Samsung Slims Down Galaxy Tab 10.1, Announces Tab 8.9

Samsung has significantly slimmed down the Galaxy Tab 10.1, cutting the tablet's thickness from 10.9 mm to 8.6 mm. It now beats out Apple's iPad as the thinnest.

Samsung isn't releasing the Tab 10.1 until June of this year. The company also announced an 8.9-inch version of the Galaxy Tab, which was hinted at earlier this month. Like the10.1-inch Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Tab is also 8.6 mm thick. Samsung hasn't released a date for the Tab 8.9, though it hinted at early summer.

Most surprising, however, are the price tags Samsung is attaching to their latest tablets. Rivaling the price of the 16 GB version of the iPad, Samsung will offer the 16 GB version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for $499 and the 32 GB model for $599. That matches Apple's iPad 2 price point.

Samsung's decision to slim down the Galaxy Tab 10.1 should come as no surprise. Earlier this month Samsung mobile division vice president Lee Don-joo said Apple's move towards a thinner iPad made previous designs of the Tab 10.1 inadequate in comparison. We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate. Apple made it very thin, Lee said in reference to the iPad 2.

Lee, however, denied speculation that Samsung was considering redesigning the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to match the iPad 2. Today's announcement, however, refutes that.

Pricing was also a major concern for Lee, who remarked that Samsung would have to rethink the pricing model of its tablets.

The company has done both of those things with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, matching the iPad 2 in price while somehow out-thinning it.

Full Tab 10.1 specifications below:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Specs