Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Super-powered or Overrated?

Since its unveiling in Barcelona early last month, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has managed to pique the interest of tech enthusiasts. The Apple iPad 2's success (commercially and critically) has further entrenched the concept of a tablet as a must have gadget and the absence of a true contender from the Android stable means that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will have plenty to live up to. Looking at how the original Galaxy Tab ultimately disappointed, does the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have what it takes to impress or will it fizzle out? Let's take a quick look

1. Under the Hood: The Galaxy Tab 10.1 joins the ranks of portable devices powered by a dual-core processor. In this case it runs on a dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor with a low power consuming Geforce GPU. This is a clear upgrade over the original Galaxy Tab's 1GHz A8 processor.

2. Software: While the Galaxy Tab did run Android 2.2 (Froyo), the software implementation was far from perfect. This was epitomized by the browser which supported Flash but fell very short in terms of usability. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), an OS that has been specifically designed for tablets. Looking at the experience on phones that run Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), the browsing experience has been much improved and the UI is also more optimized. I think I can safely say that Android 3.0 will provide a better experience to the end user.

3. Battery: The Galaxy Tab 10.1 gets a massive upgrade in terms of battery life with a 6860mAh battery. Also, Honeycomb treats batteries with more love and care and you can definitely expect a better battery life than what the original Galaxy Tab's 4000mAh battery offered.

4. Cameras: The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a more powerful camera than the one on the original Tab. While we can't say right now if it performs better, the specs do make for more impressive reading. The Tab 10.1 has an 8MP auto-focus camera with an LED flash and 1080p video recording capability. The front camera also has been upgraded from 1.3MP to 2MP.

5. Usability: Okay, this is where a whole lot of uncertainty creeps in. If you remember, the original Galaxy Tab, while it was hyped to the skies about being a better alternative to the iPad, it really wasn't a great tablet to use. This is the reason why I'm wary of expecting the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to surpass the iPad 2 or even prove a good alternative. The Tab 10.1's specs look awesome on paper but only time will tell if the hardware will be backed by a UI that not only looks good but works fluently as well.