After months of teasers and speculations, Samsung unveiled two new versions of its Galaxy Tab line of tablets at attractive pricings at CTIA. The two versions differ from each other in size one has an 8.9-inch, while the other has a 10.1-inch screen. These have a dramatically different design from what Samsung had shown off at MWC in February this year.
Of these, the 8.9-inch version is what Apple needs to watch out for. The new Galaxy Tab 8.9 outdoes the iPad 2 in almost every aspect. As the name suggests, this tablet has an 8.9-inch screen with a resolution of 1200x800, thus a good upgrade over the first Galaxy Tab with a 7-inch screen. At just 8.6 mm, this is the thinnest tablet in the market today and it weighs just 470 g. Powered by a 1GHz dual core processor, this tablet runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb with Samsung s TouchWiz UX or TouchWiz 4.0 layer. It comes with Flash 10.2 support and comes pre-loaded with Samsung s Readers Hub and Music Hub, allowing users to access millions of books, magazines, songs, etc. Storage capacities available are 16GB and 32GB, but a 64GB may be available in the future. Unlike the mono speaker on the iPad 2, this comes with stereo speakers and features Full HD video playback capability. Video chat option is available, thanks to the 2MP front facing camera and a 5MP rear camera with flash can be used for taking quick snaps on the go or even record 720p HD video. Connectivity is available in the form of 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB 2.0. Samsung has put in a 6800 mAh battery to ensure a 10 hour usage time.
The 10.1-inch version shares the same screen resolution, thus a lower pixel density. It will be just as thin as the 8.9-inch version, but will weigh a bit more at 595 g. Samsung has also included enterprise solutions in these tablets such as Business Objects Explorer, Exchange ActiveSync, SYBASE Afaria, On Device Encryption and CISCO AnyConnect [SSL VPN support].
Everything looks good with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 but if Samsung could reduce the announced price from US$ 469 for 16GB and US$ 569 for 32GB, then it is going to give a really hard time for the iPad 2, which still has the popular App Store to its advantage. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been priced at US$ 499 for 16GB and US$ 599 for 32GB. Samsung had released the Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet last year at US$ 599, which basically killed off sales. While the Galaxy Tab 8.9 will be available sometime in May this year, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is slated to hit the shelves on June 8.
No comments:
Post a Comment