Tablet talk: A dissection

Samsung’s new tablet PC, the Galaxy Note 800, is all about making the choice between the pen and the finger, literally. The new tablet, though designed rather conventionally, bundles in a stylus that most users might not have used since capacitive screens evolved.

The inclusion of stylus comes with a promise to make all that document work like note taking, scribbling reminders, texting and even navigating apps a breeze.

Apple practically owns the 10-inch tablet market right now. While Samsung has been incredibly successful in battling Apple on the smartphone front, it needs to bring that same pressure on the tablet front.

Though Samsung’s 10-inch Tab 2 and now Note 800 fall in the same category, the company maintains that the former is more a consumption device with focus on entertainment while Note 800 (due to the stylus) is more appealing to an enterprise crowd.

Samsung designers think features like split-screen (where user could be looking at one side of the screen while taking notes or sketching on the other side) brings new functionality to its tablet.

COMPARISON
Model	The Good	The Bad	Price
Samsung Galaxy Note 800	The tablet has a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, up to 64GB of user memory, plus front and back cameras. Its 10.1 inch screen is similar to the Galaxy Tab 2, except for the included S Pen that fits into the display frame. Sports a new interface that enables users to run a multi-screen feature to use two different applications at once (for now limited to apps like Gallery, Internet, Polaris Office, S Note, Video Player, and Email). The front-facing speakers flanking its screen render decent sound output, which are in fact, better than the iPads.  Has a 7,000 mAh battery and promises to last for about 5-6 hour of average usage. Capable of translating written notes into text albeit not always 100% accurate. S Pen has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity that allow sketching with varying results when pressed down. Useful when editing images in Photoshop Touch app (included).	The glossy casing (plastic back) just does not sit well with a top-end device. The 1280×800 (WXGA) resolution puts it inline with the iPad 2 in terms of clarity and brightness, behind the new iPad. Comes with the older Android 4.0 ICS.	Rs 39,990
iPad (third generation)	The tablet has a dual-core Apple A5X high-performance system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics, a 9.7-inch LED backlit glossy Retina display with a superior 2048x1536 pixel resolution and supports up to 64GB of storage memory Screen and rear camera have been upgraded, enabling iPad to perform full-resolution HDTV content, record full HD 1080p videos, snap cleaner and more detailed still photos. Doesn’t have Siri, the voice recognition software built into the iPhone 4S that accepts simple commands and talks back to you, but it does have speech-to-text capabilities like dictate emails, search terms in Safari, etc. A 11,560mAh battery means the tablet will easily extend itself up to about 8-9 hours on average usage	Does not support microSD.  Front camera remains low-resolution.  Voice dictation (depends upon an active internet connection at all times) is less accurate than on iPhone 4S, varying with ambient noise levels.	Prices start at about Rs 30,000 (WiFi models)
Google Nexus 7	The tablet has a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 clocked at 1.3Ghz, 1GB of RAM, and the 7-inch display has a 1280x800 pixel resolution. Ships with either 8GB or 16GB internal storage, but it lacks a microSD slot for adding additional storage. The battery is 4,325 mAh and that should last for about 6 hours on average usage. Runs the latest JellyBean Android update that has a tablet-friendly interface. Being a Google device, it also promises a ticket to quicker software updates to Android OS in future. Chrome for Android is the stock web browser on the Nexus 7 and performs excellently. Google's Voice Search, too, is a very neat feature.	No mobile data-enabled version (only WiFi models). The Nexus 7 has a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chat but lacks a rear camera. There are tablets with better media, more native support for features and a wider physical connectivity.	Available on various  e-commerce sites for about Rs 17,000 (8GB)

But do a couple of new software features validates Note 800’s superiority among the other Android tablets and allows it to compete with a solid iPad line-up? Here’s a quick lowdown.