Samsung Unveils Galaxy Tab 2 With Ice Cream Sandwich

 Samsung on Monday revealed the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), the follow-up to its original 7-inch tablet and its first tablet to debut with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The new 7-inch tablet will be packed with a 1-GHz, dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, and it will feature a 1024-by-600 LCD display. It will also include dual-facing cameras, with a VGA lens on the front and a 3-megapixel setup on the back. Additionally, the device will be Bluetooth 3.0-compatible and have HSPA+ connectivity.

The Galaxy Tab 2 will come in Wi-Fi and 3G version, and it will roll out worldwide in March, starting in the U.K., Samsung said.

In terms of software, the Galaxy Tab 2 will ship with Samsung Hub services, including Samsung Music Hub with a selection of 17 million songs; Readers Hub, which offers 2.3 million e-books and thousands of magazines and newspapers; and Game Hub, which provides instant access to various game titles. Samsung is also debuting Video Hub, which as the name suggests, boasts a selection of more than 1,000 movies to rent, as well as a trailers and reviews of an array of films.

The Galaxy Tab 2 is Samsung's first device to ship with Samsung's AllShare Play service, which allows users to stream content to the tablet from their PC, smartphone, or third-party storage service.

Samsung, of course, is engaged in a worldwide legal battle with Apple over patents pertaining to its Galaxy line of devices. In fact, Apple has contested just about every smartphone and tablet Samsung has released in the past two years, claiming the gadgets violate patents held by the Mac maker. Samsung has fired back at Apple with similar claims.

The latest development in the seemingly never-ending war happened last week when a Dusseldorf court denied Apple's request to have the modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N banned in Germany. The original Galaxy Tab 10.1, however, is temporarily banned in the country.