Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 revealed

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video

Samsung on Monday offered the first glimpse of a new 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab tablet with Google's Android 3.1 Honeycomb that will be available Oct. 2, as well as two new media players, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and Galaxy Player 5.0.

"These three additions to the Galaxy family of products are impressive examples of our commitment to offering consumers an unrivaled array of choices for entertainment and information on-the-go," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile, in a statement.

"People want their mobile device to fit their lifestyle and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Players offer unparalleled power and portability to meet the widest consumer needs."

The Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 8.9 (pictured above left and below) comes in two flavors, a 16GB tablet priced at $469, and a 32GB version priced at $569, the company said at its Samsung Experience event in New York. Samsung's Galaxy Player 4.0 is priced at $269 and the Galaxy Player at $229—b;oth; are set for U.S. release on Oct. 16.

The tablet was made available for pre-order at www.samsung.com Monday, while the two media players can be pre-ordered starting Tuesday.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 joins the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Samsung's stable of tablets. Like the larger device, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is thin at 8.6 millimeters and has a light, portable design that weighs less than a pound. The multi-touch WXGA TFT display has 1280-by-800 resolution and is fortified by Gorilla Glass.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 sports Samsung's TouchWiz UX user interface, a custom build on Honeycomb that features the Live Panel widget for quickly accessing email, news, photos, and more from the home screen, one-touch overlay access to commonly used apps via Mini Mode Tray, Clipboard for easy sharing of photos, links, and more via email and social sharing sites, a photo editor, and the Indicator Quick Panel, which lets users quickly toggle connectivity, notifications, sound, brightness, and settings on and off in lower right-hand corner of the display.

Apps are available through Google's Android Market, and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 comes loaded with Samsung's AllShare service for transferring content between the tablet and other DNLA-enabled devices like HDTVs, monitors, and digital cameras.

Other specs include a 1.5GHz, dual-core T205S central processor, a 6,100 mAh battery, mobile printing capabilities, FindMyMobile technology for locating the device if it is stolen or lost, and two cameras—a; rear-facing 3-megapixel camera and front-facing 2-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, 1080p video playback and support for video chat and digital imaging.

Consumer-oriented features include Samsung's Media Hub, Music Hub, Social Hub, and Readers Hub services, while enterprise functionality includes support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, on-device encryption, Cisco VPN, Sybase Mobile Device Management, and Cisco WebEx.

The 4-inch (pictured above right) and 5-inch Galaxy Players run Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, have front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and sport 8GB of memory with a microSD slot for up to 32GB of additional storage. The Galaxy Player 4.0 weighs 4.27 ounces, while the Galaxy Player 5.0 tips the scales at 6.42 ounces.

This article, written by Damon Poeter, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.