Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab 2, Ice Cream Sandwich and all
Tablet will launch in the U.K. first but will be available across the globe in March, according to Samsung.
Samsung has announced the follow-up to its 7-inch Galaxy Tab.
Dubbed the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), the 7-inch tablet sports Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and a 1GHz dual-core processor. The Galaxy Tab 2 will come with both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.
On the software side, Samsung's upcoming tablet will ship with its Hub services, including Music Hub to access over 17 million tracks, and Readers Hub for acquiring e-books. The offering will also come with Video Hub, which Samsung says, will allow people to rent or buy over 1,000 films.
The Galaxy Tab 2 will also become the first mobile device from Samsung to ship with its AllShare Play service. AllShare Play allows users to stream multimedia content to the tablet from their PCs, Samsung smartphones, or third-party cloud drives. The service also supports device-to-device and device-to-cloud transfers.
Nearly every smartphone and tablet that Samsung has launched over the past two years has been cited in an Apple lawsuit claiming the devices violate patents the iPhone maker holds. Samsung has responded with similar claims against Apple. So far, neither side has been able to win a decisive victory, but that hasn't stopped them from adding new lawsuits with each product release.
It should be interesting to see how Apple responds to the Galaxy Tab 2. Given its history, Apple might find a way to include the Galaxy Tab 2 in a new suit.
Samsung plans to bring the Galaxy Tab 2 to store shelves this March. The global rollout will start in the U.K. No prices have been revealed yet.