As most of the planet was glued to screens watching Brazil play Croatia in the opening match of the World Cup, South Korean electronics giant Samsung chose to launch the Galaxy Tab S, its latest tablet device, to a global audience during an event at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Available in two sizes of 10.5 and 8.4 inches, these are the company’s thinnest and lightest tablets to date.The tablets will be priced at $399 for the smaller model and $499 for the larger one
“Tablets have evolved significantly in the past few years in function and purpose. The Tab S is our best tablet ever, elevating it to flagship status within our tablet portfolio,” president and Head of Sales and Marketing at Samsung’s IT and Mobile Communications Division, D J Lee told reporters at a preview in Manhattan.
He said tablet shipments could reach 290 million units worldwide this year and eventually will surpass those of laptops and desktops computers.
Lee said through the new range tablets, Samsung aims to increase its share in the tablet market, which has been dominated by technology giant Apple.
Samsung is the world’s second-largest maker of tablets, behind Apple and its iPads and its global tablet market share has been growing at the expense of Apple’s.The company’s global tablet market share rose to 22 percent in the first quarter, from 18 percent the year before. Apple’s lead, meanwhile, has dwindled from 40 percent to 33 percent during the same period.
Samsung unveils high-end Galaxy Tab S
“The tablet is becoming a popular personal viewing device for enjoying content, which makes the quality of the display a critical feature,” Samsung’s CEO and president of IT & Mobile Division, J K Shin said.
The Galaxy Tab S has an adaptive display which automatically adjusts saturation and sharpness based on the application being viewed, the colour temperature of the viewing environment and ambient lighting.
The tablets will use Samsung’s organic light emitting diode or OLED display and have an 8—megapixel rear camera.
Samsung has also partnered with Google Play, Google’s online digital entertainment store offering apps, games, music, movies, books and magazines.
