LAS
VEGAS—Samsung executives confirmed that the company
will release the long-awaited WiFi-only version of the popular Samsung Galaxy
Tab in the United States
in the first quarter of this year.
No
launch date or pricing has been determined for the WiFi-only Tab.
Samsung
Mobile Chief Strategy Officer Omar Khan unveiled the device and showed off the
Samsung Galaxy Player and the Samsung Infuse 4G smartphone at the 2011 Consumer
Electronics Show here Jan. 5.
The
WiFi-only Tab comes months after Samsung launched the Android 2.2-based tablet with both 3G and WiFi
capabilities, countering Apple's own WiFi+3G on AT&T.
The
Tab has sold more than 1.5 million units to date, Khan said, a revision over the 1 million-unit shipment number Samsung offered
just a few weeks ago.
However,
the high price point—Verizon Wireless and AT&T began selling the device
sans contract for $599 and $649, respectively—caught off-guard some experts expecting a device that would cost
less than the $499 base price for the WiFi-only iPad.
The
WiFi-only option will certainly come at a sub-$500 price point. "Consumers
and enterprise want different options," Khan said. "We're giving
consumers the most choice."
Khan
proceeded to unveil the Galaxy Player as the "first Google-certified Android-based
smart player." That is to say, it's another rival for Apple's
market-leading iPod.
The
device, like the Samsung Galaxy S smartphones that sold 10 million units
worldwide, sports a 4-inch LCD screen and runs on Android 2.2. The player will
offer access to 120,000 apps on Google's Android platform.
The
Galaxy Player, first introduced in Korea,
will launch worldwide in 2011, Khan claimed.
Also,
Samsung will offer a super-thin new Android 2.2-based 4G smartphone called the
Infuse 4G on AT&T's network, The device will sport a 4.5-inch Super-AMOLED
Plus touch-screen display powered by a 1.2GHz processor.
The
gadget will boast an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and HD
recording and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera.
No
pricing is available, though AT&T said the gadget will come out in the
second quarter of 2011.
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