--- description: Samsung's never been one to hold back on new phones and tablets, but even so, the newly-announced Galaxy Tab 2 is a puzzler. In terms... title: Samsung Announces a New 7-inch Galaxy Tab, but Why? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa1551a92dd4fc08/6998bcc6f1b0827d6c6f03ef/galaxytab2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) # Samsung Announces a New 7-inch Galaxy Tab, but Why? by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Feb 13, 2012 6:00 PM CUT  Samsung by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Feb 13, 2012 6:00 PM CUT Samsung’s never been one to hold back on new phones and tablets, but even so, the newly-announced Galaxy Tab 2 is a puzzler. In terms of tech specs, the tablet is nearly identical to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, which launched last year. Like the Plus, the Tab 2 has a 7-inch, 1024-by-600 resolution display, a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and cameras in front and back. Last year’s Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus actually has a faster processor (1.2 GHz instead of 1 GHz), and better front-facing camera (2-megapixels instead of VGA). (**MORE:** [12 Unique Tablets and Ultrabooks You Should Know About](http://techland.time.com/2012/01/13/12-tablets-and-ultrabooks-you-should-know-about/ "undefined")) Samsung is talking up the Galaxy Tab 2 as its first tablet running Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, but keep in mind that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is getting an [upgrade to ICS](http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/?p=8894 "undefined") this year. And although ICS has some cool features, such as resizeable widgets, a built-in photo editor and the ability to unlock the device with face recognition, it’s not a huge upgrade over Android Honeycomb. The Tab 2 will also feature Samsung’s AllShare Play service, which lets users beam media to other AllShare devices, such as PCs and Samsung TVs, but that alone doesn’t justify new hardware. Besides, I don’t see why AllShare Play couldn’t be delivered to the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus in a software update. My only remaining suspicion is that the Galaxy Tab 2 will be some sort of budget tablet to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet. Samsung, however, hasn’t yet announced pricing or availability. Maybe we’ll hear more at Mobile World Congress this month, and Samsung will have a better explanation for why this tablet is necessary. But to quote the company itself, it seems that the [next big thing is already here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzIgLkMaaL0&list=PLAF2F90147DCAE6D4&index=4&feature=plcp "undefined"). **MORE:** [Note to Samsung: The Pen Doesn’t Sell](http://techland.time.com/2012/02/08/samsung-galaxy-note-super-bowl-ad-bombed/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7237045/samsung-announces-a-new-7-inch-galaxy-tab-but-why/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7237045/samsung-announces-a-new-7-inch-galaxy-tab-but-why/"},"headline":"Samsung Announces a New 7-inch Galaxy Tab, but Why?","datePublished":"2012-02-13T18:00:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:59:36.335Z","description":"Samsung's never been one to hold back on new phones and tablets, but even so, the newly-announced Galaxy Tab 2 is a puzzler. In terms...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7237045/samsung-announces-a-new-7-inch-galaxy-tab-but-why/","keywords":["Tech","Samsung"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa1551a92dd4fc08/6998bcc6f1b0827d6c6f03ef/galaxytab2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa1551a92dd4fc08/6998bcc6f1b0827d6c6f03ef/galaxytab2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"galaxytab2","caption":"","creditText":"Samsung","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7237045/samsung-announces-a-new-7-inch-galaxy-tab-but-why/","name":"Samsung Announces a New 7-inch Galaxy Tab, but Why?"}}]}] ```