Seoul,
South Korea – Samsung unveiled the successor to its 7-inch Galaxy Tab, adding
the tablet-optimized Android Honeycomb OS, making it slightly slimmer and
lighter, and adding such hardware upgrades as 1.2GHz-dual-core processor and
more embedded memory.
The
Galaxy Tab
7.0 Plus will join
the company’s Tab 8.9 and 10.1 models, unveiled
in March with 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch touchscreens, respectively, and
Honeycomb OS.
The
Tab 7.0 Plus was unveiled with 21Mbps HSPA+ cellular-data technology banded for
foreign countries, and the company didn’t say when U.S.-banded versions would
come to the U.S. Samsung also didn’t say whether it would, as it did with the
original 7-inch Tab, make the successor available in a Wi-Fi-only version
alongside versions for the top five U.S. cellular networks.
The
7.0 Plus rollout starts at the end of October in Indonesia and
Austria and will be gradually rolled
out to Southeast and
Southwest Asia, the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Japan
and China at a
timetable that wasn’t disclosed.
With
the new version, the 7-inch Tab steps up processing power to a dual-core 1.2GHz
processor from a single-core 1GHz processor, adds Honeycomb 3.2 tablet OS in
lieu of the Android 2.2 (Froyo) smartphone OS, reduces weight to 12.2 ounces
from 13.23 to 13.58 ounces depending on the carrier network, and reduces depth
to 0.39 inches from 0.47 inches. At 0.39 inches, the 7.0 Plus is slightly
thicker than the 0.34-inch depths of the Tab 8.9 and 10.1.
In
addition, the 7.0 Plus adds multiple Wi-Fi upgrades, including the addition of
Wi-Fi 802.11a to its predecessor’s 802.11b/g/n, the addition of Wi-Fi Direct,
and the addition of Wi-Fi channel bonding, which accelerates Wi-Fi speed.
The
tablet will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of embedded memory with 64GB
MicroSD card slot. In contrast, most U.S. versions of the current 7-inch Tab
features 16GB of embedded memory with 32GB MicroSD slot, although the Verizon-network
version of the current 7-inch model offers 2GB of embedded memory and is bundled
16GB MicroSD card.
Another
new feature is Samsung Kies Air technology, which enables a Wi-Fi connection to
a PC or Mac without a preloaded application to synchronize phone content, view
and manage such content as contacts content from the PC, and send SMS messages
from the PC.
The
main camera still offers 3.2-megapixel resolution, but the front-facing camera
for video chats goes to 2-megapixel resolution from 1.2 megapixels.
Screen
resolution remains at 1024×600 WSVGA, but the LCD screen used PLS rather than
TFT technology for greater clarity and sharpness.
In
another change, the company said 7.0 features voice and video call support with
no need for a headset. However, although the current 7-inch Tab was launched
with ability to place cellular voice calls through a Bluetooth headset, that
feature was not turned on in U.S. carrier versions.
Presumably,
the new model will continue to offer DLNA certification as its predecessor did.
Other
features include 720p video recording, 1080p video storage, enterprise
solutions, USB 2.0 Host, and like before, 4,000 mAh lithium-ion battery.
Many
of the new 7.0 Plus features are already available on the Tab 8.9 and 10.1, including
access to Samsung content Hubs, or services.
