Consumer electronics company Samsung has launched its Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet midway through a patent trial involving the South Korean firm and Apple.
Each company has accused the other of copyright infringement regarding their popular tablet devices which have revolutionised personal entertainment over the past few years.
The latest offering from Samsung differentiates itself from the iPad by featuring a stylus and a screen that can measure 24 levels of pressure sensitivity and boasts a split-screen mode in which two apps can be used concurrently.
The Note 10.1 uses Google’s Android software and a quad-core processor with 1.4 GHz clock speed. It boasts a 5 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera, which also detects the user’s eye movements to prevent the device from going into standby mode.
The 32 GB model will sell for $549, versus iPad’s $599.
US powerhouse Apple claims that some users mistakenly bought Samsung tablets believing they were iPads, which has led the California-based company to seek damages in the region of $2.5 billion in the California trial claiming that its rival’s original Galaxy Tab computers were ‘confusingly similar’ to its own.
In terms of the look of the new Note 10.1, Samsung has opted to retain a look it introduced in 2011 placing wider bezels along two of the device’s sides. The feature was created after a German court temporarily banned earlier models for infringing Apple’s tablet design.
Both sides are expected to present closing arguments next week.