T-Mobile's Newest Galaxy Tablet

Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff

Make no mistake, T-Mobile USA is ready for the holidays. It has a huge roster of 4G tablets and smartphones lining its shelves as the critical shopping season heads into high gear. Tuesday, T-Mobile announced yet another tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, which joins T-Mobile's 7-, 9-, and 10-inch tablet mix.

The Tab 7.0 Plus is a refresh of last year's Tab 7. It is thinner, lighter, and faster than the original at 9.96 mm, 0.76 pounds, and powered by a 1.2-GHz dual-core processor. The 7-inch display rates WSVGA resolution with 1024 x 600 pixels. It runs the latest version of Android 3.2 Honeycomb (last year's model ran Android 2.2 at launch).

The Tab 7.0 Plus connects to the Internet via HSPA+ at 21 Mbps or Wi-Fi. Other specs include Bluetooth 3.0+HS and Wi-Fi Direct; accelerometer, gyro, digital compass, ambient light, and proximity sensors; 3-megapixel main camera with 720p HD video capture and a 2-megapixel user-facing camera for video chats; and either 16 or 32 GB of internal memory, with support for microSD cards for up to an additional 32 GB of storage.

[The Android tablet wars are heating up. Check out Nook Vs. Fire: 5 Comparison Points.]

According to T-Mobile, it will ship with the Samsung Media Hub onboard, which lets customers purchase or rent movies and television shows; WildTangent, which lets customers rent or purchase games; and Zinio, which lets customers read or purchase magazines, eBooks, and other content. T-Mobile is pitching this tablet as a media device, and not necessarily an enterprise workhorse.

"Consumers want a selection of affordable, highly mobile tablets that can deliver the content they want virtually anywhere they go," said Jeremy Korst, T-Mobile's VP of mobile broadband and emerging devices, in a statement. "The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a perfectly sized, ultra-thin, and lightweight 4G tablet that easily fits in a coat pocket or purse and delivers a rich on-the-go entertainment experience."

How much does it cost?

The Tab 7.0 Plus will cost $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. T-Mobile is calling this upfront cost a "down payment" on the tablet. It requires a T-Mobile Value mobile broadband plan and a two-year agreement, over which time users will pay $10 per month for 20 months to finish up payments on the tablet, in addition to a minimum $29.99 monthly data fee (existing T-Mobile voice customers will get $10 off their monthly tablet-data bill). The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus goes on sale November 16.

T-Mobile USA also sells the T-Mobile SpringBoard with Google, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as the T-Mobile G-Slate with Google tablets.