Samsung strikes back

At the Mobile World Congress in February of this year, Samsung announced its Galaxy Tab 10.1, which looked like it was designed to beat the Motorola Xoom. When the new ultra thin Apple iPad 2 was launched it look like the Android tablets were doomed to continue in obscurity. But it looks like Samsung will not be stopped. It is amazing what the engineers at Samsung can do in three weeks and a trip back to the drawing board.    

At CTIA Wireless 2011, Samsung announced two new tablets, The 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 we saw at the Mobile World Congress has been slimmed down. It now measures 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 used to be 10.9mm thick. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs in at just 595g with a 6800mAh battery. This makes it thinner and lighter than the Apple iPad 2.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 also has a smaller sibling, the Galaxy Tab 8.9. It has a 8.9" screen and measures 230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6mm. It weighs at just 470g with a 6000mAh battery. The rest of the features are very much like the ones on its bigger brother, 800 x 1280 resolution screen, dual core processors and Android 3.0.

The hardware is iPad 2 grade. It is now a question of the price. And the price, is match Apple's iPad pricing. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 starts at US$499. The smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9 starts at US$469. Will this be good enough? In any case prepare for a battle royale, again Samsung provides a legitimate iPad contender. Samsung has really arrived. 

Posted in: Tablets