Samsung Android 4.0 Tablets Get A Voice

By Joseph Palenchar On Mar 12 2012 - 4:01am

BARCELONA, SPAIN – Samsung attended the Mobile World Congress (MWC) with two new Android 4.0 tablets to expand its 4.0 tablet selection to three.

Both new models are equipped with 10.1-inch screens, and both are equipped with circuit-switched cellular voice calling.

One of the new models is a 10.1-inch version of the Android-based 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, the hybrid smartphone- tablet that comes with a stylus to jot down handwritten notes and drawings.

Both Notes let users make regular circuit-switched cellular phone calls, but with a larger screen size, the Note 10.1 is positioned as more of a productivity and learning tool, the company said. The new model, for example, displays multiple screens at a time for what Samsung called “true multitasking.” With the 10.1, users can view Internet pages, videos or other applications while using the included stylus to hand-write notes or make sketches.

In another major difference, the 5.3-inch Note features Android 3.2 OS, whereas the Note 10.1 features Android 4.0 OS. In addition, the 10.1 adds PC-like photo-editing and drawing programs Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas, both designed for touchscreens.

The 10.1 also adds Samsung’s ChatON cross-platform video-chat service. ChatON connects phones of any platform by using phone numbers instead of IDs and passwords to provide instant messaging and group chatting with voice and video, the company said.

As shown at MWC, the Note 10.1 incorporates 4G HSPA+ 21Mbps cellular technology in the U.S. 850/1900MHz bands and foreign 900/2100MHz bands. The 5.3 version available in the U.S., however, incorporates both 4G LTE and 4G HSPA+ technology. The 5.3 is currently available on the AT&T network at $299.

Both Notes feature dual-core 1.4GHz processor, WXGA 1280x800-resolution screen, front and rear cameras, DNLA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, WiFi Direct and Samsung Kies Air.

The 10.1 will come in 16, 32 and 64GB versions with a MicroSD card slot supporting 32GB cards. A Wi-Fi-only version of the 10.1 will also be available.

To the Galaxy Tab series, the company earlier in February announced the Tab 2 (7.0) with 7-inch screen, and at the MWC, the Tab 2 series got a 10.1-inch version with most of the same features. Both Tab 2 models feature Android 4.0 OS, and both double as cellphones because they also make regular circuit-switched cellular voice calls.

Both Tab 2 models will be available in a Wi-Fi-only version and a version with both Wi-Fi and 4G 21Mbps HSPA+ cellular technology.