Not necessarily true. If we're talking about a WCDMA/UMTS/HSPA device, then those standards natively support the ability to make an receive circuit switched carrier phone calls. So, THAT hardware supports phone calling. If you get a device like that and you can't make phone calls right out of the box, it won't be because the hardware doesn't support it; more than likely it will be because of something else like the carrier doesn't WANT you to have a single device that does everything for you. The carrier would rather you have TWO separate devices (tablet AND phone) with TWO separate paid subscriptions, one for each. That makes THEM more money, and as such, it seems infinitely more likely that a carrier would block the calling ability of a tablet at the software level. Kinda like how they've done with the Galaxy Tab.
Then, of course you'll get folks like me who say "F*** you!" to the carrier and take their GSM Galaxy Tab (or other crippled/locked-down device) and re-enable all the functions and features the device is actually capable of doing by OEM design. As we all well know, the hardware of the GSM Galaxy Tab is quite easily capable of making and receiving phone calls. I have a sneaky suspicion that the CDMA variation is capable of that too; it's much cheaper to take a SoC already capable of making/receiving phone calls, and implementing a few lines of code to disable that functionality, than it is to design and manufacture a whole new chip sans calling ability.
