This evening, Samsung announced the Galaxy Tab S line of tablets that we have been seeing leak out everywhere over the past few weeks. There’s not much new here aside from the display. It’s still a 2560×1600 resolution display like the Galaxy TabPRO and most other high-end tablets from Samsung, except it is an AMOLED display. Instead of an LCD. So it’ll be a bit more expensive due to the AMOLED display. This is also the first tablet from Samsung with an AMOLED display since the original Galaxy Tab 7-inch, all the way back in 2010. So it’s about time we got one.
We’re looking at two variants here, a 10.5-inch 2560×1600 resolution AMOLED display, and a 8.4-inch 2560×1600 resolution AMOLED display. Both models are also about 6.6mm thin, so not quite as thin as the Xperia Z2 tablet from Sony, but still pretty damn thin. Samsung has added SideSync 3.0, PhotoGarden, PaperGarden and a few other sweet apps and features on the Galaxy Tab S. Netflix is also bringing full high definition content to both of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablets. Not quite the full 2560×1600 but still 1080p which is nice. Both devices also run on Android 4.4 KitKat and use Samsung’s Magazine UX, which is about what we expected from Samsung on the Galaxy Tab S. It also features S Voice, Multi-Window, WatchON and all the other features you’ve come to expect from Samsung. The Galaxy Tab S also has the most advanced WQXGA display on the market, and those that love AMOLED displays are going to love this tablet. As expected, Samsung is also giving out tons of free content with the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and 10.5. Including game credits for Asphalt 8, and other offers for the NY Times, Evernote, Blurb and many others. The Galaxy Gifts widget tailors offers to the user. So if you’re using your tablet for productivity you’ll see a lot of offers for stuff like Evernote. Samsung is also offering tons of free content through Google Play, including a 6-month free membership to Google Play Music All Access. So I guess we can wave good bye to the Samsung Hubs that we used to know so well.
PaperGarden is a bit different from My Magazine as its an eMagazine instead of a news reader like the MyMagazine that debuted on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Here in the US, Samsung is starting pre-orders on June 19th for both the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Galaxy Tab S 10.5 variants. Shipments will happen on June 26th. The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 will be going for about $399 and the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 will be going for $499. With the LTE versions being a bit more pricey, obviously due to the LTE radio. S0 far no carriers have announced availability for the Galaxy Tab S, but we should be hearing from them soon.
http://youtu.be/qwpfT9jtsMk
