 "As Nexus 7 goes on sale, Samsung drops Galaxy Tab 2 prices")
Earlier this week, the Nexus 7 went on sale on the Google Play Store and became the first Nexus device to be sold through that channel in India.
Priced at Rs 15,999, the Nexus 7 is indeed an interesting proposition and perhaps the first real competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 range, at least in terms of price. So naturally, Samsung has reason to be worried.
The Korean company responded by dropping the price of the Galaxy Tab 2 310 from Rs 23,000 (price at launch) to Rs 16,250 while the Galaxy Tab 2 311, which went on sale only recently, can now be had for Rs 12,750. The Galaxy Tab 2 311 is a Wi-Fi-only affair, whereas the Tab 2 310 can make and receive video calls as well as surf on 3G networks.
Now available for a bargain
As always, you could find them for cheaper at online as well as grey market retailers. Both tablets come with 7-inch displays with a 1024 x 600 resolution. The displays themselves are of the PLS TFT LCD variety. Under the hood, 1GHz dual-core processors give both tablets enough oomph, while the 1GB of RAM only adds to the power.
Both have 3 megapixel fixed focus rear cameras, VGA front-facing cameras and 4000 mAh battery. The Tab 2 310 comes in 8, 16 and 32GB storage options while the Tab 2 311 has 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32GB with a microSD card.
The Galaxy Tab 2 311 launched with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, something the Tab 2 310, which shipped with Android 4.0 when it launched, also has now thanks to a software update. Connectivity wise, both tablets support Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n bands, have USB 2.0 ports and are good for Bluetooth as well.
The Nexus 7 is undoubtedly the big competition for Galaxy Tabs in India now. And with Google opening up the doors for Nexus devices, the next-generation Google-approved tablets will most likely also arrive in India soon after they are announced. This could be one of the major reasons why Samsung has severely cut down the prices of its tablets.
We can also expect such aggressive pricing for the company’s Galaxy Note 8.0, which will launch in India as the Galaxy Note 510. The iPad mini rival will also face competition from the Nexus 7, so we can expect pricing to be around the Rs 20,000 mark. The tablet, which can also make voice calls, comes with an 8-inch display with a 1280 x 800. It’s powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and has 2GB of RAM. There are two internal storage options to choose from for potential Galaxy Note 8.0 buyers – 16 and 32GB – but the tablet comes with microSD card slot for cards up to 64GB. On the back is a 5-megapixel camera, while a 1.3-megapixel unit does duty on the front face.
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