Apple Wins Again, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Sales Banned in Germany

Samsung respects the court's decision, Bloomberg reported, citing Samsung spokesman James Chung, adding that the company believes it severely limits consumer choice in Germany.

The injunction has forced the Korean technology giant to pull the tablet from the IFA Electronics show, Europe's biggest consumer electronics fair that is currently being held in Berlin.

Apple alleged that Samsung has copied its products and intends to protect its intellectual property. The latest development follows an earlier ban on German sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in late August until its final ruling on Sept. 9.

Samsung and Apple have been locked in acrimonious battle over smartphones and tablet patents since April as Apple seeks to rein in the growth of Google's Android phones by taking direct aim at the Samsung whose Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S2 devices compete with Apple's iPad 2 and iPhone 4, respectively.

In July, Apple filed a complaint against Samsung with the International Trade Commission in the United States over IP violations in both the tablet and smartphone markets. Apple has also filed suits against Samsung in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

If Apple continues to win key patent battles, Samsung may be forced to license key technologies from Apple that could increase the cost of Android products and hurt profit margins.

The ruling also has far-reaching implications for other Android partners, including Motorola and HTC, which is said to be paying at least $40 in royalties and licenses per Android smartphone sold.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the latest addition to Samsung's tablet PC range with 3MP camera and 1.4 GHz dual-core chip running on Android Honeycomb. Further, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the first tablet that incorporates Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus display technology.

The Super AMOLED Plus display allows for a wider range of colors with greater separation between light and dark, making images incredibly vivid, Samsung said in a statement.

The tablet, which weighs less than a pound, comes with 16GB, 32 GB and 64GB models.

Following is the comparison between Samsung Galaxy Tab with iPad 2:

Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Apple iPad 2

Display
7.7 inches, 1280×800 (WXGA) Super AMOLED Plus
9.7 inches LED display, 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

Dimension, Weight

196.7x 133 x 7.89mm, 0.73 pounds
241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm, 1.33 pounds

OS
Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
iOS 4

Processor
1.4GHz Dual Core application processor
Apple A5 processor; 1GHz dual-core

Camera
3MP autofocus camera with LED Flash and 2MP camera on the front for video calling; 1080p full HD playback
Back camera: Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom

Front camera: Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio; VGA-quality still camera

Connectivity
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz & 5GHz), 802.11n WiFi Ch. Bonding, WiFi Direct; HSPA? 21 Mbps network for faster uploads and downloads.
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Technology

Media Format
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC?, eAAC?, WMA

Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX, Xvid

Audio: HE-AAC (V1 and V2), AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video: MPEG4, H.264

Memory
16GB, 32GB or 64GB; expandable through a microSD card slot
16GB, 32GB or 64GB

Battery
5100 mAh offering up to 10 hours of video playback time
Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music; Up to 9 hours surfing on 3G network