Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics appear, involved in a contentious battle in the courtroom and in the mobile devices market, will be engaged in another showdown: mini tablets. This month, one launched a smartphone that boasts of a bigger screen, a facial recognition system, and the latest mobile operating system from Google. Apple launched a phone that recycled the design of the fourth generation iPhone but has improved specs and a voice-recognition system. On Nov. 13, Samsung will launch in the US the Galaxy Tab 7.0. The tablet has a 7-inch screen, runs on the Honeycomb operating system, has a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB of RAM. Unconfirmed reports say Apple will release the new iPad mini along with the third generation 9.7-inch iPad in early 2012. The iPad mini will have a 7.85-inch screen. Apple has sold more than 40 million iPad units since April 2010. The iPad, which starts at $499 (for 16 GB iPad 2), has 70 percent of the market despite the wide array of tablets provided by competition. Apple sold 11.2 million iPads in the quarter ended Sept. 24, 2011. Amazon has launched a 7-inch tablet that's available for a mind-blowing $199. The new tablet is seen as a vulnerable alternative or threat to the iPad given it's 60 percent cheaper than the iPad and it's backed by Amazon's cloud infrastructure and deep array of digital content. Samsung is ready to market test its 7-inch Galaxy Tab 7.0 in the US, with the $399.99 entry-level version ready for pre-orders Oct. 23. The tablet weighs just about 345 grams, has a depth of 9.9 mm, and sports a four-way rotation 1024 x 600p WSVGA TFT touchscreen. Storage comes at 16 GB or 32 GB plus there's an expandable memory of 32 GB. Along with Honeycomb 3.2, Samsung's tablet has a TouchWiz user interface to offer an intuitive and interactive experience with Live Panel, Mini Apps, and Clipboard. Unlike Apple's Safari, the Android browser is also supported by Adobe Flash technology. The Galaxy Tab 7.0 is loaded with the Peel Smart Remote app, which enables users to find and watch their favorite TV shows and discover new shows based on their preferences. At a conference last year, Jobs said Apple is not producing a smaller iPad, saying a 7-inch screen size is too small to effectively serve the functions of the device. "The reason we (won't) make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit that price point, it's because we think the screen is too small to express the software," Jobs said. "As a software driven company we think about the software strategies first." But Android tablets are gaining ground. Android-powered tablet computers accounted for 27 percent of global sales during the three-month period, jumping from 23 percent a year earlier, Strategy Analytics said in a statement. The iPad's share fell to 67 percent from 96 percent. And Cook-led Apple appears to be changing course.
