Samsung confirms tablet for later this year

Samsung confirmed it will release a tablet product in the second half of this year, days after pictures of the purported device popped up on the Web.

"While Samsung is aiming to bring a device to market in the second half of this year, we have not yet confirmed the markets for launch or detailed product specifications," the company said in a statement to InformationWeek. Pictures of the device, dubbed the "GalaxyTab," began floating around last week after the Twitter account of Samsung's South African blog inadvertently posted images of the gadget and a brief snippet of information about its specifications. The information was subsequently removed.

Though details on the device are few and far between, it is reported to have a 7-inch display and run Google's Android platform.

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) breakaway success with the iPad tablet--the company has sold more than 2 million units so far--has set off a frenzy among computer makers and handset vendors alike to get into the tablet game. Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) plans to launch an Android tablet, and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam has said that LG, Motorola (NASDAQ:MOT) and Samsung are in the running to build tablets for the carrier.

Still, some sounded cautious tones about the new market opportunity. "It's an interesting market," Tudor Brown, the president of ARM Holdings, told the Financial Times. "What we have to be very careful of is projecting just how big that particular part of the market is going to be, because it's very early days since any of these tablets have been on the market."

For more:
- see this InformationWeek article
- see this ZDNet article
- see this FT article

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