Samsung’s next raft of Galaxy Tablet devices, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (in 2 7-inch and 10.1-inch variations), are reportedly being delayed due to Samsung’s on-going issues with porting the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 update to the tablet devices.
Samsung is currently the number one contender to Apple’s dominating iPad in the tablet market and all of us tech heads are eagerly awaiting the next generation of the Galaxy Tabs, but due to Samsung being keen for the new tablets to ship with the Ice Cream Sandwich OS on board, the launch dates have been pushed back.
The news comes from a report by ComputerWorld, which states that Samsung is needing more time to perfect the Android 4.0 that’s powering both of the second-generation tablets.
It would appear that Samsung is having an issue integrating the new OS with its own TouchWiz user interface for Android, which is added on additionally to Google’s base Android ICS platform.
Samsung announced the new Galaxy Tab 2 devices at a low-key European Forum event in Prague this February, slating the devices as part of the Galaxy Tab 2 range. Both the 7and 10.1-inch versions will be available in three memory sizes of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB and are set to feature a 1GHz Dual-Core processor – the same clock speed as last season’s model, but the OLED screen used on the preceding versions will be dropped, replaced instead with a WSVGA TFT display with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels.
Internal storage can be boosted with MicroSD support up to 32GB and for connectivity the Galaxy Tab 2 will include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G. For entertainment, all new Tabs will come with pre-installed access to Samsung’s Video Hub – a movie rental shop currently featuring over 1000 titles – and of course this will all benefit from the addition of Android ICS, making this the first Samsung tablet to boast the new Google OS upgrade
While these two new tablets will be delayed because of ICS, the current Galaxy smartphone range is also suffering from the Android 4.0 issues, with the Samsung Galaxy Note update being pushed back and Galaxy S2 owners struggling to get hold of the Ice Cream Sandwich update, it would seem Samsung has a lot if Ice Cream issues on its plate.
It’s not great news if you are eagerly anticipating the new tablet devices, as the original mid-March release date has been and gone, but hopefully Samsung can fix the issues and get the ICS/TouchWiz tag team working together well before April is over.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.