Samsung has officially announced two additions to its family of Galaxy Tabs: the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 8.9. The WiFi version of the 10.1 will arrive on June 8, 2011 in 16GB ($500) and 32GB ($600) flavors while the 8.9 will also be available in 16GB ($470) and 32GB ($570) versions. They join the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab, which has already been quite a success for the company.
The hardware giant is touting the duo as the world's thinnest mobile tablets, at just 8.6 millimeters thick. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs 595 grams while the Galaxy Tab 8.9 weighs 470 grams. Both support HSPA+ network speeds of up to 21Mbps, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity. They also feature a 3 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera, providing seamless 1080p HD video. The two devices are powered by a 1GHz dual core application processor, but for more detailed specs check out the following images:
What the specs don't mention is that the two devices are preloaded with Readers Hub and Music Hub giving consumers instant access to more than 2.2 million books, 2,000 newspaper (49 languages), 2,300 magazines (22 languages), and 13 million songs. The devices are also designed with Samsung's Social Hub, which will aggregate email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar, and social network connections into a single interface.
Both devices feature Samsung's own TouchWiz user interface, which sits on top of Android 3.0 (codenamed Honeycomb). A Live Panel menu allows users to customize a variety of content on the home screen including digital pictures, favorite websites, and social network feeds. There's also a Mini Apps Tray for commonly used features such as task manager, calendar, and music player which can be launched while other major applications are also in use, including large file downloads and document editing.
"The Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are remarkable examples of Samsung's constant innovation and show our dedication to designing premium tablets that fit the unique needs of consumers around the world," JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business, said in a statement. "By combining Samsung's innovations in design and display with our exciting new user experience, we've created a new class of products that will lead the tablet market."