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Samsung today officially unveiled its iPad competitor, the Galaxy Tab. The new tablet from Samsung runs Android 2.2. Froyo and features a seven-inch display.

Can Samsung take on Apple in the tablet space? It sure thinks it can. Its new tablet has Google's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and a number of specs that compare to the Apple iPad.
First, the display. It is a seven-inch TFT-LCD screen with 1024 x 600 pixels. The iPad's display is 9.7 inches, and has 1024 x 768 pixels. It's possible that the smaller size paired with a similar pixel count could make the Tab's display look better than the iPad's. I can't say for sure without seeing them side-by-side.

The Tab has a Cortex A8 1GHz processor. The iPad also has an A4 1GHz processor. I am surprised that Samsung isn't using the same home-grown Hummingbird 1GHz processor that it is using in its Galaxy line of Android phones.

The Samsung Tab also has 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 (that's a biggie), and full quad-band GDSM/EDGE and tri-band 900/1900/2100 7.2Mbps HSDPA. Missing is the 850Mhz band that AT&T uses in conjunction with the 1900MHz band. Does that mean it won't work properly in the U.S.? Samsung hasn't made that clear, though it did say that the device will launch in the U.S. later this year.

Other features include two cameras. There is a 3 megapixel camera on the back with a flash and auto-focus, and a 1.3 megapixel user-facing camera. The iPad lacks a camera entirely. This means the Tab can be used for video chats, and as a replacement camera if need be.

It will of course have access to the Android Market, but also comes with Samsung's Social Hub and Media Hub software on board for managing contacts and media.

With the Android 2.2 operating system comes Flash Player 10.1 and the ability to watch Flash-based content. The iPad limits Web-based video content to the HTML5-powered kind.

Rounding out the specs, it has a gyroscope and accelerometer for better gaming. It has 32GB of internal memory, and with microSD cards, supports up to an additional 32GB of content. It has 512MB of RAM.

Samsung didn't say anything about pricing, but was sure to note that the Tab is DivX certified, supports tons of media formats, and it weighs just 380 grams.