Galaxy Note 8.0 launched, takes Apple’s iPad Mini head on

Seth Weintraub

After lots of leaks, rumors and outright company forecasts,  Samsung today announced the Galaxy Note 8.0, an 8-inch iPad Mini competitor. The 1280×800 pixel display will have a slightly better PPI of 189 than the Mini and match camera specs and a quad core processor. Samsung’s Note 8.0 will also double up the Mini with 2GB of RAM and add an S-Pen for those who need/want it as well as expandable storage via the Micro-SD card slot. Just like the Galaxy Tab 7 2 it has an IR blaster with a rebranded Peel station navigation. On the down side, it won’t have LTE (only HSPA+) and it will run a slightly out-dated 4.1.2 version of Android Jelly Bean. It also weighs almost an ounce more than the iPad Mini.

Oh and it can make calls like a huge phone.

Will this go head to head against the Mini? My gut reaction is no. Samsung’s Touchwiz overlay and pen will keep these out of the hands of mainstream users. No price or launch date is yet planned but the specs tell me (720P TFT display) that Samsung is aiming for a low price. I’d expect to see this at $250 in the US probably just after it launches in the 2nd quarter in a number of Asian and EU territories.

Press release follows:
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Report: Samsung working on new ‘Galaxy Tab 3′ lineup & mystery ‘GT-P8200′ tablet

Jordan Kahn

Galaxy Tab 10.1There have been rumors that Samsung has a new lineup of Galaxy tablets in the works, possibly set to make an appearance next month at Mobile World Congress. Today, SamMobile claimed to have confirmed details of the upcoming Galaxy tabs, citing a “Korean insider,” and provided new information for the Galaxy Tab 3 lineup codenamed “Santos”.

According to the report, Samsung has both 7-inch and 10.1-inch variants of the new lineup in Wi-Fi and 3G configurations. The tablets will also include 5-megapixel cameras, but we don’t get any other details in terms of hardware specs on the four Santos models including GT-P3200, GT-P3210, GT-P5200, and GT-P5210. The report said the tablets are expected to launch in early 2013 in 16GB and 32GB variants.

There was also mention of a Samsung GT-P8200 tablet codenamed “ROMA.” The report didn’t provide many details, but AndroidCentral pointed out the product number isn’t too far off the “GT-P8110″ of the Nexus 10.

SamMobile also provided exact specs for the Samsung GT-N5100 Galaxy Note 8.0 it first posted about last week. The full specs for that device, expected to pop up during MWC next month, are below: Read more

Samsung readying 11.8-inch 2560-by-1600 Galaxy Tab this year reveal court docs

Seth Weintraub

This Apple vs. Samsung trial is turning into a treasure trove of information on the two companies, with the latest bit of information being that Samsung is readying a 11.8-inch Galaxy Tab with an incredible 2,560-by-1, 600 pixel resolution. That is a 30-inch monitor brought down to the size of a netbook display, and it is somewhere between the screens on a retina MacBook Pro and a Retina iPad. This mega-tablet is labeled “P10″ on slide 83 of Samsung’s presentation, so it has no one but itself to blame for this premature announcement.

A rough calculation on the size is just slightly bigger than the screen of the smaller MacBook Air. I will admit that I would love to try one of these out. And, before you go blaming Samsung for stealing Apple’s Retina invention, remember that Samsung makes the displays in Apple’s Retina iPad. Therefore, it has just as much right as anyone. As for the look and feel of the Tab, that is for the courts to decide.

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UK Judge rules against Apple in Samsung patent case, claims Galaxy Tabs ‘are not as cool’

Jordan Kahn

Reports from last week noted that Samsung’s attempt to lift Apple’s preliminary injunction placed on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States was rejected by District Judge Lucy Koh. Today, in Apple’s ongoing patent cases with Samsung in the United Kingdom, Bloomberg reported Judge Colin Birss ruled against Apple, claiming Sammy’s Galaxy Tabs “are not as cool.” It is hard to imagine Apple losing in any more of a complimentary way, as Judge Birss claimed his decision was based partly on the fact Galaxy tablets “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity.”

The Galaxy tablet doesn’t infringe Apple’s registered design, Judge Colin Birss said in a ruling today in London. He said that consumers weren’t likely to get the two tablet computers mixed up.

The Galaxy tablets “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” Birss said. “They are not as cool.”

The company provided a full email statement regarding today’s decision (via Pocket-lint). Samsung explained the court referred to roughly 50 pieces of prior art when dismissing Apple’s case:
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Samsung Galaxy S III leaked in pics and video, just weeks before May 3 unveiling

E. Betters

The Samsung Galaxy SIII is due to unveil May 3 in London, but the widely-anticipated smartphone just made an early appearance through Vietnamese blog Tinhte (original page is down).

The leaked device goes by model number GT-I9300. Pictures and video indicate the mysterious smartphone packs Ice Cream Sandwich OS, a 4.6-inch display at 720-by-1184-pixel resolution, a quad-core 1.4 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera, and a 2,050mAh battery.

More pictures and a video are below.

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