Last month, Samsung launched its stylish Series 5 Chromebook, running on Google's Chrome operating system (Chrome OS).

With the creation of the Series 5 we are again pushing the boundaries of innovation by introducing an entirely new product category to the notebook market, said Scott Ledterman, director of mobile PC marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division.

However, the real challenge for Chromebooks is to compete and gain the commanding market share that Apple enjoys in the tablet market with its iPad 2.

Samsung's Chromebook comes with 12.1 SuperBright high-resolution, non-glare display, offers up to 8.5 hours of battery life, weighs 3.3 pounds and boots in less than 10 seconds.

Samsung Series 5 is powered by an Intel Dual-core processor, and partly reduces concerns about security and data loss by moving everything to the cloud. If the Chromebook is ever broken or lost, all of your files are saved online.

Samsung Series 5 will connect you to your data anytime, anywhere through 3G, WLAN and a 4-in-1 Card Reader. Verizon Wireless has partnered with Samsung and Google to provide 3G connectivity for the Series 5 in the U.S.

The Wi-Fi + 3G model will retail at $499.99, and the Wi-Fi only model will sell at $429.99.

On the other hand, iPad 2 is the second generation of the iPad, a tablet computer designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc.

iPad 2 has a lithium-ion polymer battery that lasts up to 10 hours, a new dual core Apple A5 processor and VGA front-facing and 720p rear-facing cameras designed for FaceTime video calling.

The tablet, which runs on iOS 4.3.3, is 15 percent lighter and 33 percent thinner than its predecessor.

Apple unveiled the device on March 2, 2011, began selling it by website and retail stores on March 11, and released it in 25 other countries on March 25, including Australia, Britain and Canada.

iPad is one of the best-selling gadgets and Apple recently announced it sold more than 25 million devices since iPad was launched in April 2010. In 2011, iPad is expected to take 83 percent of the tablet computing market share in the United States.

Wi-Fi models of iPad starts at $499 for 16GB, 32GB comes for $599 and $699 for 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829.

Now, let's make a head-to-head comparison of the two products:

Specifications

Samsung Chromebook

Apple iPad 2

Height and Width

8 inches and 11.6 inches

9.5 inches and 7.31 inches

Weight

3.3 pounds

1.33 pounds

Wireless Connectivity

802.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN

Verizon 3G WWAN

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Technology

Carriers

Verizon

AT&T, Verizon

Display

12.1 inches LED display; 1280x800 Resolution; 16:10 Aspect Ratio; 300 nits Brightness

9.7 inches LED display, 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

Processor

Intel ATOM Processor N570; 1.66 GHz speed

Apple A5 processor; 1GHz dual-core

Camera

1 megapixel High-Definition Webcam

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

Battery

Up to 8.5 hours battery life

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

Sensors

Buttonless type, Gesture Support Touch Pad Function

Three-axis gyro

Accelerometer

Ambient light sensor

Storage

2GB standard system memory; 16GB storage capacity

16GB, 32GB, 64GB storage capacities

Ports

VGA via dongle adapter

Headphone/MIC combo

2 USB Ports

4-in-1 Memory Card Reader that supports

SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC

30-pin dock connector port

3.5-mm headphone jack

Built-in speaker

Microphone

Micro-SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

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