The fundamental difference between how Apple sells its products and how other computer manufacturers sell theirs lies in the sheer product variety within the same general form factor. Apple believes in putting all its resources into making one unbelievably amazing product and updating it once a year while manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, Motorola believe in putting their resources into making a wide variety of amazing products which, naturally, end up looking and feeling pretty similar to one another.
This past year, it has been proven that Apple’s method is far better. It makes for better products, makes marketing the product far easier, reduces consumer confusion and, of course, brings in increased profits.
Between the iPad 2’s announcement and the iPad 3’s strongly rumored announcement early next month, Samsung has introduced a smorgasbord of Android powered tablets*. The latest of such tablets is the Galaxy Tab 2. Check it out after the jump!
News of the announcement comes from SammyHub – a blog dedicated to covering all things Samsung – in the form of a short post in which they discuss the Galaxy Tab 2’s specs, pricing and availability.
The Galaxy Tab 2 is an introductory device with tame specs: a 1GHz dual-core chip, 1GB RAM, 7” 1024×600 TFT LCD display, 3MP fixed-focus rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, support for HSPA+, A-GPS, 16/32GB internal memory with microSD slot for expansion, a 4000mAh battery and the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 support. It will come with 3G support in separate models.
On the software side, it will come preloaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – the first Samsung tablet to be so – with TouchWiz UI and Samsung-exclusive apps such as Game/Reader/Music Hub, Kies Air, ChatON etc. on top.
The Galaxy Tab 2 will release first in the UK in March, with “global launch” coming afterwards. Pricing, although not confirmed at the moment, will in all probability start at $399 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi version. We will update this part of the article as soon as more information is available.
P.S. We highly suggest you wait for the $250 ASUS MeMo 370T: an ICS-based, 7”, quad-core tablet that is set to launch in Q2 2012.
*Does Samsung really, really need to have 5 Android tablets between 7” and 10.1”? Yes, as of right now, the company has five Android tablets branded as “Galaxy Tab”: the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab Plus and Galaxy Tab 2. Samsung is just confusing its customers. The average Joe will never know the difference between the Galaxy Tab Plus/2 and just end up getting an iPad instead.
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