to convey much more immersive brand messages, versus online,? he said. ?The Galaxy Tab is a great start for Android tablets, which are going to revolutionize mobile computing.?

Samsung announced that the Galaxy Tab would be on retailer shelves in the U.S. in time for the holiday season, and it will be on many consumers' wish-list.

Mr. Chang believes that the Galaxy Tab has a real chance at competing with the iPad. And a lot of that has to do with courting the developer community.

?Samsung is the first company to put muscle behind a single line of products, Galaxy Tab and S, to get the developer community excited,? Mr. Chang said. ?They have pushed it cross-carrier, which will make the audience attractive for developers of apps and mobile Web sites to optimize for the platform.

?Flash support will be a huge positive for developers who are grappling with native app fragmentation across multiple operating systems,? he said. ?Developers will be able to create very compelling mobile Web apps with Flash.?

Flash vs. HTML5
Apple made a direct attack on Adobe when it nestled a controversial passage into its iOS software developer?s kit that effectively bans any Adobe Flash application from the company?s flagship devices (see story).

Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously penned an open letter on why he thinks Adobe's Flash is not cut out for Apple's mobile products (see story).

Adobe has to be excited that it will finally have a tablet device that supports its Flash technology, and a cross-carrier one at that.

The Flash-compatible Galaxy Tab also opens up opportunities for cross-channel ad campaigns that use the same creative across PCs and mobile Web.

?All of the tablets that will be coming out over the next six-to-12 months are going to be great opportunities for brand advertisers,? said Marcus Startzel, senior vice president of sales at Millennial Media, Baltimore. ?Some of the early things we?ve seen on the iPad, video and other immersive brand experiences, are very compelling for brand advertisers.

?A lot of agencies have Flash development expertise, so the fact that the Galaxy Tab will support Flash means that agencies can translate online creative executions into mobile executions quickly and pretty easily from a technology standpoint,? he said. ?We?re probably 12 to 18 months away from the tablet being a true reach vehicle for advertisers, but I think there are certainly a lot of sales and noise and hot rumors about HP coming out based on Palm?s WebOS, and other players introducing tablets.

?Android has been selling many more devices because of its distribution?it?s on all four carriers, and Samsung is a trusted manufacturer, so the Galaxy Tab should be a pretty compelling device.?

Application developers, publishers and advertisers alike have embraced the iPad.

For example, Marriot has run ads within Slate?s iPad application (see story).

Other industry executives seconded the notion that the Galaxy Tab and other Android-based tablets would be able to compete effectively against the iPad, especially due to its multi-carrier distribution.

?The Samsung Galaxy Tab?s prospects for competing with the iPad are promising,? said Boris Fridman, founder/CEO Crisp Wireless, New York. ?From what I have seen it is an excellent device that is capitalizing on the momentum of Android, which continues to win market share against Apple iOS devices.

?While a particular Android tablet may bomb, and many will, in general Android tablets in sheer numbers sold will outpace iPad within next 18 months as more manufacturers release Android-based tablets,? he said. ?It?s not a question of if, but when.?

However, many rich media mobile advertising providers?including Crisp and Medialets?have already embraced HTML5 as the emerging standard.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is appealing to advertisers for other reasons than availability of Flash, per Crisp.

?It is appealing because Galaxy Tab expands the audience of tablet users?a larger audience begets more advertising,? Mr. Fridman said.

?Because HTML5, not Flash, is the common denominator between iPad and Android tablets, it is HTML5 that will emerge as the standard for rendering ads across tablets and smartphones,? he said.

?With increased fragmentation, agencies are looking for cross-platform advertising solutions that can support creation, delivery, and measurement of ads across the mobile Web, desktop Web and in-app.?

We have entered an era where consumers have a spectrum of computers and devices that meet different needs at different times.

The iPad is an emblem of that shift, but it certainly will not be the only tablet out there.

With its smartphone suscribers growing quickly, Android has the potential to attract a meaningful tablet audience.

Once that audience is there, advertisers will start factoring the Galaxy Tab and other Android-based tablets into their overall marketing mix.

?Tablets are deeply compelling to brands, particularly those who have caught on to the engagement rates that rich media delivers on smaller devices," said Elena Perez, director of marketing at Medialets, New York.

?Their success and/or popularity with brands doesn't necessarily hinge on Flash, however,? she said. ?HTML5 has already proven it can support rich creative that generates deep interactions with consumers.

?Instead, with the growth of Android tablets and tablets-in-general, brands will be looking for opportunities to advertise with the premium publishers they buy from on other formats, as well as efficient ways to integrate tablets into broader mobile campaigns and the overall marketing mix.?

Larger screen, bigger canvas
Dave Gwozdz, CEO of Mojiva, New York, said he definitely thinks that the tablet category in general is going to be huge.

?Advertisers are looking forward to the rich media execution of these tablets?the larger screen is getting brands excited,? he said.

Samsung first announced the Android-based Galaxy S smartphone at CTIA in the spring, and the Galaxy Tab preserves that same aesthetic. It will also connect to Android Market.

This is all part of a larger trend: Google?s Android operating system is growing at lightning speed and is gaining ground on the iPhone when it comes to the ?sexy factor.? Brands are starting to take notice (see story).

?We see the Galaxy Tab as a very solid device?it has a similar look-and-feel to Android-based smartphones, and it will be highly competitive,? said James Lamberti, vice president of global research and marketing at InMobi, San Francisco. ?The advantages it has are Samsung?s global distribution system and the four carriers, which will help with sales via their channel partners.

?Also, Android is an open platform, which has better potential for global scale and appeals to developers,? he said. ?The negative is that it is running up against Apple?s marketing machine, which is arguably one of the best in the world?Apple is an amazing marketer.

?Android OS is not as mature as iOS, and we see the Galaxy Pad as a solid No. 2 competitor to the iPad in developed markets, with the potential to be No. 1 in developing markets.?

But will it be No. 1 in the hearts and minds of brand advertisers?

Only time will tell, but the multi-carrier distribution and the appeal of Android all signal that Samsung has made a big step in the right direction.

The Korean device manufacturer might even be making Apple a bit nervous.

?We think the Galaxy Pad will be very appealing to advertisers, in the same way that Android smartphones are,? Mr. Lamberti said. ?It?s a matter of more inventory getting created, but the device itself has a lot of appeal.

?[With support for both Flash and HTML5] increasingly ad networks like ours will take away the notion that you don?t have to worry about the technology,? he said.

?This continues to illustrate how mobile is going to fragment into all screens and become the back-end technology that fuels digital marketing.?

Here are pictures from Samsung's Galaxy Tab launch event at the Time-Warner Center in New York:

Final Take