We had all figured that Motorola would roll out LTE capability for the Xoom tablets long before anyone else had a chance to get in the market but that appears to not be the case. We’ve just gotten confirmation from Verizon that the company plans to start pre-orders (update: you can now purchase the 10.1 directly) of the 10.1-inch Galaxy tablet from Samsung starting on June 8th. The company squashes the Xoom rumors by calling the Galaxy it’s “1st 4G LTE Tablet”.
It looks like accessories will be showing their faces at the same time as well, with a multi-media docking station and full-sized keyboard dock on the promise list.
The LTE Galaxy tablet is the finally-released version of the 10.1-inch WiFi-only model that Google and Samsung gave away at this year’s Google I/O. Based on my own interaction with the device, I can tell you that it is the first one I’ve used which really gives the iPad any sort of competition.
Pricing on the LTE tablet is based on a 2-year contract. $529 for the 16 gig model, while the 32-gig will run you $629.
We’ll still be getting the LTE Galaxy Tab when it hits US shores as we want to be able to size up the differences between it and the forthcoming WiFi-only models.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 offers full support for Google™ Mobile Services, including Gmail™, YouTube™ and more. Customers will relish the 10.1-inch enhanced display with a 1280×800 resolution HD screen, 1 GHz dual core application processor, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera. Both consumers and business customers will find a multitude of uses for the Galaxy Tab that range from video chat to business tools, including those that allow for the opening and editing of documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 features Adobe® Flash® Player to deliver an enhanced Internet browsing experience and access to content-rich Websites.
Oh, and if you don’t want an LTE Galaxy tablet, Samsung says that the WiFi-only version will go on sale in New York on June 8th, as well. A “limited number” will be avaailable at the Union Square Best Buy, then the rest will launch across the US on June 17th.
16-gig version of the WiFi tablet will run $499 and the 32-gig will set you back $599.
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