Samsung’s new tablet aims to dethrone Apple’s iPad

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

Samsung yesterday unveiled a Galaxy Note tablet designed to make a more personal connection with users and aiming to knock Apple’s iPad off its market throne.
 
A key feature of the Galaxy Note 10.1 was a sophisticated “S Pen” that can be used as if it were a pen on paper or a computer mouse.
 
“The mission of this device is personalization, using pen input to create more human communication,” Galaxy Tab consumer business division director Travis Merrill told AFP while providing an early look at the new tablet.
 
“Receiving a handwritten note from someone you know is so much more emotional and powerful than just receiving an email,” he said.
 
Samsung built technology from Japan-based Wacom into the tablet screen to create a layer that can sense “S Pens” so precisely it can tell how hard they are being pressed or even if they are hovering, slightly out of touch.
 
“If you don’t want to use the S Pen you don’t have to but it is really the heart and soul of the device,” Samsung Telecommunications America product strategy director Shoneel Kolhatkar said.
 
Note 10.1 tablets are powered by Google’s latest generation Android software and feature powerful quad-core processors as well as two gigabytes of RAM for quick handling of videos, games and other graphics rich content.
 
The tablets are Wi-Fi enabled to connect with the Internet at hotspots and at prices of $500 for a 16-gigabyte model and $550 for a 32-gigabyte model, according to Samsung.
 
The launch of the Note 10.1 will be accompanied by a massive promotional campaign, according to Merrill.