Samsung unveils 10.1 inch Galaxy Tab 3, first Android tablet with Intel chip

Samsung unveils 10.1 inch Galaxy Tab 3, first Android tablet with Intel chip

Samsung Electronics said on Monday it will use Intel Corp processors to power a new version of one of its top-tier Android tablets.

The South Korean firm unveiled two new tablets on Monday, an 8-inch tablet and the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1-inch, which uses Intel chips.

The 10.1-inch tablet, which competes with Apple Inc’s iPad, will be powered by Intel’s 1.6-GHz dual core processor and run the latest version of Google Inc’s Android operating system.

The new 10.1-inch tablet will support 3G and 4G network connections and the screen will have 1,280 x 800 resolution.

Samsung said the new products will be available globally this month, but did not provide price details.

Its decision to begin using Intel in a marquee Android device is a coup for the U.S. chipmaker as it races to establish itself in a mobile market it was slow initially to recognize and invest in. Samsung’s announcement confirms an earlier story and media reports on May 30.

Samsung has previously used chips designed with energy-efficient technology from the UK’s ARM Holdings for its best-selling mobile devices.

Intel called the shots in the personal computer industry for decades, but was slow to make chips that appealed to makers of smartphones and tablets as the market boomed following the release of Apple’s iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010.