Samsung's three latest Wi-Fi-ready tablets in the Galaxy Tab 3 portfolio have started popping up at national retailers, continuing Samsung's commitment to offering a diverse product line in the fast-growing tablet market.
The Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 (7-in.), Tab 3 8.0 (8-in.) and Tab 3 10.1 (10.1-in.) come in white and "gold brown" and are priced at $199, $299 and $399 respectively. All three run Android Jelly Bean. Retailers include Best Buy, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Office Depot and others.
The 7-in. Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.
Samsung announced the pricing June 24 and said in-store availability would begin July 7.
The range of tablet sizes reflects a need to appeal to a broader base of individual and family user preferences, a Samsung spokeswoman said. "The way individuals use tablets varies widely," the spokeswoman said, while noting that research shows that parents, college students and households earning more than $75,000 are driving the most tablet usage.
One in three U.S. adults now owns a tablet, nearly double from 2012, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 2,252 U.S. adults conducted earlier in 2013.
About 85% of tablet users watch TV while using a tablet, with 41% doing so daily, Nielsen said earlier this year. Each of the Tab 3 tablets can be used as a universal remote with built-in infrared capability.
The three tablets are not cellular-ready, but Samsung is offering the tablets with one year of free access to the Boingo Wi-Fi network in North America, which includes 35,000 hotspots, many in fast food restaurants. Google Play and Samsung Apps (an apps store) offer more than 750,000 apps for the Android devices.
A survey done in May by Forrester Research of 2,086 U.S. adults who use a tablet, found that the biggest consumer use of tablets is still for games (53%), followed by checking the weather (43%), social networking (42%), music (35%), news (34%), shopping (31%), ebook (31%), TV and video (28%), finance and banking (23%) and food and cooking (21%).
This article, Galaxy Tab 3 portfolio hits stores as tablets boom in U.S., was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.
See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com.
Read more about tablets in Computerworld's Tablets Topic Center.
