Samsung announces Galaxy Tab 8.9 Android Honeycomb tablet

By on Mar 22, 2011 at 11:17 AM
CTIA March 22, 2011

Samsung wasn’t exactly coy about its plans to launch an 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab during CTIA this week, and that’s exactly what it just did. On Tuesday Samsung took the wraps off of the Galaxy Tab 8.9, its third Android-powered tablet. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb, and features a mini-apps drawer for quickly launching your favorite applications. A future update will also bring Samsung’s custom UI to the slate. As its name implies, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 has an 8.9-inch screen with a 1280 x 600-pixel resolution. Despite being thin and light — it weighs just 470g and is 8.6mm thick — it packs some serious hardware muscle including a 1GHz dual-core processor and support for 802.11n Wi-Fi in both the 2GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. The 16GB Wi-Fi-only model of the Galaxy Tab 8.9 will retail for $469 and the 32GB version will cost $569 when the devices launch later this year. Hit the jump for the full release, and be sure to check out our hands-on.

Samsung Unveils GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9,

World’s Thinnest Mobile Tablets

Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9

to feature the first customized Android™ 3.0 experience

ORLANDO, March 22, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the global leader in Android™ mobile devices, announced two new additions to its family of GALAXY Tabs, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 8.9, the world’s thinnest mobile tablets, measuring just 8.6 millimeters.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 feature Samsung’s own TouchWiz user interface implemented on the Android™ 3.0 (Honeycomb) platform, offering superior multi-tasking and enhanced user interaction and navigation.

“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”, said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business. “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.”

Thinner & Lighter

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are the thinnest mobile tablets available. The GALAXY Tab 10.1 weighs 595 grams and 8.9 weighs 470 grams. Combining the GALAXY Tabs’ ultra-thin form factor with a lightweight design adds to the outstanding mobility of these two products.

Super Fast

The new GALAXY Tabs will support HSPA+ network speeds of up to 21Mbps as well as Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity to deliver rapid mobile download speeds and reduce data transfer times. Also, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 include a 1GHz dual core application processor for a powerful multimedia and web browsing experience.

Customized User Experience “Samsung TouchWiz UX”

Samsung’s TouchWiz user experience is designed with a Live Panel menu users can customize to display a variety of content on the home screen including digital pictures, favorite Web sites and social network feeds.

In addition, the interface includes an application tray of 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. This Mini Apps Tray provides a mixture of convenience and flexibility previously unheard of with tablet devices.

The Ultimate Entertainment Hub

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are pre-loaded 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.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 feature a 3 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera, providing smooth transition and seamless 1080p HD video and Flash playback for a rich entertainment experience.

Ready for Business

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 will include an industry leading suite of solutions designed to give enterprise customers and IT managers more security. Developed in collaboration with industry-leading partners such as Cisco, Sybase, SAP and Citrix, Samsung’s enterprise mobility solutions will provide flexibility and connectivity for mobile workforces, ensuring that users are able to operate more efficiently on–the-move.

GALAXY Tab 10.1

GALAXY Tab 10.1, with its WXGA TFT LCD display (1280 x 800) powered by 1GHz dual core AP, is 8.6mm thin and weighs only 595g. It is the perfect device for sharing and enjoying media content with family and friends. In addition, with its surround-sound stereo speakers and support for Flash 10.2, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 will deliver premium entertainment experience whether watching videos, movies or playing games.

GALAXY Tab 8.9

At just 8.6mm thin and weighing only 470g, the GALAXY Tab 8.9 is the perfect device for today’s mobile professional. Whether writing emails on a trip or reading an eBook on the couch, the GALAXY Tab 8.9 provides the ultimate tablet experience without compromising mobility.

The GALAXY Tab 10.1 and 8.9 now join the original 7-inch GALAXY Tab to provide consumers with an unmatched array of choices to select the mobile tablet experience that fits their needs the best.

Samsung’s entire line of GALAXY Tabs will be on display at the Samsung booth (#2440) at CTIA Wireless 2011, March 22 through March 24.

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
23 Comments

Related Articles

  • Cornbread

    iPad killer :)

    • Dario69

      Without a competing app store there will be no iPad killers. Unless they come out with tablets priced below $300-$400 people will flock to the iPad just for the application support. Except for some readers on these blog sites most consumers could care less about specs. It is all about the software.

      The Android phone market sucks already and the Android tablet market is even worse. And this coming from someone that owns both Android (Captivate) and iPad, iPhone.

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, this will kill the iPad..iPad 1. :D

      I think this year the iPad 2 will fall behind in many ways, mostly hardware specs. iPad 3 will probably send out the next wave of innovation to make every company play catch up again.

  • Graham

    Ruined the beautiful honeycomb UI with that touchwiz crap.

    • Anonymous

      The TouchWiz UI barely skins Android. Not to mention it adds utility and differentiates itself from other Tablets.

      • http://twitter.com/slbailey2 slbailey2

        TouchWiz UI means no OS upgrades!!

  • Sweet James Jones

    Nice job on both the 8.9 and 10.1 and they got the pricing right. I’m not sure what else you could really ask of them except a faster release date. I guess its a competition now.

  • Bringit

    Apple threads:

    690 average posts, 98% of them from whiny android losers complaining there are too many Apple threads.

    Android threads:

    7 average posts.

  • Anonymous

    From the looks of things Samsung definitely gets it more then Motorola. The only possible pain points I can see:

    1) Touchwiz! Why oh why!?

    2) Summer release. C’mon don’t announce and price these things and then tell us ‘see you again in 3 months’.

    Not sure I’d take one of these over an ipad 2, but these definitely would turn my head away from a Xoom.

  • Anonymous

    The pricing is good.. I will give it that much. :) The UI appears to be different, different in not a better way. Interesting to see it though.. I really think a 16gb wifi would be snapped up by the masses at 399.00- Would be 69 less than the price point, because you add tax to your 469 and your over the 500 mark.

  • Tony

    hmmmmmm I was really hoping for an 8.7 or a 9.1 inch display…..8.9 is just DOA. wait for it……….wait for it………………………..FRAGMENTATION!

    • Anonymous

      It’s not the size that counts. It’s the resolution. 1280×600 is a reasonable resolution for a 16×9 aspect ratio. How is the 8.7 or 9.1 inch display going to help with fragmentation?

      • Betelgeuse Orion

        1280×800 is 16:10
        1280×720 is 16:9
        1366×768 is 16:9
        960×640 is 3:2
        1024×768 is 4:3

        3:2 = useless
        4:3 = useless

  • Mr. Leo

    Samsung is trying to launch this tablet in order to compete with the iPad. Kind of what it did with the Samsung instinct. “The iPhone Killer!” they said. It makes me laugh now that I think about it. That phone never even caught up with the original iPhone to this day. Anyways, I think that true competition for the iPad will begin next year. These devices are really not up to the task.

  • http://twitter.com/alexistechblog Marc Corredera

    its me or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1 inch, US version, is not only thinner than the MWC announced, and also less performance in the rear camera specs?

    MWC announcement, 10,9mm thick and 8MP rear camera
    CTIA Wireless, 8,6mm thick and 3MP rear camera.

    I don’t mind about the rear camera resolution, and personally I prefer the 8,6mm thickest Galacy Tab US device.

  • Anonymous

    ERROR: Galaxy Tab 8.9 has a 1280×800 display NOT 1280×600 as you wrote. This gives it a higher dpi than the iPad2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. http://GalaxyTabForum.com

  • Anonymous

    seriously samsung, why do you have to put a custum ui and ruin the beautiful stock android 3.0!!!

    • Dario69

      Another example of the OEMs just mucking things up and making it that much easier for Apple to continue to grow marketshare. Seriously, I am now thinking the only company that gets it (other than Apple) is Microsoft. Tighter control over the specs and the UI. Less fragmentation and consistent user experience will result from this approach.

      This, versus the Android “open” approach while great for a select number of geeks out there will only create confusion and frustration for general consumers that just want a product that is easy to use right out of the box.

    • SideshowDave

      What’s beautiful about the stock 3.0? I have a Xoom. I find 3.0 to be pretty unappealing in addition to having weak usability. I don’t want crappy UI customizations, but if someone comes out with decent ones, they’d likely be better than the stock UI.

    • Joes

      They didn’t. It’s optional and it’s just a bunch of widgets and apps.

  • Anonymous

    Where are all the people calling the playbook overpriced now?

  • Bogat33

    Rather wait for the Xoom 2, screw thouchwiz.

  • http://www.danshope.com danshope

    Waiting for all the people who said “who cares if the Xoom has matched or better specs than iPad2, it’s more expensive” to look at this feature and price-wise, and eat their words. Too bad it doesn’t work like that in the wild west of the internets.

    This tablet competition is heating up like mad! My head is getting a little dizzy trying to keep up with all the releases. Now if only I had some disposable income…

blog comments powered by Disqus