Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Piloting American Airlines

Samsung is making 6,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi tablets available on select American Airlines flights later this year, marking an inroad into the enterprise.

Samsung has found and interesting way to gain traction for its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computers: get them on airplanes as media entertainment devices.

Samsung said June 13 it partnered with American Airlines to offer 6,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets for premium class, in-flight entertainment on select flights later this year.

The tablets will replace the airline's current personal entertainment device in AA's premium cabins on transcontinental flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles, JFK and San Francisco, and Miami and Los Angeles, served with 767-200 and 767-300 aircraft; international flights to and from Europe and South America, served with 767-300 aircraft; and transcontinental flights departing from Boston to Los Angeles, served with 757 aircraft.

Samsung will customize the Tab for American's in-flight entertainment needs, including the addition of expanded memory.

This represents a creative way for a tablet maker to sell its wares in an enterprise capacity.

"Our engagement with American Airlines further illustrates the growing interest and demand we're seeing from enterprise customers for the Samsung Galaxy portfolio," said Tim Wagner, vice president and general manager of enterprise sales for Samsung Mobile.

Equipped with Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 3.1 "Honeycomb" operating system, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is 8.6 millimeters thin and weighs only 1.25 pounds.

The slate, a legitimate challenger to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Vida Tetra 2 processor, and employs a 1280 by 800 resolution display, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats and a 3MP rear camera.

T-Mobile (NYSE:T) began selling "a limited quantity" of the WiFi-only Tab 10.1 exclusively at the Best Buy Union Square store in New York City on June 8, for $499 for the 16GB version and $599 for the 32GB version.

Starting June 17, the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available nationwide. Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) is selling a Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) broadband radio later this summer. Verizon will sell the 16GB model for $529.99 and the 32GB model for $629.99, both on two-year contracts.

eWeek reviewed the limited edition Google I/O Galaxy Tab 10.1 and found it to be quite serviceable for media consumption.