Mobile World Congress 2017: Samsung Hints at New Tablet to Launch This Month
Samsung is possibly hinting that a new tablet will be launched this month based on a recently published invitation.
Reports spotted Samsung's announcement about a press conference that will be held on Feb. 26 – a day before the Mobile World Congress 2017 officially starts – in Barcelona, Spain. The event is believed to be dedicated to a new Galaxy tablet product; so despite Galaxy S8's confirmed absence, it looks like Samsung will not be entirely missing MWC 2017.
According to the invitation, the event will be held at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Gates will open at 6 p.m. Central European Time or 12 p.m. EST. The event will start an hour after and will be simultaneously streamed online.
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Samsung's teaser poster does not mention what product is going to be presented on Feb. 26, but Korean publication ET News is positive that it will be a new tablet – the "next-generation Galaxy Tab S3," to be more specific.
ET News also mentioned that Samsung will offer variants that have connectivity support for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi). The Galaxy Tab S3 is also expected to run with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 paired with 4 GB random access memory. Its display size is expected to be 9.6 inches with 2,048 x 1,536 resolution.
However, according to Tech Radar, the Galaxy Tab S3 might be offered with 9.7-inch and 8.0-inch variants. The same report supports claims regarding the upcoming tablet's product name and says that it has already been certified by the Federal Communications Commission. But despite what ET News mentioned, Tech Radar reports that the Galaxy Tab S3 might run with an octa-core Exynos 7420 chipset.
The invitation poster does not say or show much, other than what looks to be a device's bottom edge possibly sporting the reversible, multi-functional USB Type-C port. If one would look closely at the promotional material, it is also easy to guess Samsung might be suggesting that the upcoming product will sport a curved-edge display too. However, these are yet to be confirmed.
Another wild guess that can be made, based on the invitation poster, is that the upcoming Galaxy tablet might also offer a variant with the popular and highly marketable glossy black color scheme.
It can be recalled that Samsung started producing a glossy Pearl Black variant of the Galaxy S7 last December. The glossy black color scheme proved to be profitable after Apple's iPhone 7 Jet Black sales undeniably went off the roof. So learning from that experience, it will not be surprising if Samsung follows up on that marketing strategy.
