Samsung pledges Australasian tablet release – despite Apple legal action

Samsung has pledged its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet will see local release “in the near future” – perhaps optimistic in light of a deal reached with Apple yesterday.

Apple took action in the Australian Federal court yesterday, seeking to injunct the Tab’s Australasian release later this month.

The iPad maker, which alleges Samsung has violated several of its patents, wanted the Korean company to destroy its stock of the tablet.

Apple lawyer Steven Burley told Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes 10 Apple patents including the "look and feel" and touchscreen technology.

But Justice Bennett was not required to rule during yesterday’s hearing.

After a recess, Apple and Samsung announced they had reached a deal.

The Korean company agreed not to advertise or sell the Tab 10.1 until the gadget was approved by the court.

Under the deal, Samsung will also provide Apple with samples of the Tab 10.1.

Samsung Australia has declined comment bar statement promising an imminent launch (in full below).

And Samsung’s local operation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, both Samsung and Apple both run combined Australia-New Zealand offices, each run out Sydney – and it’s unlikely  New Zealand release will follow until the dispute across the Tasman is resolved.

“Australian” version
Samsung has also pledged not to release the version of the Tab 10.1 already on the US market (where Apple is also waging a patent war) but instead an “Australian version”.

But with Apple’s patent claim covering hardware features that are utterly central to the Tab 10.1 – including its multi-touch screen – it’s unclear how far the Korean company could go in localising the device.

NBR gets a look
Before Apple’s legal action came to light, Samsung New Zealand’s head of mobile, Stefan Lecchi, did allow NBR a couple of minutes alone with the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Mr Lecchi said at the time – June 1 – that the Tab 10.1 should be available locally in around three months when Samsung began mass manufacturing the device.

The Tab 10.1 is sleeker and thinner than its predecessor, the Tab 10, (sold here by Vodafone), or any of the other Google Android-based tablets available locally from Acer, LG, Motorola and (soon) Lenovo.

In NBR’s casual opinion, the Tab 10.1 (named for its 10.1-inch screen, slightly larger than its predecessor) does have a general look and feel that recalls the iPad.

Yet, like other tablets in the Android shape, its screen is narrower and longer than Apple’s 9.7-inch tablet (screen size is measured on the diagonal).

The longer, narrower Tab 10.1 design (like that of other Androids) leads you to use the device in landscape mode - that is, holding it horizontally - while the wider iPad shape encourages the user more to use use Apple's tablet in vertical/portrait mode (as pictured above).

The Tab 10.1 feels lighter than an iPad (and it is at 600g versus 730 for the 3G version of the iPad 2).

The weight advantage is afforded by another difference: the Tab 10.1 uses plastic where the iPad 2 uses metal. 

The Tab 10.1 also includes a couple of features the iPad lacks, including a full high definition screen, support for LTE/4G mobile networks and, like all Androids, support for true multitasking.

RAW DATA: Samsung's statement
Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia involving a Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 variant that Samsung Electronics had no plans of selling in Australia. No injunction was issued by the court and the parties in the case reached a mutual agreement which stipulates that the variant in question will not be sold in Australia.

A Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future.

This undertaking does not affect any other Samsung smartphone or tablet available in the Australian market or other countries.

Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business.