Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab S tablet series – 8.4 and 10.5 inch devices, accessories in tow

At an event at Madison Square Garden in New York, Samsung launched their new tablet series, the Galaxy Tab S. The tablets will be available in 8.4- and 10.5-inch screen sizes with high resolution Super AMOLED 2560×1600 displays, a first for tablets.

We’ve been impressed with Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays on phones in recent years, and it’s good to see the screen technology is making the leap to larger devices. The Galaxy Tab S devices are capable of 100,000:1 contrast ratio and are not only ultra bright but offer a true colour experience, with more than 90% of Adobe RGB color coverage and truer whites and blacks. Samsung says their screens are also 40 percent less reflective than LCD.

The design of the Galaxy Tab S series is reminiscent of the Galaxy S5, with similar stylings. Both tablets are also incredibly thin at just 6.6mm. Thin also means light, with the tablets weighing in at “less than the competition” (465 grams for the 10.5, 294 grams for 8.4).

The tablets are powered by either a Qualcomm Snapdragon or Samsung Exynos processor. There’s 3GB of RAM on-board, and they will be available in 16/32GB storage options with microSD card slots for expansion. The hardware in each model will be region-dependent, and we’re expecting to see the Qualcomm options here in Australia as Samsung’s done for the past couple of years now.

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Galaxy Tab 8.4

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Category	Specifications
Network	LTE : 800/ 900/ 1800/ 2600+850/ 2100 3G : 850/ 900/ 1900/ 2100 2G : 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900
Processor	Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz Quadcore) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quadcore*
Display	8.4” 2560×1600(WQXGA) Super AMOLED
OS	Android Kitkat (4.4)
Camera / Flash	8MP w/ LED Flash + 2.1MP Full HD
Video	H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, WMV7, WMV8, VP8 Recording : FHD(1920 x 1080) @ 30fps Playback: WQHD (2560×1440) @ 30fps
Audio	MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC
Content Services / Applications	Papergarden, Professional pack, Multi-user mode, Sidesync 3.0, Gear & Gear fit manager
Free Downloadable apps	Group Play, S-Note, S Translator, Samsung Link, Scrapbook, Story Album, Video Editor,
	Gear Manager, Gear Fit Manager, Samsung Smart Switch, Samsung Level, E-meeting, Kids Mode, Kids Piano(Ding Dong Tap), S-Console, Hanshow, Hancell, Hanwrite
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Gmail, Google Search, Maps, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube, Google+, Hangouts, Play books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movies & TV, Play Music, Drive, Google setting, Photos
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth®4.0, IrLED
GPS	GPS, GLONASS, Beidou(not supported in USA, Canada)
Sensor	Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, RGB Sensor *Proximity Sensor(only LTE ver)
Memory	3GB (RAM) + 16/32GB internal memory microSD up to 128GB
Dimension / Weight	125.6 x 212.8 x 6.6mm, 294g(Wifi) /298g(LTE)
Battery	4,900mAh

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Galaxy Tab S 10.5

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Category	Specifications
Network	LTE : 800/ 900/ 1800/ 2600+850/ 2100 3G : 850/ 900/ 1900/ 2100 2G : 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900
Processor	Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz Quadcore) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quadcore *
Display	10.5” 2560×1600(WQXGA) Super AMOLED
OS	Android 4.4 (Kitkat)
Camera / Flash	8MP w/ Flash LED + 2.1M Full HD
Video	H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, WMV7, WMV8, VP8 Recording : FHD(1920 x 1080) @ 30fps Playback: WQHD (2560×1440) @ 30fps
Audio	MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC
Content Services / Applications	Papergarden, Professional pack, Multi-user mode, Sidesync 3.0, Gear & Gear fit manager
Free Downloadable apps	Group Play, S-Note, S Translator, Samsung Link, Scrapbook, Story Album, Video Editor
	Gear Manager, Gear Fit Manager, Samsung Smart Switch, Samsung Level, E-meeting, Kids Mode, Kids Piano(Ding Dong Tap), S-Console, Hanshow, Hancell, Hanwrite
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Gmail, Google Search, Maps, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube, Google+, Hangouts, Play books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movies & TV, Play Music, Drive, Google setting, Photos
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO,WiFi Direct, Bluetooth ®4.0, IrLED
GPS	GPS, GLONASS, Beidou(not supported in USA, Canada)
Sensor	Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, RGB Sensor
Memory	3GB (RAM) + 16/32GB internal memory microSD up to 128GB
Dimension / Weight	247.3 x 177.3 x 6.6 mm , 465g(Wifi)/ 467g(LTE)
Battery	7,900mAh

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Interface

Samsung has customised Android 4.4 to use a similar interface to what they introduced on the NotePro and TabPro tablets back at CES in January. This means multi-window options so you can run multiple applications on that lovely big AMOLED screen, and probably puts paid to the rumours of Samsung “toning down” its UI customisations we heard earlier this year.

The company has added a host of new features with the Galaxy Tab S range, including a new feature called SideSync 3.0. SideSync allows you to mirror your phone to your tablet (as long as the phone is within range of the tablet) and allows you to take phone calls and send/receive SMS on the tablet, as well as drag and drop files to and from the phone.

Fingerprints

With the same design stylings as the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy Tab S also contains the same fingerprint scanner as the flagship phone. The company says this will mean secure transactions with PayPal and other partners as they come on-board. It can also be used to access the multiple profiles that the Galaxy Tab S offers, including a ‘Kids Mode’ which has a kid-friendly interface and applications.

Content – with Galaxy Gifts included

Samsung is including some great content from Google Play with every Galaxy Tab S tablet sold. Customers will have the My Library Google Play Widget to help them find a host of content on Google Play including a 90 Day trial of Google Play Music All Access, a selection of magazines including Shape, GQ and Cosmo, and a free movie from Warner Bros – Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock (which we’re pretty stoked about, should the same deal come to Australia). Samsung has also included games and books in this deal.

Samsung also announced a new way to look at Magazines on the Galaxy Tab S, introducing Papergarden. They say this is ‘an optimized viewing environment for digital interactive magazines’. The Papergarden environment takes advantage of the tablet’s high resolution display to show off magazines with full, true-to-life colours. This application that has seen them partner with Condé Nast and National Geographic.

Finally, a new content partnership with Marvel Unlimited was announced. The basic premise is that customers will receive a 3-month trial subscription of Marvel Unlimited digital comics. It’s a partnership which will also see Samsung products placed in Marvel movies, so expect to see Jarvis running on a Galaxy Tab S in Avengers 2 (kidding!) (not kidding!) (sorry).

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Galaxy Gifts:

Services	Offers
Asphalt 8	Free car pack item (Worth of $20)
Bitcasa	3 months subscription of 1TB Storage
Bloomberg Businessweek+	12 months trial subscription
Box	50GB for 6 months
Blurb	$5 coupon
Cisco WebEX Meetings	6 month free subscription and unlimited meetings
Colossatron	Free game download plus 60 Power Orbs (Worth of $5.99)
Conde Nast Magazines	Free special editions of Vogue, GQ and more
Cut the Rope 2	Free in-game items (Worth of $15)
Dropbox	50GB of included space for 2 years (100GB for $99/year)
Easilydo	6 months trial subscription
Evernote	Premium Service for 1 year
Family Guy	Premium in-game credit (Worth of $15)
Fruit Ninja	Free game download plus 10,000 Starfruits (Worth of $5.99)
Hancom Office	Documents on-the-go for Android
Kindle for Samsung	Samsung Book Deals; One free book per month
Learn English – Voxy	3 months trial subscription of Premium English Training Course
LinkedIn	LinkedIn Premium – Business account for 3 months
LIVESPORT.TV*	6 months trial subscription
Marvel Unlimited	3 months trial subscription of Marvel Unlimited digital comics
Paypal	Paypal Merchant discounts and special offers (Worth of $50)
Pocket p>	6 months trial premium subscription
Real Player Cloud	6 months trial of 100GB ‘Gold’ Subscription
Remote PC	2 year trial subscription
The Economist	6 months trial subscription
The Wall Street Journal	6 months trial subscription
The Washington Post	6 months trial subscription
The New York Times	12 weeks trial digital subscription
Workout Trainer	6-month trial of premium service

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Samsung also put together an official introduction video for the Galaxy Tab S series:

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Accessories

The Galaxy Tab S line is also getting a full range of tablet accessories to increase your productivity, protect, and of course make your tablet look good. There’s three covers available, a Galaxy Tab S Book Cover, Galaxy Tab S Simple Cover and of course a Samsung Bluetooth Keyboard, and we also got more information about the company’s “Level” headphone range.

Galaxy Tab S Book Cover

The Book Cover is a great-looking cover which comes in a stylish premium matte finish. It offers a ‘Simple Clicker’ function to keep the tablet cover securely fastened and comes with ‘Magnet Stabilisation’ offering three modes – Viewing Mode, Touch Mode and Typing Mode.

The Book Cover will be available in six colours – White, Bronze, Red, Blue, Black and Ivory.

Galaxy Tab S Simple Cover

The Simple Cover is a more basic option that simply secures your Galaxy Tab S. It’s a slimmer design than the Book Cover and comes with the expected smart cover functions to turn the tablet on/off by simply opening or closing the case.

The Galaxy Tab S Simple Cover will come in five colour options – White, Bronze, Red, Blue and Black.

Samsung Bluetooth Keyboard

Samsung also believes in getting work done, so the Samsung Bluetooth Keyboard is a natural accessory to consider with the Galaxy Tab S. The Bluetooth Keyboard is designed specifically for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (sorry, 8.4 customers) and is made from the same material as the tablet. It has hot keys mapped to functions on the Galaxy Tab S like Multi Window, S Finder and Screen Capture and comes with a 200 mAh battery.

The Samsung Bluetooth Keyboard will be available in two colours: Titanium Bronze and Dazzling White.

Headphones

Samsung has been mentioning its new Level headphone line for a while now, but hasn’t given us many details. Today, they’ve announced three models: Level In, Level On and Level Over.

The Level In are Samsung’s basic earphones, offering a three-way speaker system to offer great sound and low, mid and high end. Level On is their mid-range over-head headphones, offering great sound with a 40mm dual layered diaphragm. At the top end of the range, the flagship Level Over headphones are great-looking and apparently great-sounding headphones which will allow users to enjoy crystal clear music.

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Australian Release – TBA

The Tablets and accessories are definitely coming to Australia. Models and pricing are yet to be determined.

Samsung has offered the following statement:

Samsung Australia is very excited to confirm that the globally announced Galaxy Tab S will also be making its way to Australia this year. The Galaxy Tab S offers consumers with the most advanced tablet display capabilities ever launched by Samsung, made possible through an amazing AMOLED display.

With the launch of the Galaxy Tab S, we are very proud to be providing Australians with an amazing experience that features the best in Samsung tablet innovation and design.

More information on pricing and availability will be announced closer to the launch date.

With great looking screens and thin, light and fast hardware – and of course some interesting software (we’re looking at you, Sidesync) and content included, Samsung have made a real effort with these tablets and we can’t wait to get our hands on them.

Do the Galaxy Tab S tablets interest you? Which model, and why? Tell us in the comments!