MWC: Samsung Updates Galaxy Tablets And Phones

Peter Judge,

Samsung opened Mobile World Congress with the big-screen Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android Honeycomb tablet, and the enterprise-friendly Galaxy S II smartphone

The day before Mobile World Congress (MWC) opened in Barcelona, Samsung refreshed its Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet with new versions of the Android devices.

The Galaxy S II smartphone has moved on to Android version 2.3, and has new features designed to please business people, while the Galaxy Tab  10.1 (not the Galaxy Tab II as predicted) – the first to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb – addresses concern with the small screen of the earlier device – and is billed as an “entertainment powerhouse”.

Mixing business and pleasure?

Samsung is pitching the Galaxy S II as “the world’s thinnest smartphone” at 8.5mm thick. An update on the popular Galaxy S, it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, on a dual-core 1GHz processor with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. It weighs 116g and has an 8Mpixel camera, high-speed Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

The phone also inlcudes features which will endear it to business people: it includes secure device management using Sybase Afaria, as well as Cisco clients for conferencing and VPNs.It also has what Samsung reckons is the “most comprehensive mobile implementation of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync”. It also supports encryption of data on both the phone and its SD card.

It’s also a consumer phone, however, with access to four “hubs” for music, e-reading, games, and social media.

Meanwhile, the new Galaxy Tab 10.1 also addresses a business concern with the existing Galaxy Tab model whose 9.7 in screen was considered “too small for corporate use” in reviews. The Tab hit the UK in November, with a high price compared to Apple’s iPad. Doubts have been raised over Galaxy Tab sales figures and Samsung has contested reported return rates.

Leaks had predicted a new  “Galaxy Tab II”, including a clear indication that in the UK Vodafone will be shipping the new tablet.  What emerged was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.,1 a slim entertainment-focused device.

As the name implies, it has a 10.1 in screen, a WXGA TFT LCD display to be precise. It also claims to have “surround-sound” speakers, as well as an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with auto focus and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and so forth.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be shipping “this spring” but Samsung is keeping the delivery date of the Galaxy S II phone under wraps for now.