with so many tablet makers emphasizing on the larger tablets, it is refreshing to see some of them re-looking into the smaller tablet market. seriously, not everyone favors near laptop-size tablets and yours truly here happens to be one of them. striking a balance between display size and portability are keys to what mobile people really need. speaking of smaller tablets, Samsung is going back to its root – to a market which it practically kick started back in 2010 – with the newly announced Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 tablet. loaded with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the Note 8.0’s power comes from a 1.6GHz quad-core A9 processor, backed by 2GB of RAM and comes with several new features including multi-window options for split screen functionality, new generations of intelligent S Pen with advanced usability, access to suite of S Note templates, Samsung ‘reading mode’ technology for optimized resolution when reading ebooks, video and voice calls.
on the hardware department, expect to find a 8-inch WXGA display with 1,280 x 800 pixels TFT display that yields 189 ppi, a 5.0-megapixel rear shooter and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, plus the usual condiments of connectivity and sensors that comprises of A-GPS with GLONASS (on 3G model), dual band WiFi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, accelerometer, digital compass and proximity sensor. basically, it has everything a good tablet should have and of course, access to Samsung Hub for gaming, learning and entertainment resources, and everyone’s favorite Google suite. and oh, it has quite a battery there: a 4,600 mAh lithium-ion battery. no word on how much this new baby will cost, but it will be available globally in second quarter this year. though not explicitly pointed out, we are guessing there should two versions coming your way: a WiFi-only model and a cellular plus WiFi model. check out a few more look in the gallery below.
UPDATE [April 12, 2013]: the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 Tablet will be launch on April 11, 2013 in the US for $399 (WiFi model) and will come with a bunch of goodies, including a $25 Google Play credit.